Alberto Santos-Dumont 20.5.1973

Alberto Santos-Dumont (20 July 1873 – 23 July 1932) was a Brazilian aviation pioneer. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to aeronautical study and experimentation in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life.

Santos-Dumont designed, built, and flew hot air balloons and early dirigibles, his rising fame in this field culminating in his winning of the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize on 19 October 1901 on a flight that rounded the Eiffel Tower.

Following his pioneering work in airships, Santos-Dumont constructed a heavier-than-air aircraft, the 14-bis.On 23 October 1906 he flew this to make the first powered heavier-than-air flight to be certified by the Aéro Club de France and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

In his homeland, Brazil, Santos-Dumont is a national hero, having his name written in Brazilian Hero Panthéon. He is credited in Brazil as the "father of flight". Santos-Dumont occupied the 38th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters from 1931 until his death in 1932.

Christmas Stamps 1.12.1995

1995 Brazillian Christmas stamps with angels on them feature on this FDC.

Thank you Merja.

Progress of Education 28.4.2002

The two pretty stamps from Brazil on the FDC show the progress of education there, from the Blackboard to Computers.

Thank you Merja.

Balduína "Bidu" de Oliveira Sayão 11.5.2006

Balduína "Bidu" de Oliveira Sayão (May 11, 1902 – March 13, 1999) was a Brazilian opera soprano. One of Brazil's most famous musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.
Thank you Merja.

Apostolic Journey to Brazil 4.7.1980

Visit of Pope Paul II On the occasion of the ecumenical meeting (Porto Alegre, Brazil on 4th July 1980).

Lighthouses of Brazil

Light House Olinda is at Olinda, a historic city in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, located on the country's northeastern Atlantic Ocean coast, just north of Recife and south of Paulista. It has a population of 397,268 people  and is one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil.

Olinda features a number of major tourist attractions, such as a historic downtown area (World Heritage Site), churches, and the Carnival of Olinda, a popular street party, very similar to traditional Portuguese carnivals, with the addition of African influenced dances. Unlike in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, in Olinda, admission to Carnival is free. All the festivities are celebrated on the streets, and there are no bleachers or roping. There are hundreds of small musical groups (sometimes featuring a single performer) in many genres.

Besides its natural beauty, Olinda is also one of the most important of Brazil's cultural centers. Declared in 1982 a Historical and Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by the UNESCO, Olinda relives the magnificence of the past every year during the Carnival, in the rhythm of frevo, maracatu and others rhythms.

Light House São João (Ilha Maiau, Ilha São João) (2) 1940 (station established 1884).  

Light House Santo Antonio Da Barra. The first wooden lighthouse, which functioned with whale oil, was made in 1696 and it indicated the entrance of the bay, alerting to the dangers of the coral reef or sandbank of Santo Antônio, the current iron lighthouse, working with electricity, was built in 1836.

Thank you Merja for thic nice FDC on lighthouses.

2002 International Women's Day 8.3.2002

International Women's Day 2002. International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women's Day, is celebrated on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation, and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political, and social achievements. Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, especially those in the Soviet Bloc. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for people to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner. Some people celebrate the day by wearing purple ribbons.

Thank you Merja.

Folklore and Mythology 19.5.2002

These four se-tennant stamps were issued by Brazil on 19.5.2002 to highlight facets of folklore and mythology in stories for children.

Thank you Merja for this lovely FDC.

Lapa, Rio de Janeiro

Lapa is a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. It is located in the centre of Rio and is famous for its historical monuments and nightlife.

The neighborhood is home to the Arcos da Lapa, an impressive aqueduct constructed in the mid-18th century by colonial authorities. Another important historical attraction is the Passeio Público, the first public park of the city, built in the 1780s.

Since the early 1950s, Lapa has been known for its lively cultural life, concentrating many restaurants and bars where Brazilian artists and intellectuals used to meet. It was, and still is, famous for its many restaurants, bars and clubs where the various forms of Brazilian music can be appreciated, like the Asa Branca bar and the Fundição Progresso. The Sala Cecília Meirelle, an important venue for chamber music, is also located in Lapa.

Thank you very much Merja.

Orlando Villas Bôas 19.4.2004

Merja sent me this Brazillian FDC on which is a stamp issued on 19.4.2004 paying Homage to Orlando Villas Bôas. OV Boas (born Jan. 12, 1914, near Botucatu, Braz.—died Dec. 12, 2002, São Paulo, Braz.), was a Brazilian explorer and Indian rights activist who , was also a leading advocate of the rights of indigenous Brazilians.

In the early 1940s Villas Bôas, along with three of his brothers, joined a government expedition to chart areas for future development in the Amazon and central-western Brazil. Over the next two decades, the brothers established Western civilization’s first contact with numerous indigenous tribes. In 1961 Villas Bôas helped found Xingu National Park, a preserve for Brazil’s Indians, including the Tchikao, who were threatened with extinction. He served as the park’s first director. With his brother Claudio, Villas Bôas wrote 12 books, and the two were twice nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace, in 1971 and again in 1975. Villas Bôas also received the Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1967.

Bicentenary of the Birth of Hans Christian Andersen 14.12.2005

This lovely stamp of R$0.55 was issued by Brazil on 14.12.2005 to commemorate the Bicentenary of the Birth of Hans Christian Anderson.

Born in Denmark in 1805, Hans Christian Andersen is remembered for his fairy tales: “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” “The Princess and the Pea,” and some 150 others. This year, Denmark will celebrate their native son in a series of festivals, exhibits, symphonies, and theatricals. These events will be coordinated with others taking place around the globe in a “Worldwide Celebration of Andersen’s Bicentenary”.
  If the truth be known, Andersen was not at all like the cheerful children’s author played by Danny Kaye in the film about him. Instead, Andersen makes Denmark’s other melancholy celebrities – Hamlet (“that moody Dane”) and Søren Kierkegaard (the philosopher of anxiety) – look like slackers. His biography suggests reasons: his idealistic father was often away fighting for his hero Napoleon and died when the boy was eleven, his mother (fifteen years her husband’s senior) seems to have lead a racy life, and his dotty grandmother (a resident of a mental asylum) encouraged his love of fairy tales by telling him queer folk stories.

 Besides acute poverty, Andersen also suffered because he was tall, awkward, and – to be as kind as possible but as photos attest – striking in his homeliness. Indeed, when he finally found a patron to pay for his education, this lanky 17-year-old was mercilessly tortured at school by children five years younger than him – in other words, treated as badly as the Ugly Duckling is.

Of course, the Ugly Duckling turned into a beautiful swan and became universally loved. While this is ostensibly Andersen’s own story, more to the point is his theme of the Revenge of the Rejected. In the tale “The Swineherd,” for example, a prince masquerades as a peasant in order to turn the tables on a princess who refused his offer of marriage: in the end, he reveals he is a prince, rebuffs her, and strolls away in smug satisfaction. Here is both a picture of Andersen’s unlucky love life and his fantasy comeuppances.

His first love, Riborg Voigt, was the girl-next-door and declined his proposal, eventually marrying another; when he died, around Andersen’s neck was found a pouch he wore all his life and that contained a letter from her. His next courtship was more impossible; the most beautiful woman in Europe at the time, the opera singer Jenny Lind, indicated she wanted to be “just friends” with her lovestruck but homely swain.

Andersen was drawn to suffering. His most representative tale may be “The Little Match-Girl” which tells of an abused child who freezes to death in the streets, still clutching the matches she means to sell, while the good burghers of the town are toasty indoors eating their New Year’s dinners. But again, the story ends with a comeuppance: God shames the well-to-do by taking up the poor little matchgirl and admitting her to heaven.

Andersen’s stories are especially appealing to the young when they fancy themselves a Cinderella: mistreated and under-appreciated, dreaming of belated recognition and fantasy revenge. His life and his tales might be summarized under this reassuring headline: “Geek Does Good.”

Thank you Dear Merja for this lovely FDC.

1978 FIFA World Cup

I am sure football fans are going to love this FDC and the stamps on it issued by Brazil to commemorate WC78.

The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament, which was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June 1978.
The 1978 World Cup was won by Argentina who beat the Netherlands 3–1 after extra time in the final. This win was the first World Cup title for Argentina, who became the fifth team (after Uruguay, Italy, England and West Germany), to be both hosts and world champions. Argentina, the Netherlands and Brazil were the gold, silver and bronze medalists respectively. Iran and Tunisia made their first appearances in the finals.

The official match ball was the Adidas Tango.

This Worl Cup was not devoid of its fair share of controversy.A fact surrounding the 1978 World Cup was that Argentina had suffered a military coup only two years before the cup, a coup known as the National Reorganization Process. Less than a year before the World Cup, in September 1977, Interior Minister General Albano Harguindeguy, stated that 5,618 people had recently disappeared. The infamous Naval Mechanics School (known by its acronym ESMA) held concentration camp prisoners of the Dirty War and those held captive reportedly could hear the roars of the crowd during matches held at River Plate's Monumental Stadium, located only a mile away; prompting echoes of Hitler's manipulation of sports during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Because of the political turmoil, some countries, most notably the Netherlands, considered publicly whether they should participate in the event. Despite this, all teams eventually took part without restrictions. Allegations that Dutch star Johan Cruyff refused to participate because of political convictions were denied by him 30 years later. More controversy surrounded the host, Argentina, as all of their games in the first round kicked off at night, giving the Argentines the advantage of knowing where they stood in the group. This issue would arise again in Spain 1982, which prompted FIFA to change the rules so that the final two group games in subsequent World Cups would be played simultaneously.

Further accusations surrounded the game Argentina and Peru played in the second round of the tournament. Argentina needed to win by a margin of four goals to proceed to the final and did so by defeating Peru by 6–0. However, claims that the Argentine military dictatorship interfered to ensure Argentina would defeat Peru, were denied by the Peruvian captain and several Peruvian players. Some accusations originated in the Brazilian media and pointed to the fact that the Peruvian goalkeeper had been born in Argentina. There is also an alleged deal, reported by the British media as an anonymous rumour, that involved the delivery of a large grain shipment to Peru by Argentina and the unfreezing of a Peruvian bank account that was held by the Argentine Central Bank. Another alleged deal, published by a Colombian drug lord in a controversial book, involved the Peruvian team being bribed without any political implications. A third alleged deal, claimed by a Peruvian leftist politician, encompassed sending 13 Peruvian dissidents exiled in Argentina back to Peru. On top of the contradictions between stories, no evidence is shown in any case.

The biggest surprise of this World Cup came in Group 3, where Austria finished ahead of Brazil. All this does not undermine this lovely FDC issued by Brazil to commemorate FIFA World Cup 1978.

Thank you Merja.