Czeslaw Slania is considered the world’s most famous engraver and stamp designer not only because of the sheer number of items he’s created but also the beauty of his work. He once earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's most prominent and prolific stamp engraver.
Born in Poland on the 22 October 1921, he was the son of a miner. During the Second World War he forged documents for the Polish resistance and discovered he had a talent for working with his hands. After entering the Kraków School of Fine Arts he learned to engrave in steel and got a job with the Polish Stamp Printing Works.
By 1950 he was engraving full time for the Polish Post Offi ce and his fi rst stamp was printed a year later. After moving to Sweden he gained employment with the Swedish postal authorities and produced numerous
Swedish stamps.
Although he mostly worked for the Swedish Post Offi ce, he has produced stamps for postal authorities in 28 different countries all over the world. By 1974 he was rightly awarded for his work after the late King Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden appointed him Court Engraver. And, among the many awards he received in the course of his work, in 1999 he was made a Commander Order of Poland for his ‘great service to the Polish nation’. After his death on March 17 2005, Czeslaw Slania was buried in the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków, Poland.
The stamp for the joint issue was one of Czeslaw Slania’s own favourites and depicts a ballet scene from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ where the dancers, Anneli Alhanko and Per-Arthur Segerström, appear to almost defy the laws of gravity. The stamp was originally designed by Gustav Mårtensson with photography by Enar Merkel Rydberg and engraving by Czeslaw Slania. Steve Simpson was responsible for additional typography and layout and also designed the first day cover.
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