26 August is the Birth Anniversary of Mother Teresa. She was internationally famed as a humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless.Her work has been recognized and acclaimed throughout the world and she has received a number of awards and distinctions, including the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971) and the Nehru Prize for her promotion of international peace and understanding (1972). She also received the Balzan Prize (1979) and the Templeton and Magsaysay awards and the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. . She was an Albanian] Roman Catholic nun with Indian citizenship who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity's expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries. Here are some stamps and philatelic items issued on Mother Teresa with a report of solo philatelic exhibition on Mother Teresa by our distinguished member Mr Naresh Agarwal of Bilaspur – Chhattisgarh. This post is a philatelic tribute to the great personality of all time and dedicated to all those who worked for the humanity !
Mother Teresa's 99th Birth Anniversary Celebrated by Philatelists
Special functions, celebrations and prayers were held at the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity and at many places in India on Wednesday on the occasion of Mother Teresa's 99th birth anniversary. Albanian born Mother Teresa made Kolkata her home and dedicated her life to the service of the poor and the destitute.
Mother Teresa was beatified by the Pope in October 2003, paving the way for her canonization, or being declared a saint. She received several national and international awards for the social service that she did during her lifetime. India Post and various countries of the world issued postal stamps and other material from time to time portraying the Mother .
Mr.Kamal Chakraborty with his collection on Mother Teresa and with Mr.Naresh Agarwal
Some of the display sheets from collection of Mr.Kamal Chakraborty
Philatelists too celebrated her birthday by displaying a recognized collection of philatelic products at Mothers’ birth celebrations by an NGO actively working for education of poor children, running Mother Teresa English Medium School & Sri Ram Krishna Vivekananda Vidyapeeth, at Bilaspur. Mr. Kamal Chkraborty from Balangir, Orissa displayed his collection entitled “Mother Teresa"Apostle of Love" highlighting different facets of her life. This collection had won silver Medal in ORPEX 2006 and has been displayed at many such functions. Mr. Sonmani Bora, Collector, Bilaspur and other dignitaries highly applauded the collection. Comprising of stamps,covers, colour trials,Miniature sheets, cover carried through different mails were on display. Some related coins too had been displayed.
Mr. Kamal Chakraborty had been specially requested to bring his exhibit to Bilaspur for this celebration. According to him,the collection on display was probably the best in India comprising of almost all the stamps issued so far. This is one of the best ways to celebrate the occasion by philatelic fraternity.
- Naresh Agarwal