Date of issue: 30 March 2006

Sándor Légrády (1906-1987) studied at the Goldsmith’s Department of the Academy of Applied Arts and at the Decorative Painting Department of the Faculty of Glass Painting at the Budapest School of Applied Draw-ing. In 1929 he became a graphic artist at the printers Állami Nyomda, where he designed postage stamps and securities. His first stamp was issued in 1932. This set of stamps on St Elizabeth not only marked the beginning of his career – it was also a milestone in the history of the printing works as these were the first stamps made there using photogravure technology. After this, he received a string of commissions for de-signs. He continued working during WW2 and was appointed state secretary in 1941. His name is associated with saving the treasures of the Matthias church. In 1948 he resumed work as a stamp designer. In 1953 he received one of the highest accolades in his art at the “Madonna Stamps” exhibition in Aachen, where he won third prize for his stamp ”Patrona Hungariae”. His oeuvre includes 100 commemorative and regular stamps, sets of stamps and miniature sheets featuring outstanding figures from Hungarian history and cul-ture, and major events. He worked in the Állami Nyomda in Budapest’s Castle District until he was 74.

An exhibition in honour of the centenary of the distinguished stamp designer is on at the Stamp Museum in Budapest to show every stamp he designed and to give a taste of the designs that have not been realised until now.
The commemorative stamp features a portrait of the graphic artist and stamp designer Sándor Légrády, be-sides which is one of his hereto unissued designs in the collection of the Budapest Stamp Museum, “FOR HUNGARIAN ART”. Some of his wellknown previously issued stamps adorn the first day cover, and the graphics of the postmark show the outline of a detail of the stamp design.
Source: Várnegyed 2004/9 * Magyar Katolikus Lexikon [Hungarian Catholic Encyclopaedia]

Order code:
2006050010011/stamp
2006050060012/FDC

Date of issue: 30 March 2006
Total face value: HUF 75
Number of copies: 200,000
Printing method: offset
Perforated size: 43.1 x 33 mm in sheets of 50 stamps
Printed by Állami Nyomda Nyrt.
Designed by Pál Varga