500TH ANNIVERSARY OF JOHN CALVIN’S BIRTH
Date of issue: 22 May 2009
John Calvin, né Jean Caulvin or Cauvin (Noyon, 10 July 1509 –
Geneva, 27 May 1564), the Swiss Reformer and humanist academic of French
origin who gave his name to Calvinism, was, according to Bamber
Gascoigne, the greatest mind and the best organiser among the leading
figures of the Reformation who created in Geneva the perfectly
functioning prototype of a God-fearing city. He is mainly remembered for
his works on theology and Church organisation, but he also made a
considerable contribution to the development of literary French. At the
age of twenty-six he wrote his main work Institutio Religionis
Christianae (Institutes of the Christian Religion), which he constantly
expanded and revised throughout his life. This work and the Genevan
Church organisation established by him served as a model throughout
Europe for the formation of the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches.
Beyond the aspect of religious history, Calvin’s ideas influenced
Western culture, changing the mentality to work and providing an
ideological basis for the development of capitalism. Source:
www.wikipedia.org
In 2006 the Synod of the Hungarian Reformed Church decided and
announced that the years 2009-2014 (the period between the 500th
anniversary of his birth and the 450th anniversary of his death) would
be Calvin Memorial Years. The John Calvin Memorial Committee through the
exhibition “500 Years of John Calvin” wishes to bring the values John
Calvin and the followers of Christ based on his teachings have given to
the world over 500 years closer to the Hungarian people in the 21st
century. The exhibition shows the influence that the life’s work of the
Genevan Reformer of French origin had on European and Hungarian culture,
and a multitude of artefacts that have survived the centuries. The
exhibition will be held in Debrecen, where in 1567 the Calvinist branch
of the Reformation in Hungary accepted the Heidelberg Catechism and the
Second Helvetian Confession as fundamental documents. This is regarded
as the beginning of the Reformed faith in Hungary. Source: The Hungarian
Reformed Church The stamp design is a portrait of John Calvin. The first day
cover for it shows the symbolic figure of John Calvin becoming
enlightened. The special postmark is the official emblem of the Calvin
Memorial Years.
TM
Order code: 2009120010011 (stamp) - 2009120060012 (FDC)
Date of issue: 22 May 2009
Printed by Állami Nyomda
Designed by György Oláh
Perforated size: 30 x 40 mm, 50 stamps per sheet
350,000 copies printed
More information: philately@posta.hu
