by catpaw | 27 Dec, 2024
French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur was born December 27, 1822 in Dole, France.
His immense legacy can even be seen in our homes, in the “pasteurized” products derived from one of his discoveries. And it was Pasteur who laid the scientific foundations for the principles of hygiene, which took on such importance during the pandemic. Louis Pasteur himself always avoided shaking hands, and if he ever made an exception he would wash them immediately. While Pasteur is famous for his rabies vaccine – which earned him the title “benefactor of humanity” –, the full breadth of his scientific achievements is less well known, despite the fact that they continue to have an impact on our daily lives and on today’s research and medicine.
Louis Pasteur: a universal legacy | Institut Pasteur
The French post office celebrated Pasteur’s bicentenial in 2022 with a stamp, cancel and interesting souvenirs. 
Louis Pasteur 1822-1895 – Bicentennial of his Birth
Designer: Patrick Dérible, using photo by photographer Atelier Nadar
Engraver: Pierre Bara
Included in the set was philatelic souvenir and an info sheet printed on thick paper.
by catpaw | 21 Dec, 2024
On December 21, 1913, the world’s first crossword puzzle was published in the Fun section of the New York World.
Liverpool born, US editor Arthur Wynne is credited with creating the modern crossword when he printed his diamond shaped puzzle.
Two stamps were released on the 100th anniversary of the first puzzle. One from the US and the other Monaco.
Celebrate the Century – 1910’s – First Crossword Puzzle
Part of the Celebrate the Century Issue
Released by the US post office in 1998
Designer: Howard Paine
Artist: Dennis Lyall
Centenary Of The First Crossword Puzzle
Issued by Monaco post in 2013
Designer: Créaphil
Engraver: Elsa Catelin
And this year, LaPoste released a stamp celebrating 100 years of crosswords in France, which was published in Dimanche-Illustré, on November 9, 1924 as a Sunday feature.
It was called titled mysterious mosaic and within a year, the popularity was so great, it became a daily feature.
100 Years of Crosswords in France.
Released November 12, 2024
Designer: Philippe Apeloig
Wynne originally called it a Word-Cross Puzzle, but a typo gave us Cross-Word. It proved so popular, competitor newspapers quickly rushed their own to print. In 1924, Simon & Schuster published the first crossword book.
First modern crossword puzzle
Arthur Wynne, New York World, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain
You really didn’t think I’d leave you without supplying the answers, did you?
The World’s First Crossword
by catpaw | 10 Nov, 2024
On November 10, 1668, Baroque composer and harpsichordist François Couperin was born.
The most prominent representative (thus ‘Le Grand’) of a famous family of musicians whose dynasty began in the 1620s and expired when the last male Couperin died two centuries later – French rivals to the German Bachs. François spent most of his musical life in the service of the French court as a harpsichordist and organist, composing sacred music and chamber works for the royal pleasure of King Louis XIV.
The field in which he achieved his most lasting success was the extraordinary harpsichord works he composed towards the end of his life. Between 1713 and 1730 he published four volumes of his Pièces de clavecin. These amount to 230 pieces in 27 ordres (Couperin’s name for suites), each ordre a series of dances. They all have whimsical, witty or descriptive titles like ‘The Little Windmills’, ‘The Knitters’, etc, and many that defy translation because of their reference to topical subjects (‘Le tic-toc-choc’, for instance, which described the work of Mme Guillotine). The Romantics were keen on this kind of thing and, later, Debussy and Satie recalled it in their piano pieces. They are musical postcards of the court, sketches of Couperin’s life and personality.
François Couperin
One stamp has been issued to celebrate Couperin’s life. France released a single semi-postal in 1968 on the 300th anniversary of his birth.
François Couperin (1668 -1733)
Part of the 4 stamp Famous People series
Designed by Clement Serveau with Jean Pheulpin doing the engraving duties.
François Couperin – engraved by Jean-Charles Flippart, using an earlier portrait by André Boys Published 1735 after Couperin’s death
Couperin divided his time between Paris and Versailles. He soon acquired heavy commitments to teach the harpsichord and organ which made it difficult to find time for the publication of his vocal and instrumental chamber music. After the appearance in 1690 of his Pièces d’orgue (in manuscript copies with engraved title pages), he wrote no further works for organ. Instead he turned his attention to the import of the Italian sonatas and cantatas being performed in private concerts during the 1690s; his own trio and quartet sonades in the Corellian style – some of which were absorbed into his 1726 collection Les nations – were initially circulated in manuscripts under an anagram of his name. The discerning collector Sébastien de Brossard acquired copies and later described them in the catalog of his collection as ‘good and most excellent music which requires only a good performance’.
François Couperin (Le Grand): a biographical note
Page from Title: Leçons de ténèbres à une et à deux voix. By Mr Couperin,…. First day… Author : Couperin, François (1668-1733). Composer Publisher: at the author’s house (In Paris) Publisher : Foucault (A Paris) Publication date : 1713-1714
Courtesy French National archive
The New Classical FM radio station will be showcasing Coupertin today (November 10, 2024). at 10 am EST. If you are on time, you can listen to the show online – LISTEN LIVE button to tune in. Schedule – The New Classical FM
by catpaw | 12 Oct, 2024
French journalist, novelist, poet and Nobel Prize laureate Anatole France was born October 12, 1844.
“in recognition of his brilliant literary achievements, characterized as they are by a nobility of style, a profound human sympathy, grace, and a true Gallic temperament”
Nobel committee Anatole France – Facts – NobelPrize.org
Anatole France
From the Unemployed Intellectuals Relief Fund series
Issued by the French post office in 1937
Designed and engraved by Antonin (Jean) Delzers
Anatole FRANCE: poems, biography, works and collections
by catpaw | 29 Sep, 2024
French writer, journalist and playwright Émile Zola died September 29, 1902 in Paris.
Émile Zola (2 April 1840 – 29 September 1902) was a French novelist. An emblematic figure of the naturalist movement of the nineteenth century, Zola depicts French society during the Second Empire in his novels with meticulousness and realism. He is also known for his political stance against the authoritarian excesses of the Second Empire and in the Dreyfus affair in 1897. His novels are among the most published and translated titles in the world.
Émile Zola: biography, bibliography, filmography | Fnac
Emile Zola (1840-1902)
Issued by LaPoste 1967
Designer: Claude Robert Ernest Durrens
Emile Zola (1840-1902)
Issued by LaPoste in 2002
Designer: Jean-Paul Veret-Lemarinier
