Preview of stamps to be issued in November 2014

The Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Marka” Publishing and Trading Centre supervised by the Federal Communications Agency has prepared the following products to be issued:

November 6, a postal card with a commemorative stamp “The 150th Birth Anniversary of Vera Komissarzhevskaya (1864-1910), Actress” is to be released into circulation




Vera Komissarzhevskaya (1864-1910) - Russian dramatic actress.

She made her professional debut in 1889, after having acted as Zina at the play “Burning Letters” written by P. Gnedich on the amateur scene in St. Petersburg Maritime Assembly of naval crews.

Invited to the Alexandria Theatre in Petersburg in 1896, Vera Komissarzhevskaya became one of the brightest exponents of new artistic aspirations of that time. There her greatest triumph was the role of Larisa in “Without a Dowry” (“Bespridannitsa”). She acted as Nina Zarechnaya in the premiere of Chekhov's “The Seagull”, as Margarita in “Faust”, and others.

In 1902, she left the Alexandria Theater and after two years of touring in Russian province founded her own Dramatic theatre in Saint-Petersburg. She was a great success with plays by Maxim Gorky and dramas by Henrik Johan Ibsen. One of her best roles was Nora in Ibsen’s “A Doll's House”.

She toured in North America in 1908, and then around cities of Russia. Despite the success of these tours, she was subject to doubts and despair. She was frustrated with condition of the contemporary theatre. Thus, in 1909 Vera Komissarzhevskaya took the decision to leave the stage and create a theatre studio. Unfortunately, she did not live long enough to implement her plans.

The whole life of V. Komissarzhevskaya was full of intense artistic and moral quests. It didn’t satisfy her and didn’t reconcile her with the modern theatre.

A postal card with a commemorative stamp depicts a portrait of Vera Komissarzhevskaya and an episode from the play “A Doll’s House”, written by Ibsen.

Design: M. Bodrov.
Face value: letter "B"
Circulation: 12 thousand postal cards


November 7, three stamps in the series “The Fauna of Russia. Wild Cats” is to be released into circulation



Big wildcats belong to a cat subfamily which includes the largest representatives.  Among wildcats living in the territory of Russia are the leopard, tiger and snow leopard.

The Siberian tiger, also known as the Amur tiger, is the largest and most perfect predator in the world, the only tiger who has adapted to living in the snow. The snow leopard is the only feline representative able to survive in the severe highland conditions. The Amur leopard, also known as the Far Eastern leopard, lives in Khasan and Nadezhdinsky districts of Primorsky Krai and in north-eastern China. The world population of the species is less than 50 nowadays.

The Amur leopard, the Siberian tiger and the snow leopard are protected by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

An illustrated cover has been prepared for the release with three stamps and FDC with cancellation (Moscow, Vladivostok) inside.

Design: R. Komsa.
Face value: 15 RUB, 18 RUB, 20 RUB
Size of stamps: 65 × 32,5 mm, size of sheet: 223 × 190,5 mm.
Form of issue: sheet with illustrated margins with 12 (3x5) stamps and a coupon.
Circulation: 172 thousand stamps of each subject (43 thousand sheets).


A postage stamp “The 100th Birth Anniversary of G. Babakin (1914-1971), Designer of Space Systems” is to be released into circulation



Georgy Babakin - Soviet scientist, designer, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, The Laureate of Lenin Prize, Chief Designer at the Lavochkin Design Bureau (1965-1971).

Automatic stations "Luna-9" (the first soft landing on the Moon, 1966), "Luna-10" (the first satellite of the Moon, 1966), "Luna-16" (delivery samples of lunar rocks to Earth in the automatic mode, which was controlled from Earth, 1970), "Luna-17" (the first propelled research vehicle "Lunokhod-1", 1970), "Venera 7" (the first landing on the surface of Venus in the world, 1970) and "Mars-3 "( the first landing on the surface of Mars in the world, 1971) were created under his leadership.

Space exploration conducted by the probes designed by Babakin has significantly enriched fundamental science with new data about the Moon, Venus, Mars and interplanetary space. Some craters on the opposite side of the Moon and Mars surface are named after Babakin.

The stamp depicts a portrait of G. Babakin and the spacecraft "Luna-17" on the background.

An illustrated cover has been prepared for the release with vintage Prepared to release the cover art inside - stamp sheet and FDC with cancellation (Moscow).

Design: A. Povarihin.
Face value: 15 RUB
Size of stamp: 42 × 30 mm, size of sheet: 146 × 170 mm.
Form of issue: stamp sheet of 15 (3x5) stamps.
Circulation: 435 thousand (29 thousand sheets).


November 25, a postage stamp “State Nature Biosphere Reserve “Kerzhenski” dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Russian membership in UNESCO, is to be released into circulation



The Kerzhenski reserve was founded April 23, 1993. It is located in the middle section of the Volga River about 55 km south-west of the city Nizhni Novgorod.

The Kerzhenski nature reserve is a home for valuable animals and rare plants. There are 144 species of birds inhabit on the reserve’s territory.

The territory of Kerzhenski reserve is a part of Biosphere Reserve “Nijegorodskoe Zavolje” from 2002. Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local community efforts and sound science.

A postage stamp depicts a landscape of the State Nature Biosphere Reserve “Kerzhenski”.

An illustrated cover has been prepared for the release with four stamps and FDC with cancellation (Moscow) inside.

Design: A. Drobyshev.
Face value: 15 RUB
Size of stamp: 58 × 26 mm, size of sheet: 190 × 120 mm.
Form of issue: sheet of 12 (3x4) stamps.
Circulation: 366 thousand stamps (30 thousand sheets).


November 25, the official commemorative stamp “2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil” is to be released into circulation



Thirty two national teams participated in the 20th 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil from the 12th of June to the 13th of July, 2014.

Russian football team has successfully held the qualifying tournament in one of the European groups, getting ahead the strong team of Portugal, and passed to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 

The yellow-blue armadillo was the official mascot of 2014 FIFA World Cup. The name Fuleco was chosen by more than 1.7 million football fans. Fuleco won with 48% of the vote. FIFA registered rights to the smiling armadillo holding a soccer ball in his hands. 

The official ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was named Adidas Brazuca according to the fans voting results. 

The official commemorative stamp “2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil” depicts the official ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup named Brazuca and the mascot Fuleco against the plan of a football field in the background. 

Design: S. Kapranov.
Face value: 50 RUB
Size of souvenir sheet: 107 × 60 mm, diameter of the stamp in the souvenir sheet: 33 mm.
Circulation: 100 thousand souvenir sheets.


November 28, three postage stamps “Russian Arts and Crafts. Wood Carving. Ornate Window Trims” is to be released into circulation



Wood carvings with deep expressive relief patterns have long been present in the art of many peoples of our country. Quite a few carvings are kept in museums, overlay carvings of old wooden houses may be seen in cities of Central Russia, the Urals and Siberia. Gradually wood carving in Rus became enriched with the traditions of other, foreign schools. As a result, ornaments became more complex and today we can see them on lace window trims, overhanging ornamental friezes and cornices, on porches with carved posts.

Ornate window trim is a decoration of the window opening and doorway in the form of overhead moldings. The desire to decorate the windows of the house with ornate window trims, balusters appeared in XVIII-XIX centuries. Windows, cornices, balconies, fences, and etc. were decorated with wood carving. Individual craftsmen created entire artistic motifs of ornate trims to decorate their houses.

Stamps depict ornate window trims of Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

An illustrated cover has been prepared for the release with two stamps and FDC with cancellation (Moscow) inside.

Design: H. Betredinova.
Face value: 20 RUB
Size of stamp: 50 × 50 × 70 mm.
Form of issue: sheet of 4 (2×2) stamps.
Circulation: 220 thousand stamps of each subject (55 thousand sheets).


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