On September 6, a postage stamp dedicated to the 200th Birth Anniversary of Pyotr Alabin, a government leader, a public personality and a writer, was put into postal circulation

Pyotr Alabin was an outstanding political leader, a public personality, a historian, an archaeologist, a military writer, a local historian and a botanist, a full State Councilor, the Mayor of Samara, and an honorary citizen of Samara, Vyatka and Sofia.

He was born on September 4 (16) of 1824 in the town of Podolsk of the Moscow Province in the family of a retired military man, a nobleman. In 1843-1857, he was in military duty. During that period, he participated in the Hungarian campaign of the Russian army in 1849, the Danube campaign in 1853, in the Battle of Oltenitza in 1853, as well as in the defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

For combat merits, he was promoted to the rank of captain and awarded the Order of St. Anne, 3rd grade, and the Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd grade. Later on, in 1869, P. Alabin came up with the idea of establishing the Museum of Sevastopol Defense (nowadays, the Museum of the Black Sea Fleet). After completing his military service in 1857, he came to the city of Vyatka, where he was first an assistant manager of the Vyatka appanage office and then the manager. On his initiative, on January 22, 1866, the Vyatka Public Museum was inaugurated. Then he lived in Samara and served as the manager of the Chamber of Government Property. In 1876, the citizens of Samara supported the struggle of the Bulgarian people for independence against Turkish rule. P. Alabin initiated the creation of the famous Samara Banner, which today is a symbol of the unity of the Slavic peoples during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The banner was manufactured and embroidered by the nuns of the Iberian Monastery, and on May 6 of 1877, it was handed over to Bulgarian militiamen personally by Pyotr Alabin. After the liberation of Bulgaria in 1878, he was the first civil governor of Sofia. Under his leadership, the first Cyril and Methodius National Library (currently, the National Library of Bulgaria) was opened in the city. He also participated in the design of the monument to Bulgarian revolutionary Vasil Levski. He built roads and bridges.

One of the central streets of the Bulgarian capital is named after him. Soon after his return to his homeland in 1884, P. Alabin was elected the Mayor of Samara, and stayed in this position until 1891. He took his place in history as one of the most successful Samara mayors. During his governing, gardens and parks were landscaped, a library was upgraded, a water supply system was built, a theatre was opened and a museum was founded.

The postage stamp provides a ceremonial portrait of Pyotr Alabin against the background of the panoramas of the cities of Samara and Sofia.

The postage stamp actualizes the augmented reality technology, and the mARka mobile application affords a possibility to view the presentation about P. Alabin's achievements.

In addition to the issue of the postage stamp, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, Kirov, Podolsk of the Moscow Region, Samara and Sevastopol.


Artist: D. Musikhina-Belova; Design: O. Savina.
Face value: 50 rubles.
Stamp size: 30×42 mm, sheet size: 170×151 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with 15 (5×3) stamps.
Quantity: 90 thousand stamps (6 thousand sheets).

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