Hedwige Alma Lee

FRPSL The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History, at its he ...

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(née Grunberg; 30 April 1914 – 2 July 2000) was a Swiss-born naturalised British

philatelist Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

who specialised in the stamps of Switzerland and in topical collecting. She won large gold medals for her displays at Naba 1984, Stockholmia 1986, Hafnia 1987 and Finlandia 1988 and her collection was exhibited in the Court of Honour at PhilexFrance 1989 and New Zealand 1990. She signed the

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) is a Philately, philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921 to honour those who have advanced philately through research, expertise, or service. ...

in 1991 and later became the only non-resident member of the Consilium Philateliae Helveticae (Council of Swiss Philately). The

Royal Philatelic Society London The Royal Philatelic Society London (RPSL) is the oldest philately, philatelic society in the world. It was founded on 10 April 1869 as ''The Philatelic Society, London''. The society runs a postal museum, the Spear Museum of Philatelic History ...

award the Lee Medal in memory of Alma and her husband Ron.

Early life and family

Hedwige Grunberg was born in SwitzerlandAlma Lee.
Peter Rapp AG. Retrieved 4 January 2022. on 30 April 1914, but spent most of her life in Britain. She became a

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

British citizen in 1976. In 1979, she married fellow philatelist

Ronald Lee Ronald Lee (1934January 25, 2020) was a Romani Canadian writer, linguist, professor, folk musician, and activist. He studied Romani society and culture and worked to foster intercultural dialogue between Roma and Non-Roma. Early life and educ ...

, after which she was known as H. Alma Lee and later just Alma Lee.Birch, Brian. (2013) ''Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers''. Standish, Wigan: Brian Birch, p. 1565.

Philately

Lee's principal philatelic interests were the stamps of Switzerland and topical collecting. She was president of the London Swiss Philatelic Society from 1982 to 1991. Her collection of early Swiss material won large gold medals at Naba 1984, Stockholmia 1986, Hafnia 1987 and Finlandia 1988 and was shown in the Court of Honour at PhilexFrance 1989 and New Zealand 1990. She was a judge of

philatelic exhibition A philatelic exhibition is an exhibition of stamps and postal history where stamp collectors (philatelists) compete for medals. The displays are shown in glass frames, and the exhibition is normally accompanied by stamp dealer bourses and post ...

s at British national level for over 20 years. She also became interested in the Zemstvo local stamps of Russia, and presented a paper on them in 1991 before the Royal Philatelic Society London based on the collection of her husband who had died in 1990."The 'Zemstvo' Postage Stamps of Imperial Russia", H. Alma Lee, ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 100, No. 1180 (1991), pp. 66–77. Lee was closely associated with the Royal Philatelic Society London to which she was elected in 1967, becoming a fellow in 1969 and an honorary fellow in 1999. She was awarded their London medal in the 1980s for services to their library and expert committee.Women in Philately: Alma Lee.
Royal Philatelic Society London. Retrieved 4 January 2021. She donated the 80 volumes of her Swiss collection to the society during her lifetime, one of the most significant donations the society had ever received. It was described in ''The London Philatelist'' as among the finest then existing, particularly strong in the "standing Helvetia" and other

Helvetia Helvetia () is a national personification of Switzerland, officially , the Swiss Confederation. The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing clothing, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Flag of Switzerland, Swiss flag, and commo ...

issues in which Lee specialised."The Alma Lee Collection of Switzerland - Announcement of its sale by public auction", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 110, No. 1282 (Jan-Feb 2001), pp. 1-2. "Standing Helvetica" stamps were first issued in 1882 and are considered particularly beautiful by collectors. She attempted to plate the Swiss Rayon stamps. She signed the

in 1991, the first woman to do so since 1976, and subsequently became the only non-resident member of the Consilium Philateliae Helveticae (Council of Swiss Philately), a society whose members are mostly former presidents of Swiss philatelic societies.

Death and legacy

Alma Lee died on 2 July 2000. Her funeral was at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

in north London. She received obituaries in the ''

British Philatelic Bulletin The ''British Philatelic Bulletin'' was the official publication of the Royal Mail aimed at stamp collectors. The ''Bulletin'' gave detailed information about future British stamp issues and also featured articles about past issues from noted ph ...

'' and ''

The London Philatelist ''The London Philatelist'' was first published in January 1892
by Joseph Hackmey Joseph D. Hackmey () is an Israeli businessman, insurance company executive, actuary, investor, and an art and stamp collector. Art News listed Hackmey as one of the 200 biggest art collectors in the world. He was the Chairman of Israel Phoenix. P ...

for his display and accompanying paper, "Chile – the Colon (Columbus) Heads.""Medals of the Museum of Philatelic History"
Juliet Turk, ''Stockholmia 2019'', pp. 56-67 (p. 57).

Selected publications

Alma Lee collection at the library of the Royal Philatelic Society

Articles

* "Papers Adopted for the Stamps of Switzerland from 1854", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 93, No. 1097-98 (1980), pp. 65–67. * "An Outline of the Problems of the Postal History of Switzerland", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 94, No. 1115-16 (1985), pp. 182–187. * "Philatelic Knowledge & Rarity in Thematic Collections", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 96, No. 1139-40 (1986), pp. 182–185. * "International Jurors", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 97, No. 1145-46 (1989), pp. 76–78. * "The 'Zemstvo' Postage Stamps of Imperial Russia", ''The London Philatelist'', Vol. 100, No. 1180 (1991), pp. 66–77.

Books

*''Introducing Thematic Collecting''.

British Philatelic Trust The British Philatelic Trust was established in 1981 by the British Post Office. The governing deed was executed on 26 September 1983.National Philatelic Society The National Philatelic Society is one of two national philatelic societies in Great Britain. The other is the Royal Philatelic Society London. History ''The National'', as it is known, was formed in 1899 by Fred Melville and the first meeting i ...

, 1983. (Edited by Richard West)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Alma British philatelists 1914 births 2000 deaths Signatories to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Place of birth missing Women philatelists Philately of Switzerland Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom British women