Lovrenc Košir, also Laurenz Koschier (29 July 1804 – 7 August 1879) was a Slovenian accountant and civil servant in the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
, who worked in
Ljubljana
{{Infobox settlement
, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
, perrow = 1/2/2/1
, total_widt ...
. He is notable as being one of the claimants to the title of the inventor of the
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
, besides
Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...
and
James Chalmers. His claim was widely supported in Austria and Yugoslavia, and he was recognized as undisputed "conceptual inventor" of postage stamps in those two countries. Today, those claims are controversial and he is not seen as undisputed inventor any more, as there is evidence that his claims were based on misconstructions.
Biography
Lovrenc Košir was born in
Spodnja Luša,
Carniola
Carniola ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. Although as a whole it does not exist anymore, Slovenes living within the former borders of the region still tend to identify with its traditional parts Upp ...
and baptized ''Laurentius Koschier''. The Slovenized spelling of his name, ''Lovrenc Košir'', appeared in print by 1937. He died in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
on 7 August 1879.
Idea of adhesive tax postmarks
In 1835, five years before the introduction of the worldwide first stamps in Great Britain, Košir allegedly suggested the introduction of adhesive tax postmarks (''aufklebbare Brieftaxstempel'') to the Department of Commerce in Vienna, which was responsible for the postal system. These postmarks were to be used for the pre-payment of postage. He called them ''gepresste Papieroblate'' (pressed paper wafers). His suggestion was looked at in detail, but rejected for the time being. Košir conceived that the stamps would be modelled on the official sealing stamps that were already used in Austria. However, because he had contact with England, it is presumed that he got the idea from James Chalmers, who had already made stamp designs one year earlier than Košir. However, Chalmers did not submit his designs until three years after Košir's suggestion.
Only in 1858, Košir began to claim that he was the inventor of the idea of postage stamps.
In 1869, Košir asked the
Ministry of Finance
A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position .
A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
to propose him for the
Order of Franz Joseph for his "merits in the introduction of postage stamps". The Ministry responded that it "can't support Košir because there is no single official document to support his claims."
In 1874, when the inaugural congress of the
General Postal Union (GPU) was held in
Bern, Switzerland
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Košir sent a letter to it asking the congress to recognize him for his "work and commitment to the cause of the introduction of postage stamps". With the letter, Košir provided certain "documents" as a proof of his work. Košir claimed that in 1837, he shared his ideas on postage stamps with a certain English trader named Galloway, who then revealed the idea to
Rowland Hill
Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...
. Košir also claimed that he published his ideas in ''
Allgemeine Zeitung'' newspapers in 1839.
The congress refused Košir's request on the basis that all the documents he provided were uncertified copies, and not original documents.
The claim that Košir was the pioneer of the postage stamp concept was popularized by
Amand von Schweiger-Lerchenfeld in his book ''Das neue Buch von der Weltpost'' (Vienna, 1901).
Schweiger-Lerchenfeld's claim was based on his reading of the documents provided by Košir to the GPU congress in 1874.
Despite the lack of critical analysis of those documents, Schweiger-Lerchenfeld became the main source for those who supported Košir as the inventor of the postage stamp.
Schweiger-Lerchenfeld's claim was propagated by Yugoslavian philatelist Ferdinand Kobal who in 1948 published a book titled ''Lovrenc Košir'' in which he repeats the claims of Košir being the inventor of postage stamp.
The "documents" that Košir provided to the GPU in 1874 were found by Milomir Lj. Mićić in 1949 in the UPU (former GPU) archives in Berne, and then published by Mićić in 1954.
Mićić opined that those documents support Košir's (and Schweiger-Lerchenfeld's) claims.
The documents were then critically examined by historian Velimir Sokol from Zagreb, Yugoslavia, who published his findings in 1962. Sokol claimed that some of Košir's documents were forgeries while others do not directly confirm that he invented postage stamp. According to Sokol, those documents do not speak about postage stamps but about some more general ideas on the "reform of the postal service" which Košir proposed in 1830s. Only after the postal stamps were introduced, Košir tried to retroactively present his ideas as origins of postal stamps, although they do not mention postal stamp as such.
Sokol also checked the archives of ''Allgemeine Zeitung'' and found no article written by Košir.
Sokol concluded that Košir's claims were false and that he should not be considered a pioneer of postage stamps.
Based on Sokol's research, in 1979, the Philatelic Association of Slovenia took official position that Košir was not the inventor nor pioneer of postage stamps.
Despite this, some philatelists and historians continued to support
Schweiger-Lerchenfeld's claims. For example, Edward Gobetz, founder of the Slovenian Research Center of America, proposed in 1984 that the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
issue a stamp dedicated to Košir.
Košir was immortalised on several
commemorative stamps in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, Slovenia and
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
. Both Austria and Yugoslavia were very much supportive of Lovrenc Košir being recognized as the one and only inventor of the postage stamp. On 21 August 1948, a commemorative stamp set was issued in Yugoslavia, which consisted of four stamps and showed his portrait. In the same year, the Yugoslav postal system issued an
airmail stamp depicting Košir, his birth house in Spodnja Luša, and an
aeroplane
An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...
. What is special about this stamp is the allonge attached to each stamp. It has an inscription in
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...
and in French giving information about Lovrenc Košir's contribution regarding the invention of stamps.
On the centenary of his death 1979, Košir was depicted on an Austrian commemorative stamp (as Laurenz Koschier), with the inscription "pioneer of the postage stamp."
In 2004, the Slovenian Post issued a commemorative stamp celebrating Košir's 200 years of birth.
References and sources
References
Sources
* Huber, K. (1979) ''Altösterreich-Lexikon - Vom Altbrief bis zur Briefmarke''.
* Koczynsk, Stephan. (1924) ''Die Geschichte der Stempelmarken in Österreich''. Pages 440–442.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosir, Lovrenc
1804 births
1879 deaths
Postal pioneers
People from the Municipality of Škofja Loka
Civil servants from the Austrian Empire