Stanley J. Luft of

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Moun ...

, is a

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 is an expert on the

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and Cover (philately), covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal system ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Collecting interests

Luft specialized in the collecting of rare postage stamps and postal history of France. His collections of French postal history centered on specific aspects of French philately, such as postal history of the

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

, the French Revolution, various French military campaigns, the 15-centimes Sage issue and the 30-centimes Cameo Sowers. When placed in competition at national and international exhibitions, they often won gold. Luft is the recipient of at least thirty gold medals, reserve awards, grand awards and, among others, the Prix d’Honneur (London 1990).

Philatelic literature

Based on his research of all aspects of French philately, Luft wrote numerous articles in publications such as the ''France & Colonies Philatelist'', ''The American Philatelist'', ''Postal History Journal'', ''Collectors Club Philatelist'', ''American Philatelic Congress Book'', ''Military Postal History Society Bulletin'', ''London Philatelist'' and ''Feuilles Marcophiles''. He also wrote three volumes on French philately.

Philatelic activity

In addition to serving on the council of the American Philatelic Congress, Luft was a founding member of the Académie Européene de Philatélie and a corresponding member of the

Académie de philatélie An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and was editor of ''France & Colonies Philatelist''. He was named a Fellow of 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 ...

. He was president of the Collectors Club of Denver and the Philatelic Society of Cincinnati, as well as serving the Rocky Mountain Stamp Show in various posts, including president.

Honors and awards

In addition to all his gold medals, Luft received numerous honors. He won, three times, the France & Colonies Philatelic Society Gerard Gilbert Memorial award for philatelic literature. In 2008, he was awarded the

Luff Award The Luff Award is awarded by the American Philatelic Society (commonly known as the APS) for meritorious contributions to philately by living philatelists. Established The award was established in 1940 in memory of John N. Luff, distinguished ph ...

for Distinguished Philatelic Research.

Bibliography

* 1979, ''The Regular Issues of France According to Their Normal Postal Usage.'' France and Colonies Philatelic Society * 1984, Waugh, Wiliam M., Stanley J. Luft and Robert G. Stone (ed.):''A Chronology of French Military Campaigns and Expeditions with Their Postal Markings 1815–1983'' * 1993, ''Military and Postal History of the Revolutionary Armies in the West of France 1791–1802'', ENVISION Monographs

References