About the Circle

The starting point

During 2024 two online meetings were organized around the theme: "Postal History of Russia and Neighboring Countries". The first in April devoted to "zemstvo posts" in the Russian Empire; the second in November with the theme "mail in Russia during the period of great inflation: 1918-1923".

Each of these meetings (about 2 hours) called upon a guest speaker for a presentation of about 45 minutes, followed by a very informative group discussion.

Given the composition of the audience - mostly French people  - the basic language used in these meetings was French.

Regarding the high attendance at these events, it has been decided to repeat the experience in May 2025.

During this 3rd online meeting, two points will be on the agenda: 

• A presentation on "Stamps and corporate marks in the postal system of the Russian Empire" (about 40 minutes) followed by an open discussion; for this meeting the oral presentation will be yet in French but slides will be in English.
• The presentation of a project to create a community called "Russian Philately Study Circle" (RPSC), a light structure with few constraints in terms of cost and organization intended to ensure a closer connection between people interested in the field of Russian philately.

For this meeting French will yet be used but all the slides in presentation will be in English to allow non French-speaking people to participate.

Why and how this  RPSC ?

Our observation is that after the disappearance of the British Society of Russian Philately at the end of 2023, after a few years earlier the Canadian Society ... there is still room in Europe (alongside with ROSSICA in the USA) for a light and unrestricted structure (cost and organization) that would ensure a permanent connection between interested people and willing to be involved.

This "Russian Philatelic Subject Circle" (RPSC) would be focused on the Russian Empire with all its components (some of which have now become autonomous following the various convulsions of history): the Russian Federation but also the Baltic States, Finland, Ukraine, Georgia... 

In addition to online meetings, the structure will rely on the use of a blog/website for continuous communication and a storage space allowing access to documents generated by activities (videos, articles, newspaper...).

We have no plans at this time to create a new "classical" journal which would require financial investment, reading committee... We are instead considering appealing for voluntary contributions of members to provide the Circle with original documents; these contributions could be presented in the form of thematic articles or as the synthesis of collective discussions . Everyone could collaborate in this production of free contents that other colleagues could modify/complete  when necessary. Build on  the Wikipedia model, this process would  lead to documents constantly evolving and improving...

To capture a wider audience, the blog and the zoom meetings will be accessible in several languages: French, English and Russian among others.

The Circle is an apolitical structure and does not allow any excess of any kind.

You will find at the top of this page the logo which has been proposed for the Circle.

To be a member? or not ?

The blog will be open to everyone for simple reading, while other more confidential features such as online meetings,  expertise ... will be reserved to members only. 

Asking for membership will simply ask to demonstrate a clear desire to get involved and share. More information is available on the "Instructions" page. Membership will be free, the organizers of this Circle having chosen to work based on  volunteering. 

The Board

The Board is composed of 5 administrators chosen among the members. They work as volunteers. They insure good working conditions of the Circle . They reserve the right to moderate the content of the blog in order to avoid any deviation that would be detrimental to the RPSC life . They take the daily appropriate decisions and  consult directly the members  when necessary.

References of the current administrators follow:

• Terry Page (UK - Living in UK)
• Stefan Berger (GE - Living in Germany)
• Gilbert Rios (FR - Living in France)
• Bernard Furnon (FR - Living in Russia)
• Maxime Citerne (FR - Living in Germany)