DescriptionA sheet of four commemorative postage stamps from the Republic of Chad, dated 1968. The stamps, titled "En Hommage A Des Apôtres de la Non-Violence, Victimes D'Attentats" (approximate translation: In Tribute to Advocates of Non-Violence Who Were Victims of Attacks), honor the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Dr. King and Senator Kennedy were both assassinated in 1968, the year these stamps were printed.
All text on the stamps is in French. Each stamp has "Republique du Tchad" printed across top, "50F" printed in upper right corner of color block, "Poste Aerienne" printed horizontally in upper left corner of color block, "Apôtre de la Non-Violence" beneath portrait, and "Delrieu" printed in far lower right corner of stamp.
Sheet has perforation lines die-cut into adhesive paper in center around narrow rectangular, vertically-oriented stamps. Stamps are unperforated from page.
Sheet is in mint condition.
Curatorial Commentary
Upon the death of Robert Kennedy in June 1968, John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were often grouped together in memorial tributes, frequently presented as a "holy trinity" of martyred American icons. This set of stamps features the rare inclusion of Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi, who was shot and killed by a Hindu nationalist in 1948. As a revered leader dedicated to nonviolent civil disobedience, his presence here is certainly appropriate.
In welcoming Prime Minister Nehru of India to Washington, D.C., in November 1961, President Kennedy cited Gandhi alongside American figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt as leaders who "have had their fame and their reputation spread across their national frontiers and boundaries, and their reputation and the affection in which they are held...become world-wide." - Stephen Fagin, Curator
