Posti to release Ahtisaari mourning stamp on Dec 15

National postal and logistic services operator Posti will honor the memory of late former President Martti Ahtisaari by publishing a mourning stamp on December 15, said Posti in a press release on Thursday.

The illustration in the black-and-white stamp features Ahtisaari and the text “In Memoriam Martti Ahtisaari 1937–2023”.

The stamp will be accompanied by a first day cover and cachet. The cover features the text “Rauha on tahdon asia” (Peace is a question of will).

The stamp was designed by Timo Berry. The photograph used in the stamp was taken by Tuukka Koski. The stamp sheet contains ten domestic no-value indicator stamps.

“President Ahtisaari was a person of international distinction, who is known and appreciated especially for his work for peace. The stamp is designed as an elegantly dignified portrait. His role as statesman can be seen in the first day cachet, which features the coat of arms of Finland. For the first day cover, I chose his perhaps most important thought, expressed in his Nobel Lecture: ‘Peace is a question of will’,” said designer of the stamp Timo Berry.

Ahtisaari died at the age of 86 in Helsinki on October 16. He was born in Vyborg on June 23, 1937. He was the President of Finland from 1994 until 2000. Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.

A mourning stamp was last published in Finland in memory of late former President Mauno Koivisto in 2017.

Mourning stamps have also been published in memory of runner Paavo Nurmi, composer Jean Sibelius and former Presidents Urho Kekkonen, P.E. Svinhufvud and Kyösti Kallio.

Posti will honor the memory of Ahtisaari also by making a donation to the Peace Fund of CMI.

The stamp will be inaugurated at Helsinki Main Post Office on December 15 at 1:00 pm where Timo Berry will be present to sign his works from 1:00 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Former President Martti Ahtisaari passed away in Helsinki on Monday morning at 6:40 after a long illness. He was 86.

Finnish and international leaders on Monday expressed shock at the death of former President and Nobel laureate Martti Ahtisaari.

The government on October 18, decided that the state funeral of former President Martti Ahtisaari will take place in Helsinki on St Martin’s Day, November 10.

Thousands of citizens and communities have expressed their empathy in the books of condolence for late former President Martti Ahtisaari at the Presidential Palace and online.