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Georgia
Queen Thamar (Tamara) Issue

Queen Thamar (Tamara) Issue

Queen Thamar definitives issued in 1920.

On May 26, 1918 Georgia declared its independence from Russia's post-revolutionary Bolshevik government and sought the protection of Germany against a potential Turkish invasion. After Germany's defeat Georgia became a Soviet Republic and in 1919 it issued a set of definitive stamps depicting its namesake, Saint George.

In 1920 Georgia issued three stamps (perforate and imperforate) depicting Queen Thamar (Tamar or Tamara), who ruled from 1184-1213, a period during which her Georgian Empire expanded to dominate the Caucasus region. Recognized as a saint by the Georgian Orthodox Church, she established a powerful state that endured until the Mongol attacks two decades after her death.

The short-lived republic died when the Bolsheviks amagamated it with Azerbaijan and Armenia into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Republic on March 12, 1922. Georgian stamps remained in use until they were replaced with an issue for the new federated republic on September 15, 1923. In January 1924 these were replaced with stamps of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

First Modern Issue

Souvenir sheet containing the first Georgian stamps following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia began issuing its own stamps again on July 31, 1993.


Bibliography

"Georgia." Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue. 2005.

Lamb, Bob. "World in a Nutshell - Georgia." American Philatelist. Oct. 2008: 984.


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