April the 29th, 2024 – Croatian Post (Hrvatska pošta) now has commemorative “Famous Croats” postage stamps available.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, commemorative postage stamps from the “Famous Croats” series by designer Sabina Rešić have been made available as of today. The new stamp motifs of Croatian musicians Sena Jurinac, Milko Kelemen and Vladimir Ruždjak have been put into circulation by Croatian Post.
The cost of the new “Famous Croats” stamps is 0.72 euros per motif. They were printed in an edition of 25,000 copies per motif and in sheets of 20 stamps, and Croatian Post also printed a commemorative first day envelope (FDC).
Srebrenka (Sena) Jurinac (Travnik, October the 24th, 1921 – Augsburg, November the 22nd, 2011) was a soprano and fantastic Croatian vocal artist. She was educated in Zagreb, she studied singing at the Academy of Music in Zagreb and already during her studies she performed at the Croatian National Theatre, excelling in several roles, especially in the title role in the premiere of the opera Sunčanica by Boris Papandopoulos.
She worked at the Vienna State Opera from 1944 until her retirement in 1982. She performed in Milan’s Scala, Paris Opera, London’s Covent Garden, opera houses in Brussels, Zurich, then in San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Sydney and other venues, as well as at various festivals all over the world.
Croatian composer Milko Kelemen (Podravska Slatina, March the 30th, 1924 – Stuttgart, March the 8th, 2018) was the doyen of Croatian musical creativity. He was the recipient of numerous awards and plenty of recognition across both Croatia and Germany, where he lived since the seventies. He completed his mandatory primary and secondary education in Virovitica, and studied composition in 1951 with S. Šulek at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. He then trained in Paris, Freiburg and Munich. He was the founder and first president of the Zagreb Music Biennale. Back in 1995, the Days of Milko Kelemen were founded in Slatina, which continue to be held every year.
Vladimir Ruždjak, baritone, composer, opera director (Zagreb, November the 21st, 1922 – Zagreb, October the 9th, 1987) graduated from the Academy of Music in Zagreb in 1946. He was a soloist in the class of Professor Milan Reizer as the first post-war graduate of that department. From 1948 to 1955, he was engaged by the Croatian National Theatre as an opera soloist. In the mid-sixties, he began directing operas. From 1970 onwards, he taught at the Academy of Music in Zagreb. He particularly stood out in the performance of solo songs, to which he devoted the majority of his compositional work.
