Postage stamps of Italian Libya

Italian Libya stamp

Postage stamps of Italian Libya were stamps issued by the Kingdom of Italy for use in Italian Libya, between 1934 and 1943.^[1]

History

The area now comprising Libya was originally a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire which was ceded to Italy in 1912^[2] and became an Italian colony with its own stamps ^[3]

The first Italian Stamps in Libya, when was Ottoman "Barberia"

Due to the lack of normal postal service in Ottoman Libya, the Italian Embassy in Tripoli issued the first Italian stamps in Libya in 1909, calling "Barberia" the area.

Stamps of Italy were issued from 1912 overprinted Libia and later Italian colonial issues were issued specifically for Libya.^[4] All stamps of colonial Libya were printed at the Italian Government Printing Works.^[4] Some were dedicated to celebrate Italian events not related to Libya^[5]

From 1924 to 1934 Tripolitania and Cyrenaica had their own stamps before being unified in 1934, with Fezzan, as the Italian colony of Libya. Italian colonial issues continued until Libya was overrun by the British Army during the Second World War in 1943.

Italian Libya stamp issued in 1941, during WWII

The Fiera di Tripoli done inside Italian Tripoli had special stamps until WWII.^[6]

The most famous stamps of Italian Libya are those called Panoramiche, issued mainly in the late 1930s, that show Libyan landscape and city views. There were even special stamps for "servizi" (packs, etc.)^[7]

All the stamps of Italian Libya were issued with bilingual (Italian and Arab) numbers and letters, even during WWII when Germans of the "Afrika Korps" complained about.

Notes

1. ↑ Detailed review of all the stamps in Italian Libya (in Italian)
2. ↑ Stuart Rossiter. The Stamp Atlas p. 275
3. ↑ First stamps in colonial Libya
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 8 Italy & Switzerland.pp.190-194
5. ↑ Libya stamps in the 1910s and 1920s
6. ↑ "Fiera di Tripoli" stamps
7. ↑ "Servizi" stamps

See Also

• Postage stamps and postal history of Italian East Africa
• Postage stamps of Tripolitania
• Postage stamps of Cyrenaica

Bibliography

• Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.275. ISBN 0-356-10862-7
• Sirotti, Luigi and Nuccio Taroni. Le Occupazioni Britanniche Delle Colonie Italiane 1941-1950: storia postale. Sassone S.R.L. Roma, 2006
• Stanley Gibbons. Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 8 Italy & Switzerland. 6th edition. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2003 ISBN 0-85259-554-9

External Links

• Virgin Stamps ()

Italian Libya Governors Italo Balbo Rodolfo Graziani Italo Gariboldi Ettore Bastico Giovanni Messe General History Italian invasion of Libya History of Libya as Italian colony Italian Libya Pacification of Libya Western Desert Campaign North African Campaign Allied occupation of Libya 1945 Tripoli pogrom Italian refugees from Libya Provinces Tripoli Province Misurata Province Benghazi Province Derna Province Military Territory of the South Related articles Italian settlers Italian Tripolitania Italian Cyrenaica Imperial Italy Italian North Africa Italian Libya Railways Railway stations in Libya History of Italian colonial railways Tripoli-Castel Benito Airport Italian Tripoli Italian Benghazi Via Balbia Via della Vittoria Arch of the Fileni Tripoli Grand Prix Tripoli International Fair Linea dell'Impero Postage stamps of Italian Libya Frontier Wire (Libya) Italo-Turkish War Sciara Sciatt massacre Muslim Association of the Lictor Fort Capuzzo Auto-Saharan Company Fourth Shore Colonial troops Italian Libyan Colonial Division 1st Libyan Division "Sibelle" 2nd Libyan Division "Pescatori" Maletti Group Ascari del Cielo Paratroops Italian Africa Police Bands Zaptié Savari Spahis Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali