(2009) MiNr. 4754 ** - France - 50th anniversary of the death of Eugene Vaillé - founder of the French Postal Museum (self-adhesive stamp)

Eugène Vaillé (1875-1959) and the creation of the French Postal Museum

Eugène Vaillé was a French historian whose specialty was postal history. Born in 1875, he devoted much of his life to studying and documenting the development of postal services not only in France but also in a wider European context. His work culminated in the founding of the Musée de La Poste (French Postal Museum) in 1946.

The museum was originally housed in the building of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs in Paris. The institution's goal was to collect and preserve artifacts related to the history of the postal service, including old letters, stamps, mail carriers' uniforms, historic mail cars, and early telegraph equipment.

Eugène Vaillé played a key role in the museum's conception. He not only provided expert management of the collections, but also wrote several important publications on the history of postal systems. Among his best-known works is Histoire générale des postes françaises (General History of the French Post Office), which provides a detailed overview of the development of postal services from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

The French Postal Museum has moved and modernised several times over the years. Today it is housed in a modern building in the 15th arrondissement of Paris and offers interactive exhibitions tracing the technological evolution of parcel delivery, the importance of postage stamps and the role of the post office in everyday life.

Due to the work of Eugène Vaillé, the museum has become an important centre for the study of the history of communication and postal services. His legacy remains alive not only in the museum's collections, but also in the scholarly literature devoted to this field.