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Father
Georg Josef Kamel, SJ
(1661-1706)
Missionary and Botanist
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ALBANIA, 1967, Camellia × williamsii, Scott 1017
Most people do not usually make an immediate connection between camellias
and Jesuits, or between camellias and tea. But both plants are of the
same genus, named Camellia by the great Linnaeus for a Jesuit brother,
Georg Josef Kamel. One species, Camellia
sinensis, is the source of tea (whether black or green), and the
name Tea has replaced all earlier botanical names. A Portuguese
Jesuit, by the way, Fr. Jasper de Cruz, SJ was the first European to
experience tea and, writing about it in 1560, to introduce it to his
fellow Westerners. One species of Camellia was brought to Europe in
a mistaken attempt to break the Portuguese monopoly on tea; it turned
out to be more of a flower than a drink, and after the initial disappointment
its ornamental use came to be valued. Since there are over 100 examples
of the Camellia genus on stamps, we present here just a selection.
Kamel was born in Brno, Moravia, in 1661, entered the Jesuits, and
was assigned to the Philippine missions in 1688. There as Jesuit infirmarian
and pharmacist he took up botany and became the first plant specialist
of the Philippine Islands. He discovered the medicinal properties of
what he named St. Ignatius Bean (Strychnos ignatii) to honor the founder
of his order. The St. Ignatius Bean is known today as a source of strychnine.
Kamel's findings were published in Europe under the Latin form of his
name, Camellius, and they so impressed the great Swedish botanist Charles
von Linnaeus that he changed the name of the genus he once called Thea
to Camellia in his honor. UNESCO named the 300th anniversary of Kamel's
death in 2006 among the world's important anniversaries; many consider
Kamel to be the most significant pharmacist of the 17th century.
VIET NAM, 2003, Scott 3189-92
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1969 and 1982, Camellia japonica L., Scott 1375
and 1532
Alabama Statehood and a series depicting the state bird and flower of each of
the 50 United States
THE UNITED STATES, 1981, Scott 1877
JAPAN, 1961, Scott 714, 723
JAPAN, 1972, Campaign for Reforestation, Scott 1115
KOREA, 1975, Scott 952
POLAND, 1964, Camellia japonica elegans, Scott 1290
BELGIUM, 1970, Scott 736a, 734
ROMANIA, 1980, Camellia japonica L., Scott 2954
ITALY, 1982, Scott 1511
BARBUDA, 1985, Queen Mother's birthday issue, Scott 687
NORTH KOREA, 1985, Scott 2509
HONG KONG, 1985, Camellia granthamiana or Grantham's Camellia, Scott 453
CHINA, 2002, Camellia nitidissima, Scott 3180a
MALAYSIA, 2002, Camellia nitidissima, Scott 862
CHINA (Taiwan), 1988, Camellia japonica, Scott 2626 2627a
CAMBODIA, 1993, Scott 1267
MONACO, 1996, Camellia 'Double Rouge', Scott 2028
NEVIS, 2002, cat and camellia in Uto Gyoshi painting, Scott 1312
PALAU, 1997, 200th anniversary of Hiroshige's birth: a titmouse on a
camellia, Scott 431
AUSTRALIA, 2003, Camellia japonica 'Hari Withers', Scott 2138
GERMANY, 2004, Scott 2293
SPAIN, 2008, Scott 3542
On either side of the above stamp is a personalized stamp (both
2008)
On the left examples of Camellia japonica 'Contessa Lavinia Maggi'
On the right, the Farm
of Ortigueira or the Mansion
of the Holy Cross of Ribadulla with a camellia leaf .
The farm has been declared a National Monument of Spain because of its production
of camellias
SPAIN, 2009, personalized stamp authorized by the Sociedad
Filatélica Miño (logo on stamp) and issued on January 30,
2009, Peace Day,
to honor Gandhi, whose name Mahatma means "Great Soul"; in the language
of flowers, a red camellia means "Greatness of Soul." More
NORTH KOREA, 2011, from the China Stamp Exhibition mini-sheet of 6 (stamps
and sheet also exist imperf)
MARSHALL ISLANDS, 2013, camellias from the Yunan souvenir sheet, Scott 1053
SWITZERLAND, 1975, from the Brissago Islands in Lago Maggiore (Swiss
territory) this show cancel
SPAIN, 1977-2011, special cancels for the International Camellia Expositions
in Pontevedra, Villagarcía de Arosa and Vigo, province of Pontevedra,
Galicia
FRANCE, 2005, Third Camellia Festival at Guingamp, France, Brittany,
under the patronage of the Société Nationale d'Horticulture de
France (SNHF)
and the Conservatoire Français des Collections végétales
spécialisees (CCVS).
ITALY, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, special cancels for the Camellia Show
SPAIN, 2008, special cancel for Spain's
2008 camellia issue
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