Latvijas Pasts releases commemorative stamp to mark 200th anniversary of prominent Latvian cultural figure of 19th century Jānis Cimze

Latvijas Pasts has released a new stamp to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the outstanding Latvian cultural figure Jānis Cimze.

The stamp Jānis Cimze - 200 has been designed by the artist Lilija Dinere. The denomination of the stamp is EUR 0.57, making it suitable for mailing a regular Class A letter in Latvia. The print run of the new stamp is 30,000, while the first-day cover has been released in 1,500 copies.

Jānis Cimze is one of the most prominent Latvian cultural figures of the 19^th century: he was a distinguished pedagogue and composer, the first collector and arranger of Latvian folk song tunes and founder of Latvian choir culture. J.Cimze arranged around 350 Latvian folk songs, including Rīgadimd (Riga Resounds), Krauklīts sēž ozolā (Raven Sits in the Oak Tree), Seši mazi bundzinieki (Six Small Drummers), Div' dūjiņas gaisā skrēja (Two Doves Bolted into the Blue), etc. Furthermore, he compiled the first national repertoire for choirs - the collection of songs Dziesmu rota (A Garland of Songs) and fostered the creation of the First All-Latvian Song Festival (back then known as the All-Latvian Singing Festival), which was held in Riga in 1873.