Volta & Pro Colonial
At the end of the 18th century, Alessandro Volta of Como invented the first battery. We get the word volts as an electrical measurement from his name. If you speak a little Italian, you may have learned that Italians call batteries, pile. This may be because Volta’s first battery was called a voltaic pile: its construction involved a stack or pile of metal discs with a rod through the center of them.
The four stamps at the top of this page of my album show an image of Volta. The dates in the bottom left corner read, 1827 – the year Volta died – to 1927. So it’s the 100th anniversary of his death. The same year this stamp was issued, they built a museum in honor of him in Como, by the lake. I’ve been to the Volta museum a few times – well, I’ve passed by it, but never went inside since it was always closed when I was there.
Italian Colonial Institute
The Istituto Coloniale Italiano (Italian Colonial Institute) was an organization that worked on informing the Italian public about the colonies. It was meant to provide news and to encourage Italians to migrate to them. It was founded in 1908 in Rome by a group of politicians, diplomats, professors, and explorers of the time who had an interest in Africa and the expansion of Italy.
In the late 1920s, the Institute became part of the Fascists agenda to build an Italian empire. They changed their name first to the Fascist Colonial Institute, and in the late 1930s to the Fascist Institute of Italian Africa. After the second world war and the loss of the colonies, the Institute changed its agenda to focus on the rights of Italians living and working in the former colonies. It went through a couple more name changes and more reorganization over the decades that followed, but it continues today as the Italian-African Institute.
Note
I comment on the Volta stamps, although I don’t yet have them. I’ve recently ordered them, but it’s during the holidays. So their arrival may be delayed. Soon, though, this page will be complete.
Contains 9 spots: own 9 – 9 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Feb 11, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
Alessandro Volta
✓ |
42 |
20c (oct 1927) |
|||
✓ |
43 |
50c (oct 1927) |
|||
✓ |
44 |
1.25₤ (oct 1927) |
Pro Italian Colonial Institute
✓ |
32 |
5+5c (jun 1926) |
|||
✓ |
33 |
10+5c (jun 1926) |
|||
✓ |
34 |
20+5c (jun 1926) |
|||
✓ |
35 |
40+5c (jun 1926) |
|||
✓ |
36 |
60+5c (jun 1926) |
|||
✓ |
37 |
1+0.05₤ (jun 1926) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
