Intl. Games & Holy Year

The caption on each of four stamps on the top row of this page reads, Giuochi Universitari Internazionali Torino 1933 XI, which means, International University Games Turin September 1933.

The International University Games was the precursor of the Universiade, which is also known as the FISU World University Games. It’s competition similar to the Olympics, but for university students. It convenes once every four years somewhere in the world. In 1933, it was in Torino, Italy. These stamps commemorate that event.

Another Holy Year

Piux XI, who was then Pope of the Catholic Church, declared from December 25, 1932 to December 24, 1933 a Holy Year. Even though the same pope had declared 1924 a Holy Year, he felt that given the suffering in the world, it was needed. Little did he know that in 1933, with Hitler becoming the leader of Germany and Mussolini planning invasions of its neighbors, would be the start of what was to become World War II. But maybe he did know that and was hoping to inspire peace with the declaration of the Holy Year, encouraging Catholics around the world to travel to the Vatican as a pilgrimige.

There was another reason he chose 1933: At that time, if was a common belief that Jesus was born in the year 0 – many scholars believe that he was born from 6 to 4 b.c.e. – and died thirty-three years later, which to them would be the 33 c.e. That means that 1933 was the twentieth centennial of his death. Considering all of that and the suffering and hope for rebirth at the time, it was poetic to have the Holy Year in 1933. The stamps on this page that commemorated that Holy Year have a caption that reads, Anno Santo MCMXXXIII, which means, Holy Year 1933.

Note

This page is complete with all unused stamps. As I’m accumulate more and more stamps from Italy, this is becoming the situation with more of these album pages. But I don’t seem to tire of being pleased with that.

Contains 11 spots: own 11 – 11 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Oct 28, 2022

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

Intnl. University Games

1.1	✓	341	Mussolini Forum Athlete Statue & Obelisk	10c (aug 1933) comm., brown
1.2	✓	342	Mussolini Forum Athlete Statue & Obelisk	20c (aug 1933) comm., red
1.3	✓	343	Mussolini Forum Athlete Statue & Obelisk	50c (aug 1933) comm., purple
1.4	✓	344	Mussolini Forum Athlete Statue & Obelisk	1.25₤ (aug 1933) comm., sky blue

Holy Year

2.1	✓	345	Dome of St. Peter’s	20c (oct 1933) comm., red
2.2	✓	346	Angel Carrying Cross	25c (oct 1933) comm., green
2.3	✓	347	Angel Carrying Cross	50c (oct 1933) comm., purple
2.4	✓	348	Dome of St. Peter’s	1.25₤ (oct 1933) comm., sky blue
2.5	✓	349	Doves & Cross	2.55+2.50₤ (oct 1933) semi-postal, black

Holy Sepulchre Church

3.1	✓	A54	St Peter Basilica	50+25c (oct 1933) air mail, purple
4.1	✓	A55	St Peter Basilica	75+50c (oct 1933) air mail, purple

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.