Stamping out mistakes

A philatelic error

I am a philatelist, but I especially collect postcards with masonic themes. I present to interested brethren an error in the series of stamps issued on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Grand National Lodge of Romania (8 September, 1880–2020).

This year it will be 140 years since the foundation of the Grand National Lodge of Romania. The foundation Grand Master was Captain Constantin Moroiu. This year Rompresfiletalia1 issued a series of anniversary stamps.

However, they made a major error.

The officer shown in the stamp with the value of 20.50L, is not Constantin Moroiu the foundation Grand Master.

A Romanian officer with the rank of lieutenant-colonel and a combatant in the First World War is incorrectly shown on the stamp as Captain Constantin Moroiu, the founder of the Grand National Lodge of Romania. So, who was the man represented on the stamp as Constantin Moroiu?

On the okazii.ro2 website from 2017, two photos were for sale, one representing an officer and another of his wife,

By coincidence his name is also Constantin Moroiu.

The real foundation Grand Master of the Grand National Lodge of Romania The stamp issued with a portrait of the wrong Moroiu!

mentioning that it was Constantin Moroiu the founder of the Grand National Lodge of Romania with his wife.

Those who decided to use this portrait on the stamp of the anniversary philatelic issue have not checked their facts and have made a serious philatelic and historical error. Look at the image on the stamp and compare it with the genuine image of the Grand Master Constantin Moroiu: the difference is very visible.

As a historian of Freemasonry and as a Professor of Military History in the Romanian Military Academy I make the following assertions: 1) The founder of the Grand National

Lodge of Romania, Constantin Moroiu lived between 1837 and 1918 and he was an officer. He served as a captain in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–78, in which Romania gained its independence. After the war, he was demobilised. 2) He did not participate as a combat officer in the First World War.

In 1916 when Romania entered the war, Constantin Moroiu, the Grand

Master of the Grand National Lodge of Romania, was 79 years old! 3) The uniform of the officer shown on the stamp is that of a senior officer from the First World War, most likely a lieutenant-colonel of artillery. 4) The fez worn by this officer, from the image you see on the stamp, has the monogram of King Ferdinand I, who ruled between 1914 and 1927.