Within the "Famous People" series, Macedonian Post brought together very diverse individuals: the first stamp in the series is dedicated to the 250th anniversary of Napoleon Bonaparte's birth; the second, to the 100th anniversary of Rado "Korčagin" Jovčevski, a Yugoslav hero during the People's Liberation War; and the third, to the 100th anniversary of the death of Jašar Bey of Skopje, an Albanian political and public figure.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to consider all of these stamps as separate issues, but on the Macedonian Post website, they are grouped together in a single series in the 2019 stamp schedule.
Napoleon Bonaparte, a French emperor, military leader, and statesman, was born on August 15, 1769, in Ajaccio, Corsica. The stamp in the series depicts a detail from the painting "Napoleon at the Height of His Glory (Before the Battle of Wagram)" by the French portrait artist Joseph Chabor. The portrait was painted in 1810 and is currently housed in the Napoleon Family Museum in Rome.
The Battle of Wagram was a decisive battle of the Austro-French War of 1809, fought on July 5–6, 1809, near the village of Wagram, near the island of Lobau in the Danube. In this battle, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the troops of the Austrian Archduke Charles.
The painting depicts Napoleon astride a white horse, nervously shuffling his legs. The Emperor is dressed in the uniform of a light cavalry colonel with the Legion of Honor medal, wearing his famous tricorne hat, and the wind blows his horse's mane and tail. Napoleon in the painting is calm and majestic, standing on a hill, while a panorama of the raging battle can be seen in the background.
Incidentally, this is not the first time this painting has been the subject of a postage stamp: Yemen, Fujairah, Paraguay, and other countries have issued stamps featuring Joseph Chabor's painting.
The new Macedonian postage stamp also has another unique feature. In February 2019, the country's official name was changed, and it is now called North Macedonia, not simply Macedonia. Naturally, this change was reflected on the postage stamps—now all stamps feature the country's name, North Macedonia, written in three languages: Macedonian, Albanian, and English. This decision poses a difficult challenge for postage stamp designers, as almost a third of the stamp's surface is taken up by official inscriptions, leaving little room for creativity.
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