On October 12, 2024, our long-time member Wolfgang Jakubek passed away at the age of 94. Since 1973, he had examined the old German states of Bergedorf, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, the famous “Vineta Provisional” of the German Empire and the United States of America in the BPP. After thirty years, he ended his active examination activities, but remained closely associated with the association for many years.
The “fireside evenings” in the foyer of the conference hotel at the annual examiners’ conference are unforgettable. Wolfgang Jakubek and his closest expertizer friend Hans-Georg Schlegel sat in front of a large and enthusiastic audience, who listened to Jakubek’s witty remarks from his eventful life as a professional philatelist. Schlegel Senior acted as the keynote speaker – the whole thing could go on well into the night without getting boring for even a second. Wolfgang Jakubek was a gifted entertainer, and the description of him as the “Harald Juhnke of philately” was very apt.
In recent years, things had become quieter around “Mister Mauritius”. He had earned this title by selling some of the famous blue and red Mauritius stamps, which he wrote about in detail and in his unmistakable style in his perhaps best book “Menschen, Marken und Marotten”. His eyesight was failing, but not his sharp mind. He was able to rant vigorously on the phone against the BPP and its current protagonists. Three days later, a handwritten apology arrived. You just couldn’t be angry with him.
Wolfgang Jakubek was a great figure in German and international philately. He is the last representative of a generation that started their careers in the turmoil of the Second World War. We will miss his stories. We will not forget him!
