Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rosa Rein, who would have turned 113 in March, has died in a nursing home in canton Ticino. She was Switzerland’s oldest person and, according to wikipedia, one of the 15 oldest “verified” people in the world. When she celebrated her birthday in 2009 she was still able to walk, although she had some vision and hearing loss.
Rosa Rein was born in 1897 in Dzietzkowitz, now part of Poland, the daughter of relatively comfortable farmers, according to RTI, Swiss Italian radio. She married for the first time in 1935, at age 38, after running a textile business, but the young Jewish woman and her German husband fled to Brazil at the time of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom.
Basel Carnival collector's postage stamps
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss postal service will start selling its newest commemorative stamps, for the famed Basel Carnival (Fasnacht), 5 January to collectors and 12 January in post offices. The one-franc (regular letter price) stamps may be used starting 12 January.
The three stamps commemorate the centennary of the organizing committee that is at the heart of the three-day pre-Lenten festival, but La Poste points out that Basel’s Carnival itself dates back to the 14th century. The stamps show typical costumes and the heart of the party, the city’s Spalentor, town hall and the cathedral. Basel artist Andreas Daniel Vetsch created them.
The festival in 2010 takes place from 22-24 February.
Links to other sites: Basel Carnival (Ger), Basel tourism office, Swiss post office philately page (Ed. note: the new stamps are not yet listed on the English pages)
