Description: Issued by the Kingdom of Hungary (MAGYARORSZÁG) as a core high-value denomination in the influential "Famous Hungarians" (Arckép) definitive series, this 70-fillér stamp honors the legendary structural thinker Farkas Bolyai. Designed by the prominent national graphic artist Sándor Légrády and produced via photogravure by the State Printing Works in Budapest, the design centers on a portrait of Bolyai wearing historical attire set against a solid magenta background frame. The lower layout uses a clean rectangular block with crisp typography reading "70f" on the left and the state name "MAGYARORSZÁG" stretching across the base. The vertical left frame border is lined with fine, subtle lettering spelling out the name "BOLYAI F.", flanked by standard 15-gauge perforation edges.
Circa: 1932
Condition: Used.
Notes:
Farkas Bolyai (1775–1856) was a brilliant 19th-century Hungarian mathematician and polymath. Known as Wolfgang Bolyai in Germany, his inclusion in this stamp series honors his monumental impact on the history of geometry.
Bolyai spent almost his entire life obsessed with trying to prove Euclid’s famous Fifth Postulate (the parallel axiom, which states that parallel lines will never meet). He failed to prove it mathematically, because it is inherently impossible to prove using Euclidean rules, but his deep exploration laid critical groundwork for future generations. Which would turn out to be his own son.
The stamp was issued in July 1932, meaning the Hungarian Post specifically chose to release this stamp to commemorate the exact 100th anniversary of his masterpiece textbook, the Tentamen.