Mirosław Artur Bojanowicz (1906 - 9 May 1986) was a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 philatelist

Philately

Philately is the study of stamps and postal history and other related items. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting, which does not necessarily involve the study of stamps. It is possible to be a philatelist without owning any stamps...

 who settled in England after WWII and became a recognized expert on the stamps of Poland

Postage stamps and postal history of Poland

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Poland. Although a postal service existed in Poland from 1558 postal markings were first introduced in 1764...

. He frequently served as a judge at international exhibitions and in 1966 was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists

Roll of Distinguished Philatelists

The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists is a philatelic award of international scale, created by the Philatelic Congress of Great Britain in 1921...

; Bojanowicz was one of very few professional philatelists to be accorded this honour.

Early life

Bojanowicz was born in Yugoslavia and as a child moved with his parents to Poland.

Before the war he collected Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...

 for which he won a gold medal in Warsaw in 1936. He later expanded this collection to the whole of Yugoslavia.

After World War Two

After the war he formed a collection of the postal history

Postal history

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...

 and stamps of Poland for the period 1938 to 1946 which, in 1966, he donated to the British Museum

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

 (now the British Library). This collection includes Łodz ghetto post, underground posts, Warsaw Scout post, Polish government in exile, prisoner of war mail and Polish Free Forces mail.

Poland number one

He specialised in Poland No 1 and probably had one of the largest collection of this stamp in the world. This collection comprised some 1,500 copies of the stamp, over 300 covers and about 600 documents from this period. He started this collection in 1952. He was the author of The Kingdom of Poland: Poland No 1 and associated Postal History (1979).

Donation

In 1966 Bojanowicz donated an important collection of Polish stamps and postal history of 1938-1946 to the British Library Philatelic Collections

British Library Philatelic Collections

The British Library Philatelic Collections is the national philatelic collection of the United Kingdom with over 8 million items from around the world. It was established in 1891 as part of the British Museum Library, later to become the British Library, with the collection of Thomas Tapling...

 where it complements the Kaluski Collection

Janusz Kaluski

Janusz Marja Stefan Rogala Kaluski was a sapper in the Polish Army who took part in the D-Day landings of World War II and who later won the Cross of Valour...

. The Bojanowicz Collection includes:

• Lodz ghetto post.
• Underground posts.
• Warsaw Scout post.
• Polish Government in Exile material.
• Prisoner of War mail.
• Polish Free Forces material.

Awards

Bojanowiz won many awards for his collection including:

• 1960 Grand Prix at the Warsaw Centenary Exhibition
• 1961 Grand Prix of the President of Italy at the Merano International Exhibition
• 1962 Grand Prix D’Honneur at the Budapest International