José Ivars from Calpe has been elected new member of the Royal Hispanic Academy of Philately and Postal History, a recognition to the long trajectory and spreading in the world of philately made by this passionate of the world of stamps and that at the moment presides the Philatelic and Numismatic Group of Calp as well as the Federation of Philatelic Associations of the Valencian Community (FASFILCOVA).
Ivars joins this organism after his candidacy was approved by the majority of the academicians in the General Assembly of the institution held last March 17th. His candidacy was proposed by one of the academicians and endorsed by three others, a requirement for it to be presented. "For me it was a great surprise to be proposed to become an academician and it shows that they have valued my curriculum in national philately as well as the dissemination carried out over the years", and he adds that he assumes the position with "a lot of enthusiasm and responsibility".
In order to become a member of the Royal Hispanic Academy of Philately and Postal History, it is essential to have recognized prestige and merit in the research, study and dissemination of everything related to Spanish Philately and Postal History. José Ivars has more than 40 years of experience in the world of philately, a hobby to which he was introduced by an uncle of his from Benissa. He began his philatelic career within the Agrupación Filatélica y Numismática de Benissa in 1982, of which he was a founding member, as he was also a founding member of the Agrupación Filatélica y Numismática de Calp, created in 1996. He has motivated and participated in the organisation of all the philatelic exhibitions that have taken place in the Marina Alta region - among them EXFICALP -, promoter of many postage stamps that have been put into circulation in recent years related to Alicante themes, the last of them, the one dedicated to the Bofill Year, as a member of the Bofill Year 2023 commission.
In addition, he has published numerous articles on his blog Ifac Filatélico, created in 2014 and in which he has published more than 800 texts, as well as in the media (such as the weekly Canfali Marina Alta, in which he has a section) and in specialized magazines.
"The academics are the guardians of philatelic knowledge and are the people who have the greatest philatelic wisdom, whose function is to watch over the heritage of philately and Spanish postal history and make it known", he pointed out.
This morning Ivars, accompanied by Jacky Vázquez, member of the Agrupación Filatélica de Calpe, was received by the Mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, and the first deputy mayor Juan Manuel del Pino, who congratulated him for this distinction.