Mail From The Holy Land by Ed Kroft FRPSL

Mail From the Holy Land (Ottoman and Foreign Post Offices) To Uncommon Destinations During the UPU Forerunner Period 1874-1918
About this Event

Introduction:

Join Ed Kroft KC FRPSC FRPSL for this postal history presentation that will show over 200 rare covers sent from the Holy Land through the Ottoman, French, German, Austrian, Russia and Italian post offices over a 44-year period. See mail sent over 100 years ago to places such as Fiji, Japan, China, India, Africa and South America .How did the mail get to these destinations and how has it survived to the present day? What are the rates, routes and markings reflected on each cover?

This presentation will appeal to young and old, the generalist and the specialist. All you need is an appetite for an entertaining mix of history, geography and philately filled with extensive research !”

Biography:

Ed Kroft lives in Vancouver Canada and has collected stamps for over fifty-nine years . He is a partner of a major international law firm in Canada who has practiced in the area of tax law for over forty years and has lectured in tax law at Canadian law schools for thirty-five years.

Ed Kroft is a Fellow of both the Royal Philatelic Society of London and the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada(RPSC). He is an accredited international level FIP philatelic judge (postal history), Jury Fellow and Jury Trainer. Ed is also a nationally accredited judge in USA and Canada in various areas, including philatelic literature. Ed has successfully exhibited at the regional, national and international levels .

Ed was the President of the RPSC from 2017-2022 and was a Second Vice President in 2022-2023. Ed currently is Chair of the RPSC's Ethics Committee, its Honourary Legal Counsel and its International Liaison Officer . Ed also served two terms as President of the Society of Israel Philatelists (SIP) and now serves the SIP as a board member , the Chair of its Editorial Board and a member of its research committee. Ed has been actively involved on the executive of SIP for over twenty years.

Ed has written many articles and one book for various philatelic organizations . He has produced and presented many webinars on various philatelic subjects for various organizations and regularly presents seminars -both virtually and in person. In 2021, one of his presentations was the winner of the APS Chatty Awards.

In 2012, Ed was the winner of the Reggel Award of the SIP for outstanding contributions to Holy Land philately. Ed was also the 2013 Geldert Medal awarded by the RPSC and was the 2017 winner of the Jennings Award from the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE). In 2020, Ed was the recipient of the Dickstein award of the SIP for outstanding philatelic writing and research.

Ed is a member of many societies including the RPSC,APS, AAPE, SIP, Canadian Aerophilatelic Society, American Air Mail Society, American Philatelic Congress and Postal History Society , the Postal History Society of Canada, the Philatelic Specialists Society of Canada, BNAPS, ONEPS , the Collectors Club of New York, the CFPI and the Chicago Collectors Club .

His philatelic interests include the postal history of the Holy Land, the Middle East and Canada and Aerophilately.