Home   Ald   Ant   Bel1   Bel2   Bel3   Bel4   Bel5   Bhu   Bot   Bul   Can1   Can2   Cha   Com   Con   Cze   Dis   Dom1   Dom2   Dom3   Fin   Fra1   Fra2   Fra3   Fra4   Fra5   Fun   Ger   GB1   GB2   GB3   GB4   GB5   GB6   GB7   GB8   GB9   Gue   Gui1   Gui2   Gui3   GuiB   Guy   Hun   Ind   Isr   Jap1   Jap2   Liec   Mal   Man1   Man2   Mon1   Mon2   Neth   NZ   Nic   Nig   ROC   San1   San2   Sao   SH   Sier   Som   SAfr   Spa1   Spa2   Swe   Swi1   Swi2   TC   Uga   US1   US2   US3   US4   US5   US6   Addenda  

NETHERLANDS
2009

Maigret

Delfzijl


June 16, 2009 - perf. 14½

The silhouette of "Maigret" appears to actually be that of his creator, Georges Simenon... wearing a bowler: Unlike the author, Maigret didn't wear glasses.

The pipes running acrosss the silhouette and in Simenon/Maigret's mouth, are the "trademarks" of the Dick Bruna covers of the Maigrets published in the Netherlands, four of which are used on the sheetlet. (see below)

Delfzijl - "The Birthplace of Maigret"

Delfzijl is the birthplace of Maigret... according to "the father of Maigret", Georges Simenon, who tells, in The Birth of Maigret, a delightful tale of how an image of his Chief Inspector appeared to him while he was awaiting repairs to his boat in Delfzijl harbor. Simenon scholars Claude Menguy and Pierre Deligny have challenged Simenon's memory somewhat, particularly as to which Maigret was written there, but still give Delfzijl the nod for Maigret's birthplace, in The True Beginnings of Superintendent Maigret.

Delfzijl erected a statue to commemorate its famous "native son", which you can learn more about in The Maigret Statue at Delfzijl, and Joe Richards' Maigret in Delfzijl.

Un crime en Hollande - Maigret in Holland

Delfzijl is also the setting for this Maigret novel, Maigret in Holland (Un crime en Hollande), in which Maigret goes to Delfzijl as an unofficial representative of the Police Judiciaire, for a French professor has been detained in a murder investigation...

The Dutch titles of Un crime en Hollande are Een misdaad in Holland and Maigret in Holland.

 

sheetlet containing five of the "Maigret" stamps and various Delfzijl scenes

 

Mooi Nederland - Beautiful Netherlands

While the stamp itself celebrates DelfSail, Maigret and the Port of Delfzijl, the sheetlet of five includes a patchwork of Delfzijl places and things... Heveskes, Weiwerd, Watergate from 1833, three Delfzijls, the Eemshotel, Oterdu, DelfSail 2009, Amsterdam School in Oud West, the port of Delfzijl, Maigret in Holland, Folly, the fortifications of Delfzijl, the monument to the poet-singer Ede Staal, and the facade of the Eemsmond Building. You can read about these here and here (in unedited Google translations of the original Dutch pages).

Here's the section on Maigret:

Maigret is de hoofdpersoon uit de romans van Georges Simenon. Simenon schreef zijn eerste Maigret-verhaal in Delfzijl. Later schreef Simenon nog 'Maigret in Holland' dat zich voor een deel ook in Delfzijl afspeelt.
In 1966 ondertekende de burgemeester van Delfzijl een uittreksel van de burgerlijke stand, waarin verklaard wordt dat Maigret op 45-jarige leeftijd geboren is op 23 februari 1929 in Delfzijl. Vader is Simenon, moeder is onbekend.

Maigret is the main character in the novels of Georges Simenon (1903-1989). Simenon wrote his first Maigret story in Delfzijl. Later he wrote "Maigret in Holland" which takes place in Delfzijl.
In 1966 the mayor of Delfzijl signed a statement of civil status, which states that Maigret, at the age of 45, was born on February 23, 1929 in Delfzijl. Father, Simenon; mother unknown.

 

first day covers

 

The four Maigret book covers (by Dick Bruna) on the sheetlets:


Maigret viert Kerstmis
(Un Noël de Maigret)
De woede van Maigret
(La Colère de Maigret)
Maigret en de stille verklikker (Maigret et l'indicateur)
Maigret en de gangsters
(Maigret, Lognon et les
gangsters)

a second sheetlet containing the Maigret stamp