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Théodore Champion

Théodore Champion with Henri Henneberg in Paris–Roubaix (1898)

Théodore Champion (14 February 1873 – 31 August 1954) was a Swiss cyclist, philatelist and stamp dealer, who was added to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1937.[1] He was born in Geneva and took French citizenship in 1948.

Cycling

Théodore Champion was among the first generation of Swiss cyclists. Four times - 1892, 1893, 1895 and 1896 - he was Swiss champion in the sprint. In 1895 he was also second in the Swiss Championship road race.

Philately

Theodore Champion was the son of a bank employee and a mother who collected stamps. With his brother Adrien he searched the bins of his father's bank for stamps. It was said that they sold their collection for a large sum of money to show their skeptical father the merits of collecting stamps.[citation needed]

He moved to Paris in 1899 and was employed by Alfred Forbin. In 1902 he bought Forbin's postage stamp dealership so that Forbin could concentrate on fiscal stamps.[2]

Champion was one of the founders of the Paris Postal Museum, to which he left valuable pieces from his collection.

Tributes

Theodore Champion was shown several times on stamps:

  • Liechtenstein issued a special stamp in 1969
  • Antigua 1993
  • Montserrat in 2002 on a block of four stamps in honor of Rowland Hill

References

  1. ^ Background notes on The Roll of Distinguished Philatelists September 2011, Roll of Distinguished Philatelists Trust, London, 2011. Archived here.
  2. ^ Birch, Brian. Biographies of Philatelists and Dealers. 9th edition. Standish, Wigan: 2008, p.540.
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