On the news of the passing of Professor Stephen Hawking this morning, Isle of Man Post Office offers its sincere condolences to his family and friends and to Elizabeth Forrester (Executive Director) and the Trustees of The Stephen Hawking Foundation, during this sad time. IOMPO also reflects with pride, the honour and privilege it felt to be chosen by The Stephen Hawking Foundation to record his life's work on postage stamps in July 2016.
IOMPO was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the Starmus science festival in the Canary Islands in June 2016 where Maxine Cannon, General Manager of Isle of Man Stamps & Coins, met Professor Hawking and he personally endorsed the set of six stamps, among stars including Professor Brian Cox and musician Brian May.
The stamps and associated products marked 100 years of Professor Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity and the work of theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. The issue saw the collaboration of IOMPO, Glazier Design, The Stephen Hawking Foundation, Greenlight (the authorised representative of the estate of Albert Einstein) and Hollywood actor Eddie Redmayne.
On seeing the final set of stamps, which hung on his living room wall, Professor Hawking said: "Much of my life's work has been to encourage young people in the study of cosmology and astrophysics and to help inspire them to better understand our universe and beyond. I hope that this unique set of stamps goes some way towards achieving this."