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On 5 October 2026, the Kyrgyz Express Post postage stamp series "The Anniversaries of Great Personalities" is being put into circulation by the Ministry of Digital Development and Innovative Technologies of the Kyrgyz Republic pursuant to Order No. 77 dated 12 August 2026.

2026 marks the anniversaries of prominent figures who made invaluable contributions to the development of world civilization: the 450th anniversary of the death of Titian Vecellio, the 200th anniversary of the birth of M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the 125th anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Verdi, the 125th anniversary of the birth of Walt Disney, and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Louis Armstrong. Five new KEP stamps are dedicated to these anniversary dates.

Titian Vecellio (c. 1490–1576) was an Italian painter and the leading representative of the Venetian School of the High and Late Renaissance. Titian's name stands alongside those of such Renaissance masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Botticelli.Titian painted primarily biblical and mythological subjects, but he also became renowned as an outstanding portraitist. Already at the age of about thirty, he was recognized as the finest painter in Venice. In 1516, Titian was granted the honorary title of the first painter of the Venetian Republic, which he retained until his death.

Titian mastered all the skills of the painter's craft and was equally adept at depicting classical ancient, Christian and secular subjects. He was a master of the nude, court painting, portraiture, landscape and epic painting. He was also an outstanding wood engraver. During the mature period of his career, Titian developed an original style and painting technique. His best-known works include "Venus with a Mirror" ("Venus at Her Toilette"), "Sacred and Profane Love", "Venus of Urbino", "The Tribute Money", "Penitent Magdalene", " Ecce Homo" and "Saint Sebastian".

In addition to being an outstanding artist, Titian also distinguished himself as a remarkable humanist and writer. His artistic legacy played a major role in shaping the development of 17th-century art.

Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin (1826–1889) was a Russian writer, satirist, journalist and statesman who served as Vice-Governor of Ryazan and Tver. His real surname was Saltykov, while Nikolai Shchedrin was his pseudonym. In his work, Saltykov-Shchedrin remarkably combined a career as a high-ranking government official with a harsh satire of the bureaucratic system. Among his best-known works are the satirical novel "The History of a Town", the sketches "Diary of a Provincial in St. Petersburg", the psychological family chronicle "The Golovlyov Family", and the autobiographical chronicle "Old Years in Poshekhonye". Saltykov-Shchedrin also wrote a cycle of sharp allegorical tales for adults. The most popular of them are "The Tale of How One Peasant Fed Two Generals", "The Wise Minnow", "The Wild Landowner" and "The Idealistic Crucian". He devoted considerable attention and effort to editorial work. From 1868, he served as one of the leading contributors and editors of the journal "Notes of the Fatherland", which he officially headed after the death of Nikolai Nekrasov.

The work of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin had a significant influence on the development of Russian literature and language. His humanism, civic spirit, and intolerance of routine and injustice remain relevant to this day.

Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813–1901) was an Italian composer and one of the greatest representatives of the world of opera. His work marked the culmination of the development of 19th-century Italian opera. Verdi composed 26 operas, the best known and most frequently performed of which are "A Masked Ball", "Rigoletto", "The Troubadour", "La traviata", "Aida", "Otello", "Falstaff", "Nabucco" and "Don Carlos". In addition to operas, Verdi also composed numerous sacred and instrumental works, romances and other musical pieces. His music is infused with a spark of high civic passion, an unerring accuracy in portraying the most complex processes of the human soul, alongside nobility, beauty, and an inexhaustible melodic richness. Life in all its diversity of conflicts is the overarching theme of the composer's work. At the same time, Verdi's art conveys a sense of particular beauty and harmony. For new generations of music lovers, Verdi's work remains a classical standard, combining clarity of thought, emotional inspiration and musical perfection. Verdi's works continue to be performed on opera stages around the world, including in Kyrgyzstan.

Walter Elias Disney (1901–1966) was an American animator, film director, actor, screenwriter and producer, and the founder of "Walt Disney Productions", which later developed into the multimedia corporation "The Walt Disney Company". He was the creator of the first sound, musical and feature-length animated films in the history of cinema. During his lifetime, Disney directed 111 films and produced another 576 films. Among Disney’s most popular animated films are "The Three Little Pigs" (1933), "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), "The Ugly Duckling" (1939), "Pinocchio" (1940), "Bambi" (1942), "Cinderella" (1950), "Peter Pan" (1953), "Sleeping Beauty" (1959) and "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961).

Disney and his staff created such world-famous characters as Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck. Over the course of his career, Walt Disney received 26 Academy Awards (Oscars), including 22 competitive awards and 4 honorary awards in special categories, as well as the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. To this day, Disney holds the world record for the number of Academy Awards won.

Music plays an important role in Disney's films. Sound in his films serves not merely as a background to the dialogue, but becomes an integral part of them, creating a musical background and harmony throughout the animated work.

After Disney's death, the company he founded continued to expand, becoming a multinational media corporation that continues to create outstanding animated works. Among its relatively recent hits are "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), "Aladdin" (1992), "Mulan" (1998), "Winnie the Pooh" (2011), "Zootopia" (2016), and many others. The corporation "Walt Disney Productions" owns the highly popular "Disneyland" theme park network.

For almost 100 years, children and parents around the world, including in Kyrgyzstan, have watched with pleasure and admiration the outstanding animated films created by the genius of Walt Disney and his successors. And so it will always be, because true art is immortal.

Louis Daniel Armstrong (1901–1971) was an outstanding American jazz musician, trumpeter, singer, and actor who became one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz. Through his art, he exerted an enormous influence on the development and popularization of jazz worldwide. The peak of the musician's career came in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, he appeared extensively in films, toured, and performed with other jazz legends, including Bing Crosby, Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald. It was also during this period that Armstrong's most famous songs were recorded and released, including "What a Wonderful World," "Hello, Dolly!," "Go Down Moses", and "Summertime".

During his film career, Louis Armstrong appeared in more than 50 films, mostly playing himself or a "musician in an orchestra". For his work, Armstrong received numerous awards, including a Grammy Award (1965). In 1972, he was posthumously presented with the "Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award". Louis Armstrong’s recording of "What a Wonderful World" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame as one of the greatest songs of the 20th century. In 2017, Louis Armstrong was symbolically inducted into the "National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame" (USA).

Louis Armstrong was one of the musicians who had the greatest influence on the development of jazz. He rightfully earned the title of the "King of Jazz". His work continues to inspire and delight jazz music lovers around the world, including in Kyrgyzstan.

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