Philipp von Ferrary

Philip Ferrari de La Renotière (January 11, 1850 – May 20, 1917) was a noted French-born stamp collector, assembling probably the most complete worldwide collection that ever existed, or is considered likely to exist. Among his extremely rare stamps were the unique Treskilling Yellow of Sweden and the 1856 one-cent "Black on Magenta" of British Guiana. Of Italian family background, Ferrary took French nationality in 1871, but later became an Austrian national, a fact that ultimately led to the French government seizing, and later auctioning, his stamp collection following his death in 1917. Because France and Austria were enemies during the First World War, Ferrary was himself considered an enemy of France. His adopted nationality also prevented him from returning to France when the war began. Ferrary's mother allowed the Hôtel Matignon to be used as the embassy of Austria-Hungary, with the "proviso that her son could keep an extensive apartment there for the remainder of his life." Ferrary's collection was kept at the Matignon; this building later became the residence of the Prime Minister of France. He died in Lausanne in May 1917, and was buried in Steinbach am Attersee in Upper Austria. His stamp collection is still considered to have been perhaps the greatest "ever formed".