Philatelic document - L'œuvre d'Orient 170 ans

L'Œuvre d'Orient: 170 years of commitment to the Christians of the Orient L'Œuvre d'Orient was founded in 1856 in a major historical context: the end of the Crimean War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which recognized France's role in protecting Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Then called Œuvre des écoles d'Orient, it was created on the initiative of a group of lay Sorbonne professors around the famous mathematician Baron Cauchy, to support the creation of schools in Lebanon, convinced that education was an essential lever for the future of any society. In 1860, following the massacres of Christians by the Druze, Abbé Charles Lavigerie, the first director, recommended widening the scope of the school. This was to be the beginning of a great history of solidarity. As early as 1895, director Mgr Félix Charmetant was one of the most active figures in France denouncing the massacres and crimes suffered by the Armenians and raising funds to help them. Since then, L'Œuvre has never ceased to accompany the Christians of the East in the most dramatic moments of their history: natural disasters, wars, great famines, displacements... In 2026, L'Œuvre d'Orient, a non-political French association, celebrates its 170th anniversary. Present in 23 countries, from the Middle East to Eastern Europe, from the Horn of Africa to southern India, it supports Christian communities that are active on the ground, on a daily basis, helping everyone through education, healthcare, social and humanitarian aid, culture and heritage. Because Epiphany is the same as Christmas for Eastern Christians, Œuvre d'Orient has placed its anniversary under the sign of La célébration de l'Épiphanie ou l'Adoration des rois mages, a painting by Augustin Frison-Roche, a symbol of Eastern spiritual richness and the universality of the message it has carried since its foundation.

Timbre-poste (héliogravure) : Création Augustin Frison-Roche, mise en page Sandrine Chimbaud. Document philatélique : Création et mise en page Sandrine Chimbaud d’ap. photos © archives de L’Œuvre d’Orient. Timbre à date : Mise en page Sandrine Chimbaud, logo © L’Œuvre d’Orient. Texte : L’Œuvre d’Orient.