Michael Sefi

{{Short description|British philatelist (1943–2026)}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = LVO, FRPSL, RDP | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date|1943|12|11|df=yes}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|5|9|1943|12|11|df=yes}} | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection | period = | known_for = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | children = | family = | awards =  | website = | education = | alma_mater =  | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | influences =  | era = | discipline = philatelist  | sub_discipline =  | workplaces =  | doctoral_students = | notable_students =  | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }}

'''Michael Richard Sefi''' LVO, RDP, FRPSL (11 December 1943 – 9 May 2026) was a British philatelist who was the Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection from 1 January 2003 until his retirement in September 2018.<ref>[http://www.stampmagazine.co.uk/content/gb_section/royal_keeper.html "Royal Collection gets new Keeper"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427071144/http://www.stampmagazine.co.uk/content/gb_section/royal_keeper.html |date=27 April 2010 }}, ''Stamp Magazine'' website, retrieved 20 December 2007.</ref>

== Life and career == Sefi was born in London on 11 December 1943.<ref>Sefi, Michael Richard', Who's Who 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2009 ; online edn, Nov 2009, accessed 11 March 2010.</ref> When he was a child, his grandfather introduced him to stamp collecting. He began collecting stamps again in his early thirties<ref name="GBCC Sefi"/> when his own children received stamps and stamp albums as a gift<ref>[http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1;jsessionid=MVHQKXNIHOANKFB2IGFEQEQUHRAYUQ2K?catId=32300677&mediaId=32600689 Sefi, Michael. "A Collector's Tale"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608084546/http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1;jsessionid=MVHQKXNIHOANKFB2IGFEQEQUHRAYUQ2K?catId=32300677&mediaId=32600689 |date=8 June 2011 }}, Royal Mail website, retrieved 20 December 2007.</ref><ref name="TQS p310">Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', page 310.</ref> and while he was looking for a hobby to ease the stress from the Mann Judd and Touche Ross merger.<ref name="GBCC Sefi"/> He specialized in collecting the first postage stamps of George V's reign.<ref name="TQS p310"/> He was educated at Downside School <ref>{{cite news |title=Michael Sefi, philatelist and Keeper of the royal stamp collection under Queen Elizabeth II |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/05/13/michael-sefi-stamp-keeper-royal-philatelic-collection/ |access-date=13 May 2026 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=13 May 2026}}</ref>

He worked as a chartered accountant until he partially retired in 1983. He was a partner of Mann Judd, later Touche Ross, [later Deloitte] in the 1970s.<ref name="GBCC Sefi">[http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_sefi_intvw1.html Interview on 15 October 2004], ''The Chronicle'', journal of the Great Britain Collectors Club, January 2005. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110723101202/http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_sefi_intvw1.html WebCite archive here.]</ref> He became an active member of the Great Britain Philatelic Society of which he was president between 2000/02 and 2012/14. Sefi was a member of Council of the Royal Philatelic Society London between 1990 and 2005 where he was a member of many decision-making bodies.<ref name="GBCC Sefi"/>

In September 1996,<ref name="GBCC Sefi"/> he was hired as deputy to the Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection, who was Charles Goodwyn. He helped him accelerate the mounting of the George VI postage stamp collection.<ref>In [http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_sefi_intvw1.html October 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723101202/http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_sefi_intvw1.html |date=23 July 2011 }}, Sefi announced that Vousden, his assistant, and he had finished three-quarters of this mounting.</ref> Sefi participated in international philatelic exhibitions of parts of the Royal Philatelic Collection and in welcoming students and researchers. He played a major role in the move of the collection from Buckingham Palace to St James's Palace in 1999.<ref name="TQS p310"/>

When Charles Goodwyn announced his retirement in late 2002, Sefi was chosen to succeed him among three other candidates by the Keeper of the Privy Purse.<ref name="TQS p312">Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', page 312.</ref>

Sefi retired as Keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection in September 2018.

He directed the preparations of ''The Queen's Own'', a Royal Collection exhibit at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., which was held in 2004.<ref>[http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/queen's/index.html ''The Queen's Own''], National Postal Museum, official website.</ref> To assist Sefi, he had the help of Surésh Dhargalkar, an architect and conservation specialist, who was Sefi's assistant from 2003.<ref name="TQS p308-309">Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', pages 308–309.</ref> To help him for the mounting, he hired George VI specialist, Rod Vousden, as assistant.<ref name="TQS p313">Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps'', page 313.</ref>

Sefi died from lung and heart disease on 9 May 2026, at the age of 82.<ref>{{cite news |title=Michael Sefi, philatelist and Keeper of the royal stamp collection under Queen Elizabeth II |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/05/13/michael-sefi-stamp-keeper-royal-philatelic-collection/ |access-date=13 May 2026 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=13 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Michael Sefi obituary: keeper of the Royal Philatelic Collection |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-sefi-obituary-death-z9g7nhvsn |access-date=19 May 2026 |publisher=The Times |date=19 May 2026}}</ref>

==Honours== * Appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO) in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours List.<ref name=gaz31712>{{London Gazette|issue=60534|supp=y|page=3|date=15 June 2013}}</ref> * Signatory to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists (RDP) in 2013. * Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London (FRPSL).

==References and sources== ;References {{reflist}} ;Sources * Courtney, Nicholas (2004). ''The Queen's Stamps, The Authorised History of the Royal Philatelic Collection'', éd. Methuen, 2004, {{ISBN|0-413-77228-4}}.

== External links == * Obituary, 13 May 2026: [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/05/13/michael-sefi-stamp-keeper-royal-philatelic-collection/ Michael Sefi, philatelist and Keeper of the royal stamp collection under Queen Elizabeth II] * "In the Spotlight", interview of Sefi by Larry Rosenblum on 15 October 2004. Published in ''The Chronicle'', journal of the Great Britain Collectors Club, January 2005. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110723101202/http://www.gbstamps.com/gbcc/gbcc_sefi_intvw1.html Reedited on the GBCC website], 28 May 2005, retrieved 20 December 2007. * Sefi, Michael. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110608084546/http://www.royalmail.com/portal/stamps/content1;jsessionid=MVHQKXNIHOANKFB2IGFEQEQUHRAYUQ2K?catId=32300677&mediaId=32600689 A Collector's Tale]", Royal Mail website, retrieved 20 December 2007.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sefi, Michael}} Category:1943 births Category:2026 deaths Category:People educated at Downside School Category:British philatelists Category:English accountants Category:Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London Category:Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order

Michael Sefi

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