1. Maurice Jean Marie Burrus was an Alsatian tobacco magnate, politician and philatelist.
11 Facts About Maurice Burrus
1. 2.
Maurice Burrus was born in Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines on March 8,1882, to a family of tobacco industrialists.
3.
Maurice Burrus was educated at Dole, in the College Stanislas de Paris and later in Hanover where he studied banking and learnt German before returning to Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines where he took over the running of the family tobacco factory.
4.
Maurice Burrus travelled to the United States, Canada, Mexico and Asia Minor.
5.
Maurice Burrus was awarded the Croix de guerre and the Medaille des Proscrits d'Alsace.
6.
Between 1932 and 1942, Burrus was a Deputy for Haut-Rhin in the French Parliament of the French Third Republic, first as an independent left party member until 1936 and then with the Independents of Popular Action.
7.
Maurice Burrus began to collect stamps at the age of seven after old family mail found in their attics spurred his interest.
8.
In collecting, Maurice Burrus was a completist and he had the funds to allow him to be so.
9.
Maurice Burrus was a member of the Academie de philatelie for more than 30 years and in 1955 he was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists.
10.
Maurice Burrus was commemorated in 1968 by the Liechtenstein post office when he was one of five notable collectors included on a set of stamps issued that year.
11.
The Maurice Burrus collection was connected to the Ponzi scheme run by Dr Paul Singer, manager of the Irish-based Shanahan Stamp Auctions that existed in the 1950s, one of the greatest scandals in philately.