This commemorative stamp was issued by India Post on 8th April 1981 in honour of Mr. Heinrich von Stephan, founder of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

Mr. von Stephan was born on 7th January 1831 in the German state of Pomerania. After his schooling, he entered the Prussian postal service. The German Government presented a general postal convention prepared by Mr. von Stephan before the Governments of Europe. On 15th September 1874, a Congress, with representatives of 22 states, met in Bern, Switzerland. The Congress appointed Mr. von Stephan as the Chairman of the Commission.

Thanks to Mr. von Stephan’s initiative and knowledge of postal matters, the General Postal Convention was signed on 9th October 1874, and the ‘General Postal Union’, predecessor of today’s UPU, came into existence.

The General Postal Union was renamed the UPU on 9th October, 1878. India joined the UPU in 1876, two years after the organisation's founding in 1874.