Forgotten Biography

Shri Anand Shankar Mittal (A. S. Mittal)

Shri Anand Shankar Mittal (b. April 7, 1930, - d. September 19, 2010) was a founder member and past president of Philatelic Society of Rajasthan. He started his business of Book Store and Stamp selling at small scale in Bharatpur and later shifted to Jaipur in same trade. He raised an empire of Rajasthan’s leading Publishing House, Education Institute and Mittal Stamp Co. which became a reputed name in the list of stamp dealers in India.

Apart from a senior most dealer and auctioneer, Shri Mittal was a also renowned philatelist and had won medals at state and national level philatelic exhibitions. His interests covered postal and fiscal issues of the princely states of Rajasthan. His famous collection on States of Rajputana included rare covers of Kota, Shahpura, Dungarpur state etc. Shri Mittal has written and published ‘How to Collect Stamps’ in a very simple language both in Hindi & English which became very useful to beginners. Shri A. S. Mittal served as a distinguished professional in the Philatelic Advisory committee of the Ministry of Communications, Government of India and the Governing Council of the Philatelic Congress of India in early 1990s. He also held various offices in other philatelic organizations in Rajasthan. He played a key role in a lmost all district and state philatelic exhibitions in Rajasthan. He was always wearing a smile on his face.