Simenon, the famous writer from Delfzijl

The name Georges Simenon may mean nothing to many, but everyone knows Maigret. Inspector Maigret is the main character who appears in more than eighty novels written by Georges Joseph Christian SimenonAccording to various sources, Simenon wrote his first book in 1929 during a boat trip in Delfzijl. It is here that the character of Maigret is said to have originated in his first book, *Pieter-le-Letton* (Maigret and the Avenger, published in 1931). However, Simenon is not Dutch. He was born on February 13, 1903, in Liège, Belgium. Inspector Maigret served as a commissioner at the Police Judiciaire in the French capital, Paris. He is characterized as a large, broad-shouldered man, wearing a heavy, black velvet coat with a velvet fur collar and a bowler hat. In 1966, the mayor of Delfzijl signed a civil registry extract stating that Maigret was born at the age of 45 on February 23, 1929, in Delfzijl. The father is Simenon, but the mother is unknown. A statue of him can be admired in Delfzijl. Simenon died on September 4, 1989, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Employees of the postal services of Switzerland, Belgium, and France put their heads together in 1993 and decided to commemorate him in each country on October 15, 1994, five years after Simenon's death. The design of the portrait of Simenon, which was to be depicted on the three different stamps, was created by Désiré Roegist from Belgium. The Belgian stamp features an image of the Pont des Arches in Liège in the background. This was the birthplace of Simenon. The stamp was engraved by Paul Huybrechts and printed using a combined halftone and steel intaglio printing technique. The French stamp shows in the background the famous building at number 36 on the Quai des Orfèvres, Inspector Maigret's headquarters. Finally, the Swiss stamp. Alongside Simenon, an image of Echandens Castle near Lausanne is featured. In the Beautiful Netherlands series, Delfzijl does have a reference to Maigret. Yet, this is not sufficient honor. Why does the Dutch Post not issue a special stamp? Surely it would have been a wonderful opportunity to honor Simenon, together with the three other postal administrations, during Fepapost 94, the International Philatelic Exhibition in The Hague? A missed opportunity? Or were Belgian writers not in demand at the time? In any case, there were plenty of Dutch readers of his thrilling novels.