Pierre Schopfer was born in Lausanne, Switzerland,
in 1943. There, he attended the Ecole des Beaux-Arts from 1959 to 1963, where
the famous stamp engraver Albert Yersin taught him the art of steel engraving.
According to Schopfer’s own website, he started
engraving stamps from 1969. His first known stamps, however, date from 1973,
those being five values from the Swiss ‘Architecture and Art’ definitives
introduced that year.
Schopfer himself remained active as a stamp engraver
until the early years of this century, engraving many stamps for Switzerland,
but also the odd issue for countries such as Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Senegal
and the United Nations.
Both in 1975 and in 1984, Schopfer engraved test
stamps for Switzerland. In 1975, his design of farmhouses and villages was used
as a test stamp for the SSR III WIFAG printing press. The stamp was a
combination of recess and photogravure. Schopfer’s 1984 test stamp, depicting a
Lake Geneva landscape, was also meant for a combination print, but this time for
the SSR IV GOEBEL printing press.
In 1984, Schopfer designed and engraved a souvenir
sheet for the philatelic exhibition NABA ZURI 84. It would be a tribute to his
former master Yersin, who had passed away that same year. Schopfer engraved a
beautiful portrait and incorporated some of Yersin’s stamps in the background
as well.
Schopfer would also engrave a number of banknotes,
for both Switzerland and Russia. In 1985, he engraved illustrations for the
book Vignes pour un miroir, by Corinna Bille, which has since become a rarity.
You will find Pierre Schopfer's database HERE.