Otto Hornung

Whilst in Ostrava, Hornung witnessed the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 but managed to escape to Bogumin, then in unoccupied Poland, dressed as a postman in the mail wagon of a goods train.^[2] After that he joined the Czechoslovak Legion. Hornung spoke Polish and Czech fluently as both were used freely in Ostrava.

Hornung was a former Secretary of the Philatelic Traders Society and organiser of the Stampex show.^[1] He was also a founder member of the Association Internationale des Journalistes Philateliques (AIJP) in 1952 and its former President.^[1] As a philatelist, Hornung specialised in the stamps and postal history of Turkey and won Large Gold medals at India 1989, New Zealand 1990, London 1990, Philatokyo 1991 and Granada 1992.^[1]

Hornung was a member of the following societies (amongst others):

• Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain
• The Oriental Philatelic Association of London
• International Association of Philatelic Journalists
• Royal Philatelic Society London

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Stamp Collecting, Hamlyn, London, 1970. ISBN 0-600-01797-4
• Wie Sammle Ich Richtig Briefmarken, Verlag Werner Dausien, 1972. ISBN 3-7684-4233-0 (German language)
• The Czecho-Slovak Legion in Poland and Russia 1939-1945 and Czechoslovaks in the Middle East, 1940 - 1943, Czechoslovak Philatelic Society of Great Britain, 2003. (With Dr. Vratislav Palkoska)
• The Early Postal History of Carpatho-Ukraine with Particular Reference to The Usage Of The First Postage Stamps of Austria, 2007. ISBN 978-0-9536555-9-5

• Photograph of Otto Hornung.
• Virtual exhibit on Carpatho-Ukraine at Exponet.