` FAO MEDALS
-
CERES MEDALS
Most of the Ceres Medals were
issued groups of 5 as well as individually:. Page 1 . Page 2 . Page 3 . Page 4 . Page 5 . Page 6.
Several appear
to have been issued ONLY individually.
Issue prices (1977)
were was follows:
Bronze 63 mm
- $16 - Page of 5: $75
Gilt Bronce 63 mm
- $20 - Page of 5: $95
Sliver 63
mm - $75 - Page
of 5: $425
"Sovereign" Size (22 mm):
Gold
$ 90 per medal - Set of 30 Medals $ 2250
Aluminum $ 15 per 100 medals, Double set showing both sides of each
medal in 3 panels - issued at $45
1977 Statement from Raymond Lloyd - Special Studies Officer
responsible for the FAO Money and Medal Programme
Ceres according to ancient Roman beliefs, was the goddess who
taught mankind how to work the land, plant seeds and produce food. As goddess
of agriculture, Ceres protected the crops and kept her people from need and
want. Today Ceres remains a symbol to the world's hungry people as she takes
the face of humane and distinguished women of our own time on Ceres Medals
issued by FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
This booklet illustrates the first collection of thirty Ceres medals. They
are shown actual size: obverse photos are of the 63mm art medal version and
reverse photos of the 22mm sovereign size version. A brief narrative is given
for each of the women portrayed on the medals.
Ceres of Today' Immortalized in Precious Metal
The women invited to represent Ceres have all been prepared to go on public
record as sharing FAO's ideal of a world freed from hunger and want, although
not all are connected directly with food and agriculture. The different Ceres
have achieved their distinction in many fields. Some are well known, others
less so. Some have received many awards, while the distinction of others
has yet to stand the test of time. All have in common a marked joy in life
and a reputation for personal kindness, of not having used other individuals
in achieving their distinction. Many have great beauty of person, but all
have great beauty of personality and achievement.
Featured on the obverse of each medal is a finely sculpted portrait of the
distinguished woman invited to represent Ceres, with the text "Ceres FAO
Rome", her name, the sculptor's signature, and one or more ears of grain.
As to the medal reverse, some designs illustrate the person's interest in
nutrition, agriculture, social justice or third world development. Other
designs feature a milestone in the work of FAO and the UN Family, such as
the 1974 World Food Conference or the 25th Anniversary in 1973 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. And yet other designs are left to the imagination
of the artist, in some way related to the background of Ceres, or representing
the sculptor's own aesthetic contribution to FAO's Food for All goal.
FAO MEDALS
1
Indira Gandhi
On this medal Ceres is represented by Indira Gandhi, under whose leadership
as Prime Minister great advances have been made in spreading throughout India
the benefits of the "green revolution" of high-yielding cereals. The reverse
of the medal commemorates the VII World Forestry Congress, held in Buenos
Aires from 4 to 18 October 1972. Based on a design by Mario Cassola, Chief
of the FAO Graphics Section, the medal shows a tree sheltering a trunk made
up of people, with the meridians of a globe to the right and the cross-section
of a tree to the left.
Sculptor: Georges Simon Monnaie de Paris
Sophia Loren
The first Ceres medal was issued in 1971 to commemorate FAO's twentieth year
in Italy. Fittingly, the Roman goddess of agriculture is here represented
by the distinguished Italianborn entertainer, Sophia Loren, who donated her
portrait as an expression of her own belief in FAO's Food for All goal. The
reverse design shows twenty ears of wheat superimposed on the meridians of
a globe, one for each year of FAO in Italy, with the dates 1951-1971.
Sculptor: Georges Simon Monnaie de Paris
Angela Christian
Since her country's independence in 1957, Angela Christian of Ghana has played
an important role in the social and cultural renaissance of West Africa.
She has served as information and cultural affairs officer in London, Paris
and Washington, and as adviser to the Ghanian delegation to the Social, Cultural
and Humanitarian Committee of the UN General Assembly. From 1968 to 1970
she was Head of the Ghana National Freedom from Hunger Committee. While Angela
Christian was in London, Sir Jacob Epstein asked permission to model her
head. Modestly, she declined, but has donated her portrait to FAO in continuing
support of our Food for All ideal.
Sculptor: Manolis Tzobanakis Bertoni Mint, Milan
Olave Baden-Powell
This medal was released on 10 December 1973, XXV Anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, and features Olave Baden-Powell as Ceres. Lady
Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide since 1930, has spent over sixty years of
her life in the service of young people. In recent years the 6,500,000-strong
Guide movement has, in many developing countries, become increasingly involved
in nutrition and rural development work. The reverse of the medal shows three
girls representative of different developing countries, and symbolizes the
shared ideals of FAO and of the Guide movement as expressed in the inscription
"Toward Food Education Employment for All."
Sculptor: David Wynne Royal Mint, London
Coretta Scott King
On this medal Ceres is represented by the wife of the late civil rights leader
and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Mrs. Martin Luther King Jr. was invited
to donate her portrait in tribute to her work on behalf of the under-privileged,
both at her husband's side from 1955 onward and after his death in 1968.
Mrs. King was born and brought up on a farm and has strong roots in the rural
southland of her country. The reverse of the medal features the four King
children: Yolanda (1954), Martin III (1957), Bernice (1964) and Dexter (1962).
The quotation emphasizes the social commitment for which their father hoped
to be remembered after his death.
Sculptor: Georges Simon Monnaie de Paris
FAO MEDALS 2
Germaine Tillion
Germaine Tillion is a distinguished ethnologist
who played a leading wartime role in the French resistance and has travelled
and studied widely in North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East.
This medal was issued to commemorate the most important political meeting
ever held on theglobal food situation, the UN World Food Conference, which
took place in Rome from 5 to 16 November 1974. The reverse inscription marking
the Conference surrounds a North African harvestcharm, woven from ears of
wheat and kept in the house as a token of hope for success in the next harvest.
Sculptor: Marcel Chauvenet Monnaie de Paris
Michele Morgan
Here Ceres is portrayed by the distinguished French actress Michele Morgan,
who has donated her portrait for the medal as a token of her own sympathy
with FAO's ideals. The reverse is a free interpretation by the late Marceau
Bosc, whose previous work for the Paris Mint includes a medal of Dag Hammarskjold,
The design shows a French farmwoman with the legend "Against hunger in the
world."
Sculptor: Marceau Bosc Monnaie de Paris
To Feed the World
This was the first idealized portrait of the goddess of agriculture, in which
the expression of human faith in FAO's Food for All ideal is chiefly the
artist's own. The medal was conceived by Georges Simon, who had previously
sculpted for FAO the portraits of three distinguished living Ceres: Sophia
Loren, Indira Gandhi and Coretta Scott King. The reverse design is a free
interpretation by Mr Simon on the theme "To feed the world."
Sculptor: Georges Simon Monnaie de Paris
Idealized Ceres: Sonia Navas
This idealized portrait of Ceres is based on Sonia Maria Navas, a young Nicaraguan
economist and daughter of one of FAO's longest-serving members. She appeared
earlier as a model on a 1973 Nicaragua 20 centavo postage stamp. The reverse
design includes an anchor, symbol of hope; an olive branch, symbol of peace;
an ear of wheat; and the meridians of a globe. The reverse inscription reads
"The earth has food for all."
Sculptor: Sergio Giandomenico Monnaie de Paris
Marie-Therese Besse
Marie- -Therese
Marie-Therese Besse is the director of the Institute of Food Technology in
Dakar. The Institute's
best known success is the "pain de mil" or millet bread, which has been developed
to use a high
proportion of locally grown millet instead of imported wheat flour. The reverse
of the medal recalls the Sahel relief operation. The African
countries bordering the Sahara have been seriously affected by drought since
1968, and in 1973 and
1974 the resulting loss of livestock and crops reached crisis proportions.
FAD and the World Food Programme have been active in meeting emergency food
needs (symbolized by the aircraft dropping supplies) and in setting up new
projects
to rehabilitate farmers (symbolized by the artesian we l I ).
Sculptor: Robert Cochet Monnaie de Paris
FAO MEDALS 3
Mother Teresa
This medal depicting Mother Teresa has been issued in tribute to her exemplary
love for the hungry and the poorest of the poor. The Missionary Sisters of
Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa on 7 October 1950, celebrated
its 25th anniversary in 1975. The order presently has77 centres among the
poor and hungry in 17 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Britain,
Ethiopia, India Italy, Jordan, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, the United States
and Venezuela. The medal was designed by the British sculptor Michael Rizzello,
who donated his work to FAO. The reverse of the medal recalls 1975 as Holy
Year, while the inscription "Food for All" expresses the ideals shared by
Mother Teresa and FAO.
Sculptor: Michael Rizzello Royal Mint, London
Matsuyo Yamamoto
The Japanese home economist Matsuyo Yamamoto is the director of the Research
Institute for Home-Family-Community Living, and an FAO consultant. A pioneer
of rural extension work in Japan Mrs. Yamamoto has since 1948 built up a
360,000-strong movement, Seikatsu-Kaizen, dedicated to the improvement of
living conditions of rural families. The reverse shows the movement's symbol,
a stylized farmhouse and two hands supporting a flame, representing the torch-light
of improvement. The medal design was donated by Mrs. Yamamoto's husband Wakahiko,
who is president of the Japan Artists' Association.
Sculptor: Wakahiko Yamamoto Royal Mint, London
Iris Murdoch
From 1944 to 1946 Iris Murdoch, the philosopher and novelist, worked for
UNRRA, the agency responsible for rehabilitation of countries devastated
by war. In donating her portrait for the medal, Iris Murdoch writes: "Xenophon
quoted Socrates as saying that agriculture is the mother and nurse of the
other arts. It is certain that agriculture is in some important sense the
most fundamental of all human techniques and the presupposition of human
activity. Hunger can make art and even thought seem frivolous. And in an
age when people are starving and we can fly to the moon, one would hope that
our vast technical knowledge could be set to work to help all our people
at last to feed themselves.̊"
Sculptor: James Butler Royal Mint, London
Kathleen Kenyon
Ceres is represented here by Kathleen Kenyon, the distinguished British archeologist
and Red Cross worker who has directed numerous excavations in Britain and
the Middle East. The excavations at Jericho in particular have shown how
the establishment of permanent settlements is dependent on the development
of agriculture. Her work has contributed greatly to an understanding of the
beginnings of agriculture some 10,000 years ago, when neolithic women and
men first began to plant wheat and barley and to domesticate goats, sheep,
pigs and cattle. This theme is featured on the reverse of the medal, on which
the inscription "Jericho" is surrounded by a primitive plough and a modern
tractor and bale loader.
Sculptor: Ivor Roberts-Jones Royal Mint, London
Attiya Inayatullah
This medal was issued for World Population Year, 1974, and features as Ceres
Dr. Attiya Inayatullah, executive vice-president of the Family Planning Association
of Pakistan and vice-chairwoman of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.
A sociologist and anthropologist by training, Dr. Inayatullah has taught
and lectured widely in Pakistan and abroad, and has been active for many
years as a volunteer in the fields of family welfare and population. The
medal was sculpted as a donation to FAO's work by the artist, Manolis Tzobanakis.
The reverse is based on a design by Paul Greene, Chief of the FAO Visual
Presentation Section.
Sculptor: Manolis Tzobanakis Royal Mint, London
FAO MEDALS 4
Margaret Mead
On this medal Ceres is represented by the distinguished American anthropologist
Margaret Mead, who in World War II developed the science of food habits and
worked on problems of the cultural setting of nutrition, She participated
in the World Population and Food Conferences in 1974 and has underlined the
seriousness of the way in which women are being excluded from mechanized
agriculture and from policy-making in regard to food. In Dr. Mead's view
food is in danger of being viewed more as a weapon or a commodity than as
something that human beings must eat to live. The reverse design of the medal
is a free interpretation by the artist, depicting Faces of Humankind.
Sculptor: Manolis Tzobanakis Monnaie de Paris
Shirley' Temple Black
This portrait of Ceres features Shirley Temple Black, US Ambassador to Ghana,
whose career spans forty-five years of public service, including movie-stardom
in her childhood, and US representative to the United Nations in 1969. Her
special interests include a founding role in UN programmes in the human environment,
and in world health, world nutrition and food production centred on the developing
countries of Africa and the Middle East. The reverse of the medal shows Ambassador
Black with a group of children and bears a quotation from a speech made by
her at the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
Sculptor: Frank Gasparro Monnaie de Paris
Food for All
This idealized portrait of the goddess of agriculture is sculpted by a leading
Italian medallist, Ettore
Calvelli of Milan. The free reverse design features a human allegory of the
spirit of the harvest sharing her wisdom with man, hard labour and love provide
The inscription reads: "Food for All."
whose intelligence, food for his child.
Sculptor: Ettore Calvelli Bertoni Mint, Milan
Jacqueline Auriol
Jacqueline Auriol is a distinguished French pilot who holds many aviation
records; she was one of the first women to break the sound barrier and to
fly the supersonic Concorde. Madame Auriol, who works at the Ministere de
la Cooperation, has donated her portrait for this medal as an expression
of her support for FAO's goals. The medal reverse shows a silhouette of the
Concorde, as a symbol of technological progress, and illustrates the technique
of remote sensing, a new method of gathering information about the earth's
resources, for example in locating water for irrigation, in spotting plant
diseases and in mapping crop species and types.
Sculptor: Rene Andrei Monnaie de Paris
Irene de Borbon de Parma
Here Ceres is represented by Irene de Borbon de Parma, a member of the royal
family of the Netherlands, who has offered her portrait as an expression
of her own belief in FAO's ideals. Irene is an active worker on behalf of
migratory workers in France, and has made major contributions to the relief
of the hungry in West Africa. The medal was sculpted by Philippe Roch, whose
reverse design expresses his hope for Food for All in a hungry world.
Sculptor: Philippe Roch Rijks Munt, Utrecht
FAO MEDALS 5
Dechhen Wangmo Wangchuck
Featured on this Ceres medal is Princess Dechhen
Wangmo Wangchuck of Bhutan who, born on 9 September 1950, is the youngest
head of a national Ministry of Development in the world responsible for education,
health, agriculture and
public works. Princess Dechhen is also president of the Food Corporation
of Bhutan and member of the National Planning Commission. While still at
school she founded the National Youth Association of Bhutan of which she
is now president.
The reverse design shows two women pounding rice, against a typical Bhutanese
background.
Sculptor: Sergio Giandomenico Bertoni Mint, Milan
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem, a writer and leading activist in the US women's liberation
movement, is a co-founder and editor of MS Magazine, Her writings have focused
on social issues such as feminism, minority group problems, and current sociology
and politics, and her work has appeared in many journals and newspapers in
the US and Europe as well as in India, where she studied and wrote for two
years. The reverse pictures five women of different ages and nationalities,
symbolizing world sisterhood.
Sculptor: Elizabeth Jones Bertoni Mint, Milan
Our First Food
The leading Polish medallist Jozef Markiewicz has sculpted an idealized representation
of the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres, portraying the breast of a mother
nursing her child. The design, "Our First Food", also appears on a 10 zlotych
coin issued in Poland in 1971. The reverse depicts ears of wheat and bears
an inscription commemorating FAO's thirtieth anniversary, 16 October 1975.
Sculptor: Jozef Markiewicz Bertoni Mint, Milan
Aziza Hussein
At national level, the voluntary worker Mrs. Hussein has been active in rural
areas by promoting child welfare, family planning and women's rights. At
international level, she has served as a member of several UN expert committees,
notably the Cornmission on the Status of Women, and is vice-chairwoman of
the governing body of the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The
medal reverse depicts in modern Arabic calligraphy the ideal of Mrs. Hussein,
which in English would read: Every woman has the right to a free and dignified
life, in which she can determine her destiny and develop her talents so as
to contribute through love and creative work to social progress and peace."
Sculptors: Gamal Sagini (portrait), Abdellah Hariri (reverse)
Bertoni Mint, Milan
Thangam Philip
On this medal Ceres is portrayed by Thangam Philip, the principal
of the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition
in Bombay, the first and largest institute of its kind in Asia. For over
twenty years Miss Philip has played a significant role as a food educator,
training students in imaginative largescale catering for industry, schools
and hospitals, and developing courses for housewives to teach thern nutritionally
sound culinary skills. The Bornbay Institute appears above the portrait:
to the right is a row of "nan", one of India's most popular breads. The reverse
design shows three students and bears the inscription "Food Education Employment
for All," recalling the Institute's principal goals.
Sculptor: Vito Berardi Bertoni Mint, Milan
FAO MEDALS 6
Julia Ojiambo
This Ceres medal features Dr. Julia Ojiambo, Kenyan nutritionist and home
economist who, on her 1974 election to Parliament, was appointed Assistant
Minister for Housing and Social Services. Dr. Ojiambo's previous activities
include serving as head of the Kenyan Consumers' Association and as 'consultant
to FAO Programmes for Better Family Living. The medal reverse reflects her
concern with housing, and incorporates the Habitat symbol of the UN Conference
on Human Settlements held in Vancouver in June 1976.
Sculptor: Sergio Giandomenico Bertoni Mint, Milan
Alva Myrdal
Alva Myrdal, former Swedish Minister of State, has contributed greatly
to social justice and world peace since the early 1920's, most notably in
the areas of development and disarmament. Her objectives have included new
dynamic approaches to population policy and family welfare, an educational
reform programme, large-scale international development aid and decisive
advances in world disarmament. She has served as principal director of the
UN Department of Social Affairs, and as Swedish chief delegate to the Geneva
Disarmament Conferences. The medal reverse shows wheat growing out of a broken
tank, the artist's rendering of Alva Myrdal's lifelong attempt to beat swords
into plowshares.
Sculptor: Geoffrey Clarke London Royal Mint,
Vittoria Nuti Ronchi
On this medal Ceres is represented by the Italian plant scientist Vittoria
Nuti Ronchi, professor of genetics on the Agriculture Faculty of the University
of Pisa and chief researcher for the Italian National Research Council. Dr.
Ronchi's research deals with nucleic acid synthesis as it relates to the
mechanism of tissue differentiation in plants, and her studies on Nicotiana
species have led to a better understanding of the underlying factors in tumour
formation. Dr. Ronchi has also been active for twenty years in social work
on behalf of young women, The medal reverse bears a flask to illustrate her
work on plant tissues cultivated in vitro.
Sculptor: Guerrino Mattia Monassi Bertoni Mint, Milan
Matgot Fonteyn de Arias
On this medal Ceres is represented by the British prima ballerina, Margot
Fonteyn de Arias. Dame Margot gained distinction in 1935, at the age of 16,
when she became the principal ballerina of London's Royal Ballet. Since 1954
she has been president of the Royal Academy of Dancing. The reverse design
depicts the ballerina's hands holding two ears of wheat. The inscription,
in Spanish: "XI II Regional Conference, Panama 12-23 August 1974," recalls
FAO's biennial Latin American Conference, held in the country of Dame Margot's
husband Roberto Arias, who has served as Panamanian delegate to the United
Nations.
Sculptor: Vivian Rees-Price Royal Mint, London
Barbara Ward
On this medal Ceres is represented by Barbara Ward, the British economist
who is one of the world's best known writers on development. Her books include:
"Five Ideas that Change the World," 1959; "The Rich Nations and the Poor
Nations," 1962; and "The Widening Gap," 1971, Barbara Ward is now president
of the International Institute for Environment and Development, set up under
her leadership to work for a greater respect and amore equitable distribution
of the earth's resources. The medal depicts the earth partially overcome
by pollution. The symbol on the medal is that of the UN Environment Programme,
set up in 1973 with headquarters in Nairobi.
Sculptor: Jacqueline Steiger Royal Mint, London
TOP
Other Ceres Medals
- For now I am assuming that the "Ceres" Medals NOT contained
in the above six pages wwre issued in 1976 or later.
Fatima Abdel Mahmoud
I have no information on this medal besides one
PICTURE of a sliver medal
An Internet Serach revals the following:
She was the UNESCO Chair Director
For Women, Science and Technology (2003)
Medical
Doctor.
