Georges Henri Kaestlin

Georges Henri Kaestlin (1892 – 18 February 1981) was a banker who formed a leading collection of Russian Imperial and Zemstvo stamps after he and his family were forced to leave Russia following the 1917 revolution.

He was educated at the Prince Tenisheff Private School for Boys and later at the Imperial Polytechnic Institute from where he earned a degree in political economy.

He was a keen sportsman, enjoying sailing, skiing and mountain climbing which he practiced during holidays at the family's Swiss home.

[1] Kaestlin embarked on a career in banking in Russia and married but was forced to leave the country with his family at the time of the revolution, never to return.

[5] He left instructions that his stamp collection should not be auctioned or dispersed,[1] as Agathon Fabergé's had out of necessity and against his wishes,[3] and accordingly, in 1984, it was donated to the Smithsonian Museum by his wife, Vera Madeleine Kaestlin-Bock.