title: Franceska Rapkin
text: # Franceska Rapkin
  
  Franceska Rapkin (15 May 1936 – 13 December 2001) was a British thematic philatelist who was appointed to the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists in 1998. She was the first chairperson of the British Thematic Association.
  
  She was a refugee with her parents from Nazi Germany.
  
  She was the first British philatelist to win a gold medal for a thematic exhibit which she did with her entry, "1936 Olympic Games" at ISRAPHIL ’85. In 1988, she received a second Gold model at OLYMPHILEX ’88. In 1989 she won the Congress Medal of the Association of British Philatelic Societies.
  
  She is a member of the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame.
  
  ## Selected publications
  
  * Guidelines for Thematic Judges and Exhibitors at Local and Federation Level (c.1989)
  * Guidelines for Successful Exhibiting (1991)
  