PROMINENT HUNGARIANS, IZIDOR KNER WAS BORN 150 YEARS AGO
Date of issue: 5 February 2010
Izidor Kner (Gyoma, 05.02.1860 – Gyoma, 19.08.1935) an outstanding
personality in Hungarian typography, bookbinding and book publishing.The
young man from a family of travelling bookbinders obtained his
knowledge through self-education and continuous learning. After his
years of studying, in June 1882 he opened his one-man printing-house in
Gyoma, and in 1888 it was already mentioned in the Almanac of Hungarian
Printers as a printing-house employing apprentices. In 1889 he got
married and used the dowry received to stabilise his printing-house. In
1890 he bought his first high-performance printing-machine. A period of
uninterrupted development started, and by the beginning of the 1900’s
nearly half of the settlements in contemporary Hungary were the clients
of his printing-house. The little workshop had grown into a modern
medium-sized provincial plant. Between 1902 and 1913 the company’s
initial annual turnover of 100,000 crowns increased by nearly five
times. The number of permanent employees was between 90-100. In 1914, at
an exhibition in Leipzig he was awarded a golden medal for his
activity. Unfortunately, after the First World War Romanian occupants
stole two-thirds of the printing equipment, and as the country borders
of Trianon were determined, a large proportion of the potential clients
were lost.
Izidor Kner also made great achievements in social
mobility. Being a highly esteemed citizen of the settlement of Gyoma he
was also an active member of professional public life. Besides his
essays dealing with typography, he often published special articles in
which he encouraged the development of professional education,
termination of the exploitation of apprentices, and he also protested
against unfair competition. He often wrote about issues such as the
development of domestic industry and improving quality. In 1932 – on the
50th anniversary of the foundation of the printing-house – Békés county
elected him life member of the municipal committee, and in the same
year he was awarded the title and certificate of a guild-master.
After
his death his two sons, Imre and Endre became owners of the
printing-house. However, in 1944 the printing-house was put under the
control of appointed state leaders, and in 1963 it was merged to the
former Tevan Printing-House of Békéscsaba. In 1991 Gyomai Kner Nyomda
Kft. was founded, and at the end of the same year, through the
privatisation of the printing-house, Láng Kiadó és Holding Rt. became
its majority owner. In 1998 it became a joint-stock company, and a year
later the majority of its shares were seized by the State Printing
Company. Source:
http://hu.wikipedia.org *
www.gyomaikner.hu
In the stamp picture the portrait of Izidor Kner can be seen
together with a fragment of his contemporary writing-paper and a drawing
made on the basis of an etching showing the contemporary interior of
the printing-house. On the special envelope belonging to the stamp there
is an illustration inspired by the contemporary writing-paper, while
the special cancellation stamp contains the initials of the name of
Izidor Kner.
Order item number: 2010030010011 (stamp), 2010030060012 (FDC)
Perforation size: 50 x 25.6 mm, 40 stamps/sheet
Number issued: 400,000
Printing press: State Printing Company
Date of issue: 5 February 2010
Designer: Péter Berky
