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.
