Walenty Fialek

He was born in 1852 in Chwarzno in Kashubia. He was raised with the respect to national traditions and he cultivated them through his editorial activities. In 1868 he started to study typography in the printing house of Ignacy Danielewski in Chelmno. In 1885 he was a typesetter in the printing house of the Poznan Newspaper. Then he returned to Chelmno and founded his own printing house. He printed over 200 Polish publications in large quantities, among them: historical studies, novels, collections of songs, the lives of the saints, prophecies and forecasts, models of letters, speeches and congratulations, as well as religious publications and calendars. The books were sold not only in Pomerania but also in the Poznan province, Upper Silesia, Masuria and Warmia as well as in Polish centers in Westfall and in the USA. His publications were very often confiscated by the Prussian authorities. W. Fialek not only published books but also collected them.
His collection of as many as about 5,000 tomes, including rare Chelmno, Pelplin, Torun, Gdansk, Kashubian and Masurian prints or folk publications and works concerning the history of Polish literature is to be found in the Copernicus Library in Torun.
As the recognition of his services Chelmno made him an honorary citizen in 1926 and in 1927 he was awarded with an order of Polonia Restituta.
Fialek died on 17th May 1932 in Chelmno and was buried at the parish cemetery.