Julian Walenty Prejs (1820-1904), aka Sjerp-Polaczek, Polaczek-Biedaczek, Bez kosy Wojaczek, was a Polish teacher, folk writer, national activist, journalist and publisher, often called the "Father of the folk press in Pomerania".
Biography
Youth years
Julian was born on February 13, 1820, in Papowo Biskupie near Chełmża, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of Józef Kazimierz (who died in 1849), an organist and a landlord, and Anna née Paliwodzińska.
He started to receive private home lessons - including Latin taught by a Franciscan friar. He then attended the City School in Chełmno and the Toruń gymnasium from October 1835. In the summer of 1840, he went to Congress Poland territory. In 1842, Julian was admitted to the University of Wrocław, in the department of philosophy. From November 1842 to July 1843, he was a member of the Literary and Slavic Society () in Wrocław. He did not complete his studies and moved again to Congress Poland land in 1844. In 1845, he found a position of private tutor in Warsaw.
Involved in an underground operation, Julian was threatened to be arrested and had to return to Chełmno at the beginning of 1847. He shared these experiences in his poem "Dola Śmiertelnika" (), published in the journal "Przyjaciel Ludu" (issue Nr.3, 1847): there, he expressed his doubts about the effectiveness of the armed insurrection against occupying forces.
The Prussian authorities, aware of his political inclinations, prevented him from taking the state examination, hence barring him the access to teaching positions. From this juncture, Prejs then devoted entirely his activity to educational work among the common people.
Life in Toruń
Julian Prejs published his first literary works in 1845–1847 in Poznań's periodical "Kościół i Szkoła" () and in Leszno's .
He had an important literary activity during the Springtime of Nations. In the mid-1848, he published the brochure of a popular political magazine entitled “Ludownik” () but resigned from publishing it, due to the substantial stamp costs. From July 1848 on, he collaborated with the "Szkoła Narodowa" (), printed in Chełmno.
He then used a pseudonym, "Sjerp-Polaczka", an anagram from his family name: his articles advocated equality for all people, social solidarity and Polish nobility leadership, while his poems aroused patriotic feelings.
At the same period, from October 1848 to June 1850, he edited and published in Toruń is own journal entitled "Biedaczek, czyli Mały i Tani Tygodnik dla Biednego Ludu" (). From 1849 on, it was as well distributed in Chełmża. This periodical was pivotal in awakening Polish national awareness in Pomerania. "Biedaczek" was initially printed by a German printing house before shifting to a Polish-owned printing house in April 1849. The latter was founded by Prejs with the help of some landowners, priests and the Polish League, an organization founded on June 25, 1848, in Berlin by Polish envoys to the Prussian parliament, aiming to defend Polish interests by legal means. "Biedaczek" was the first periodical in the entire Pomerania aiming to shape the national consciousness of the local peasantry, the petty bourgeoisie and the commoners alike. It also touched upon the specific topics of Kashubia and Masuria.
In 1850, facing more and more difficulties raised from the Prussian authorities, Julian had to liquidate his enterprise. He tried to fight back by publishing on April 1, 1849, another separate magazine for women, "Siostrzanka" (), which did not find its audience and soon collapsed.
He published additionally separate writings, such as: "Śpiewnik polski, czyli zbiór pieśni, śpiewów i śpiewek narodowych" () (1849); "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła, Pieśń nowa" () (1850); "Miłość ojczyzny i nikczemność - Powieść Ludowa" () (1850); "Doktor Marcinek, doktor cudowny, doktor cudotwórca" () (1850), dedicated to Karol Marcinkowski, a famous physician from Poznań, whom Prejs considered as a model of social and national activist.
Life in Chełmża
At the turn of 1849, Julian Prejs applied to the city council of Chełmża with a request to grant permission to establish a printing house. With the municipal approval, he moved to Chełmża, where he founded the "Drukarnię Polsko- Ludową Juliana Prejsa w Chełmży" (). This plant was then used from 3 October 1849, to publish "Biedaczek".
Once settled up, Prejs intended also to set up a Polish bookshop rental in the city, as well as publishing other magazines: a humorous weekly in German, a magazine for rural farmers and a women's magazine.