Career
Born in Stryj, Nowak lived in Poznań following World War I. From 1931 to 1936, he traveled alone, on foot, and by bicycle across Africa, covering a distance of 40,000 km from Libya to Cape Agulhas, South Africa and back to Algeria. His accounts of the travel were first published jointly as late as 2000, as a book entitled Rowerem i pieszo przez Czarny Ląd (By Bicycle and On Foot Across the Black Land). He died in Poznań from pneumonia as a consequence of emaciation of the body due to travel, malaria, and leg surgery.
On 25 November 2006, in the Hall of Poznań Main Railway Station where Nowak began and ended his travel, Polish writer Ryszard Kapuściński unveiled a commemorative plaque dedicated to Nowak.