Alfred Abraham Knopf Jr. (June 17, 1918 – February 14, 2009) was an American publisher. He was one of the founders of

Atheneum Publishers Atheneum Books was a New York City publishing house established in 1959 by Alfred A. Knopf, Jr., Simon Michael Bessie and Hiram Haydn. Simon & Schuster has owned Atheneum properties since it acquired Macmillan in 1994, and it created Atheneum B ...

in 1959.

Biography

He was the only child of publisher Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Wolf. He was born in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

, on June 17, 1918, and as a child, was given the nickname "Pat". His parents founded the book company

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

in 1915. In 1921, Knopf attended the Birch Wathen School while his parents were in Europe. At the age of seven, in 1925, he was sent to a boarding school, first at the

Riverdale Country School Riverdale Country School is a co-educational, independent, college-preparatory day school in New York City serving pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is located on two campuses covering more than in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, Ne ...

, in the

Bronx, New York The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. From 1933 until 1937 he attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

and attended

Union College Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...

for three years. The summer after he graduated from Exeter, he ran away from home, despondent over being turned down by

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. Following a police search, he was found in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

. During World War II, Knopf joined the Army Air Force and served in the 446th Bomb Group,

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

. During his service, he piloted the B-24 Bomber "Rough Buddy" through almost 100 missions alongside engineer Richard E. Morton. He became a captain. In 1952, he married Alice Laine. They had three children, Alison Knopf Insinger, Susan Knopf, and David A. Knopf. He was one of the founders of

in 1959. He died on February 14, 2009, from complications following a fall.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knopf, Alfred A. Jr. 1918 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews American book publishers (people) American book publishing company founders American people of Polish-Jewish descent Birch Wathen Lenox School alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Riverdale Country School alumni Knopf family United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Union College (New York) alumni