H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises other publishing houses owned partially or wholly by Aschehoug. Aschehoug can be directly translated to "ash hill."

History

Aschehoug was founded as a bookstore in 1872 on Egertorvet in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

by cousins, Hieronymus and Halvard Aschehoug. From the start the firm was involved in publishing in a modest way, its output consisting mainly of school books. In 1888, the company was taken over by

William Martin Nygaard William Martin Nygaard (6 February 1865 – 19 December 1952) was a Norwegian publisher and politician. Personal life Nygaard was born in Kristiansand as the son of educator and linguist Marius Nygaard (1838–1912) and his wife Elisabeth "Elis ...

and Thorstein Lambrechts (1856-1933), who kept the name while expanding its operations. In 1900 William Nygaard withdrew from the bookselling side of the business and established a publishing company, which was given the name H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard). In 1935, following the death of William Nygaard, the publishing house turned into a corporation in connection with the inheritance settlement and Williams Nygaard's son, Mads Wiel Nygaard became the Executive Officer. Aschehoug published an increasing number of important books through the years. Important Norwegian authors first published by Aschehoug have included

Nobel Prize laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset () (20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Norwegian- Danish novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924 ...

, as well as

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

Johan Falkberget Johan Falkberget, born Johan Petter Lillebakken, (30 September 1879 – 5 April 1967) was a Norwegian author. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Life and career Johan Falkberget was born on the Lillebakken farm in the Rugld ...

Hans E. Kinck Hans Ernst Kinck (; 11 October 1865 – 13 October 1926) was a Norwegian author and philologist who wrote novels, short stories, dramas, and essays. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times. Life Kinck was born in Øksfjo ...

, Aksel Sandemose,

Arne Garborg Arne Garborg (born Aadne Eivindsson Garborg) (25 January 1851 – 14 January 1924) was a Norwegian writer. Garborg championed the use of Landsmål (now known as Nynorsk, or New Norwegian), as a literary language; he translated the Odyssey into ...

— all of them writers whose works are today regarded as classics of Norwegian literature.

Operations

Its publishing program is divided into three main categories - works of fiction, including books for children and younger readers; works of reference, popular science and handbooks on various hobbies, and serving as the leading Norwegian publishing house for textbooks, for every level of instruction. In 2004, Aschehoug Agency was founded to represent the foreign rights of Forlaget Oktober, Aschehoug and

Universitetsforlaget Universitetsforlaget AS (English: "The University Press"), also known in English as Scandinavian University Press, is a Norwegian academic publishing company, which publishes non-fiction literature and journals mainly oriented to Scandinavia. ...

publishing houses. Aschehoug has an interest in several other publishing companies, among them: *

(100%) - the main academic press in Norway *

Forlaget Oktober Forlaget Oktober is a Norwegian publishing house. Oktober focuses on Norwegian contemporary fiction. In addition, they publish a small selection of non-fiction, poetry, and translated fiction. Annually they release around 50 new titles, and around ...

(91%) - formerly the Marxist-Leninist press, now a publisher of

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...

* Norli Gruppen (100%) -

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librar ...

chain * Lydbokforlaget (33%) -

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

s * De norske Bokklubbene (48.5%) - book clubs * Forlagsentralen (50%) - distributes more than 75% of all books in Norway *

Kunnskapsforlaget Kunnskapsforlaget () is a Norwegian publishing company based in Oslo. Kunnskapsforlaget was established in 1975, as a partnership between H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard) and Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The purpose was to co-operate on publishing e ...

(50%) - publishes

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

s''Kunnskapsforlaget ANS'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref> Aschehoug also published

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

's book '' Satanic Verses''. The company's CEO

William Nygaard William Nygaard (born 16 March 1943) is the retired head of the Norwegian publishing company Aschehoug. He was also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He has two children. Business career From 1974 to 2010, he was the chief pub ...

was shot and seriously wounded in 1993, presumably as a result of the

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...

issued against Rushdie and his publishers.

Executive officers

(1900-1935) * Mads Wiel Nygaard (1935-1952) * Andreas Wiel Nygaard (1952-1955) * Arthur Holmesland (1955-1973) *

(1974-2010) * Mads Nygaard (2010–present)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Publishing companies of Norway Companies based in Oslo Publishing companies established in 1872 1872 establishments in Norway