George T. Delacorte Jr. (20 June 1894 – 4 May 1991) was an American magazine publisher, born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He founded the

Dell Publishing Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and ...

in 1921. His goal was to entertain readers who were not satisfied with the genteel publications available at the time. The company was one of the largest publishers of books, magazines, and comics during its heyday. His most successful innovation was the puzzle magazine. Delacorte clock central park zoo new york

Delacorte clock central park zoo new york

Biography

Delacorte, born George Tonkonogy, was the son of George Tonkonogy, Sr. and Sadie König, both Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He grew up in Brooklyn with his siblings; Abraham, Mamie, Henrietta, Archibald, Elizabeth,

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

, and Gertrude. An alumnus of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

(1913), Delacorte donated money to the university which established the Delacorte Professorship in the Humanities and helped found the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism and the creation of the Delacorte Professorship in Magazine Journalism in 1984. The university recognized him with an honorary doctorate in 1982. In 1962, he donated money to establish the

Delacorte Theater The Delacorte Theater is a 1,800-seat open-air theater in Central Park, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is home to the Public Theater's free Shakespeare in the Park productions. As of September 2023, it has been closed for renov ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. He also donated money for the Delacorte Clock in the park, an

Alice in Wonderland sculpture Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * Alice ( ...

to the north of

Conservatory Water Conservatory Water is a pond located in a natural hollow within Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. It is located west of Fifth Avenue, centered opposite East 74th Street. The pond is surrounded by several landscaped hills, including Pi ...

with among others the

Mad Hatter The Hatter (called Hatta in ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is often referred to as The Mad Hatter ...

(whose face is supposedly modeled on that of Delacorte) in honor of his wife, and sculptures of

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

and

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

. He donated several fountains to the city, including ones located at the southern end of

City Hall Park City Hall Park is a public park surrounding New York City Hall in the Civic Center of Manhattan. It was the town commons of the nascent city of New York. History 17th century David Provoost came to New Netherland as early as 1638, probab ...

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, ...

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...

, and

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

. Among his contributions, he considered the

Delacorte Fountain The Delacorte Fountain, also known as the Delacorte Geyser, was a large fountain located near the southern tip of Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Ma ...

on Roosevelt Island to be his personal favorite. He died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in 1991 at the age of 96, survived by his second wife

Valerie Delacorte Valéria Hidvéghy or Valerie Pascal Delacorte (14 June 1914 – 14 July 2011) was a Hungarian actress. Life Delacorte was born in Budapest and broke through the iron curtain to marry the film producer Gabriel Pascal. She is best known today ...

(whose second husband was the Hungarian producer

Gabriel Pascal Gabriel Pascal (born Gábor Lehel; 4 June 1894 – 6 July 1954) was a Hungarian film producer and director whose best-known films were made in the United Kingdom. Pascal was the first film producer to successfully bring the plays of Georg ...

), two sons, three daughters, 18 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. His siblings included

Gertrude Friedberg Gertrude (née Tonkonogy) Friedberg (17 March 1908 – September 17, 1989) was an American playwright and writer. Life and career Gertrude Tonkonogy was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1908 as one of 11 children. to George Tonkonogy, Sr. and Sadie ...

and Eugene Tonkonogy. He is memorialized by several funds in

The New York Community Trust The New York Community Trust (The Trust) is a community foundation that serves New York City's five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County. The Trust administers more than 2,200 charitable funds. Established in 1924, The Trust is one of the ...

, which offers a biographical brochure.George T Delacorte
New York Community Trust

References

External links

George T. Delacorte Center

* ttps://findingaids.library.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_4078691 Finding aid to George T. Delacorte letters at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Delacorte, George T. Jr. American book publishers (people) American magazine publishers (people) Comic book publishers (people) American magazine founders 1894 births 1991 deaths 20th-century American philanthropists Columbia College (New York) alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links