Jacob Dybwad (20 July 1823 – 4 September 1899) was a Norwegian bookseller and publisher as well as a pioneer in the publishing trade. Dybwad was one of the founders of the publishing company and bookstore Jacob Dybwad A/S, which was in operation from 1852 until 1987.

Background

He was born at Vækerø in

Aker, Norway Aker was a former independent municipality in Akershus, Norway, that constitutes the vast majority of the territory of the modern city of Oslo. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church. The church ...

. He was the son of Jacob Erasmus Dybwad (1792–1854) and Christiane Lange (1795–1885). His father was an attorney and later a merchant. Jacob Dybwad received his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

from Møllers Institute in 1844. To further his education, he traveled to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and later in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Career

His older brother, Christopher Andreas Dybwad (1810–1892) had opened a publishing shop in Christiania (now

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

) which was acquired by Guldberg & Dzwonkowski in 1848. Dybwad joined the firm and in 1852, when the publisher was sold, Dybwad took over the bookstore. Dybwad's bookstore was located centrally at

Stortorvet Stortorvet ('The Grand Plaza') is a square in Oslo, Norway, located west of Oslo Cathedral. Background It was officially inaugurated during the autarchic times, in 1736. A town market was held here until 1889. Marketing still exists, but has la ...

in Oslo. Dybwad made close contact with the university and in 1858 became commissioner for the writings of the newly established Science Society in Christiania (now the

Norwegian Academy of Sciences The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

). From 1870 he became a supplier to the library at University of Christiania (now

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

). Professional textbooks and religious literature took place among the publications. Dybwad was the publisher of the Norwegian

almanac An almanac (also spelled almanack and almanach) is a regularly published listing of a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasting, weather forecasts, farmers' sowing, planting dates ...

from 1877, and of

Nordahl Rolfsen Johan Nordahl Brun Rolfsen (12 June 1848 – 18 January 1928) was a Norwegian writer, educationalist and teacher, journalist, translator and speaker. He is best known for the series of five readers for elementary school, (1892–1895), w ...

's readers for primary school in the 1890s. He played a central role when the Norwegian Bookstores Association was founded in 1851. He was a member of the board of directors from 1853 until 1896.

Personal life

In June 1853 he married Anna Margrethe Grøntvedt Aabel (1831–1873), daughter of vicar Peter Pavels Aabel. After the death of his first wife, he married Ingeborg Krog (1850–1930), daughter of vicar Lorentz Ditlev Krog, in October 1876. He had several children. His son Peter Dybwad (1859–1921) became a well-known architect, Bertram Dybwad and Christian Dybwad became booksellers. Knut Sømme Dybwad and

Vilhelm Dybwad Vilhelm Dybwad (12 February 1863 – 16 March 1950) was a Norwegian barrister and writer. He wrote comedies, revues and songs. In his later years he wrote several books of memoirs from his life as a lawyer. Personal life Dybwad was born in ...

became barristers. Actresses Elsa Randulff Dybwad and

Johanne Dybwad Johanne Dybwad (née Juell; 2 August 1867 – 4 March 1950) was a Norwegian stage actress and stage producer. She was the leading actress in Norwegian theatre for half a century. Early and personal life Johanne was born in Oslo, Christiani ...

were married into the family. In the next generation, Jacob Dybwad was a grandfather of Nils Juell Dybwad and Jacob Dybwad (1890–1966). He was appointed Knight of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1897. Jacob Dybwad died in 1899 and was buried at

Vår Frelsers gravlund The Cemetery of Our Saviour () is a cemetery in Oslo, Norway, located north of Hammersborg in Gamle Aker district. It is located adjacent to the older Old Aker Cemetery and was created in 1808 as a result of the great famine and cholera epidemi ...

in Oslo.

References

Other sources

*Haakon B. Nielson (1977) ''Jacob Dybwad 125 år: Glimt av forlagets og bokhandelens historie'' (Oslo: Dybwad) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dybwad, Jacob 1823 births 1899 deaths Businesspeople from Oslo Norwegian booksellers Norwegian book publishers (people) Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal Burials at the Cemetery of Our Saviour