Robert L. Bernstein
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Robert Louis Bernstein (January 5, 1923 – May 27, 2019) was an American publisher and
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
activist.


Career in publishing

Bernstein started as an office boy at
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
in 1946, moved to
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
in 1956 and succeeded Bennett Cerf as President and CEO in 1966. He served as the President of Random House for 25 years. He published many great American authors, including
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
,
James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales ...
, Dr. Seuss,
Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...
and William Styron. After being invited to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
as part of a delegation from the
Association of American Publishers The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercial ...
, he became interested in writers whose work could not be published in their own countries. Beginning with
Andrei Sakharov Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (; 21 May 192114 December 1989) was a Soviet Physics, physicist and a List of Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he was awarded in 1975 for emphasizing human rights around the world. Alt ...
and Elena Bonner, he ensured that authors like
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
,
Jacobo Timerman Jacobo Timerman (6 January 1923 – 11 November 1999) was a Soviet-born Argentine publisher, journalist, and author, who is most noted for his confronting and reporting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War during a period ...
, Xu Wenli and Wei Jingsheng were all published around the world.


Involvement in human rights movement

After his experience in Moscow in 1973, Bernstein returned to the U.S. and established the Fund for Free Expression, the parent organization of
Helsinki Watch Helsinki Watch was a private American non-governmental organization established by Robert L. Bernstein in 1978, designed to monitor the former Soviet Union's compliance with the 1975 Helsinki Accords. Expanding in size and scope, Helsinki Watc ...
which was established to monitor the former
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
's compliance with the
Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...
. In 1988, the series of "Watch Committees" created throughout the 1980s—Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Middle East Watch—merged to become
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, one of the largest human rights organizations in the world. Bernstein served as the Chair of Human Rights Watch from 1978 to 1998, when he became Founding Chair Emeritus. However, he later became a critic of the group, publicly chastising them in a 2009 essay that appeared on the
op-ed An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page," is a type of written prose commonly found in newspapers, magazines, and online publications. They usually represent a writer's strong and focused opinion on an issue of relevance to a targeted a ...
page of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. His concern was deviation from the group's charter, which was to focus on abuses in closed societies lacking the free speech that creates internal pressure to improve human rights. Bernstein felt that the organization's credibility was diminished by an undue focus of reporting on Israel's military that lacked credible sources in Gaza, and ignored Israel's open society. The criticism opened a rift between Bernstein and Human Rights Watch, which was not healed until shortly before his death, when he was lauded at the organization's annual dinner. Bernstein was also a board member and Chair Emeritus of
Human Rights in China Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...
.


International recognition

Bernstein won numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Florina Lasker Award from the
New York Civil Liberties Union The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is a civil rights organization in the United States. Founded in November 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, it is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with nearly ...
; the Human Rights Award from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; the Spirit of Liberty Award from
People for the American Way People for the American Way (PFAW ) is a progressive advocacy group in the United States. Organized as a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization, PFAW was registered in 1981 by the television producer Norman Lear, a self-described liberal who founde ...
; the Barnard Medal of Distinction from
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
; the Curtis Benjamin Award for Distinguished Publishing from the
Association of American Publishers The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercial ...
; and, in 1998, the United States' first Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights, which was presented by President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
. In 2014, Bernstein was honored with a Social Justice Award from
The New Press The New Press is an independent non-profit public-interest book publisher established in 1992 by André SchiffrinReid, Calvin (December 2, 2013)"New Press Founder André Schiffrin Dead at 78" ''Publishers Weekly''. Accessed August 1, 2014. (Chev ...
, the non-profit, public interest publishing house set-up by his long-time Random House colleague
André Schiffrin André Schiffrin (June 14, 1935 – December 1, 2013) was a French-American author, publisher and socialist. Life Schiffrin was born in Paris, the son of Jacques Schiffrin, a Russian Jew who emigrated to France and briefly enjoyed success the ...
. At
Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
in 1998, Bernstein was honored by friends and colleagues with the establishment of the Robert L. Bernstein Fellowships in International Human Rights at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
. The fellowships are awarded annually to two or three Law School graduates devoted to advancing human rights protection around the world. Bernstein was also honored by
New York University School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...
, which established the Robert L. Bernstein Fellowship in International Human Rights in 2006. In 2015, NYU School of Law created the Robert L. Bernstein Institute for Human Rights, a research center that will promote scholarship, education, and advocacy on human rights issues in the United States and abroad. He was the recipient of honorary doctorates from
Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...
,
The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
,
Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...
,
Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...
,
Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...
,
Tougaloo College Tougaloo College is a private historically black college in the Tougaloo area of Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). It was established in 1869 by ...
, and
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.


Military service

Bernstein served in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943 to 1946, two of the years overseas in India, where he was a
staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...
.


Education

He graduated from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1944, with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree.


Books

Robert L. Bernstein was the author of ''Speaking Freely: My Life in Publishing and Human Rights'', published by The New Press in May 2016.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Robert L. 1923 births 2019 deaths Activists from New York City Military personnel from New York City Writers from Manhattan Harvard University alumni American male non-fiction writers American publishing chief executives Human Rights Watch people American human rights activists Random House 20th-century American publishers (people) 21st-century American publishers (people) United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Jewish American military personnel Jewish American non-fiction writers American founders United States Army Air Forces soldiers 21st-century American Jews