Søren Gyldendal (12 April 1742 – 8 February 1802) was a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
bookstore owner who founded
Gyldendal
Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal () is a Danish publishing house.
Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...
which became Denmark's largest publishing house.
Biography
Søren Jensen Gyldendal was born at
Aars
Aars or Års, () is a Danish town with a population of 8,474 (1 January 2022)Vesthimmerland, Denmark. Gyldendal attended
Aarhus Katedralskole
Aarhus Katedralskole is a cathedral school, an institution of secondary education, a Danish Gymnasium and a listed building in Aarhus, Denmark. The school is situated in the neighborhood Midtbyen, in the Latin Quarter, bounded by the streets Mej ...
, graduated from the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
in 1766 and took the examen philosophicum the following year. He acquired a bookstore and in 1770 he began his independent publishing house.
Every year on the anniversary of his birthday, the Søren Gyldendal Foundation (''Søren Gyldendal Fonden'') awards a prize in his name, the
Søren Gyldendal Prize
The Søren Gyldendal Prize (Danish: ''Søren Gyldendal-Prisen'') is a Danish literary award, which was established in 1958 by Gyldendal Publishing House. The prize is awarded annually on 12 April, the anniversary of the birthday of Søren Gyldend ...
(''Søren Gyldendal Prisen''). Since 2009, the prize has been DKK 200,000. Every second year a fiction writer is awarded and every second year the prize goes to a non-fiction author.