William Nygaard
William Nygaard | |
|---|---|
 William Nygaard in 2009. | |
| Born | 16 March 1943 Oslo,Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Education | Degree ineconomics |
| Occupation | Chief publisher (CEO) ofAschehougpublishing house |
| Children | 2 |
William Nygaard(born 16 March 1943) is theretiredhead of theNorwegianpublishing companyAschehoug.He was also chairman of theNorwegian Broadcasting Corporation.He has two children.[1]
Business career
[edit]From 1974 to 2010, he was the chief publisher ofAschehoug,Norway's second largest publishing house,[2]which is owned by the Nygaard family. When he took this job he followed the footsteps of his father Mads Wiel Nygaard and grandfatherWilliam Martin Nygaardwho was leading the company in earlier years,[3]and the tradition continues since he left the job to his son, Mads Nygaard.[4]William Nygaard was chairman of theNorwegian Publishers Associationfrom 1987 to 1990.[5]From 2010 to 2014, he was employed as a director ofNRK(the state owned TV of Norway).[6]
Assassination attempt
[edit]On 12 April 1989, Aschehoug and William Nygaard were responsible for publishing the Norwegian edition ofSalman Rushdie's novelThe Satanic Verses.[7]This was two months afterAyatollah Khomeiniissued the followingfatwaagainst Salman Rushdie and his publishers:
- I inform all zealous Muslims of the world that the author of the book entitled The Satanic Verses — which has been compiled, printed and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Qur'an — and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they may be found, so that no one else will dare to insult the Muslim sanctities. God Willing, whoever is killed on this path is a martyr.[8]
Owing to the fatwa, direct threats were made against William Nygaard and translatorKari Risvik,and in the resultingcontroversy,Nygaard was given police protection for a period.
On the morning of 11 October 1993, Nygaard was shot three times outside his home inDagaliveieninOslo.[9]Most people — including Nygaard[10]— link the incident to the fatwa. After several months of hospitalization, mostly atSunnaas Hospital,Nygaard slowly recovered.[10]In early October 2018, almost a quarter century after theattempted assassination,charges were made against the alleged perpetrators. Their names and nationalities were not publicized at the time.[11]In November 2021 the two were identified as theLebaneseman Khaled Moussawi and an unnamed former Iranian diplomat.[12]
Other positions
[edit]Both before and after the attack, William Nygaard has been an outspoken defender offree speech,and is a board member of the Norwegian division ofInternational PEN.[13][14]He is a member of theNorwegian Academy for Language and Literature.[15]
He has been a member of the board of Norway'sNational Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.[16]In 2010 he was elected chairman of theNorwegian Broadcasting Corporation.[17]
Awards
[edit]- 1994Fritt Ord Award.[18]
- 1998Segerstedtaward
- 1998 knight of 1. class ofSt. Olavs Orden
- 1998 (with Salman Rushdie)honorary doctoratUniversitetet i Tromsø
- 2019 Gunnar Sønstebys award[19]
References
[edit]- ^A page about a video interview with Nygaard (in Norwegian)ArchivedOctober 29, 2005, at theWayback Machine
- ^Plurality in media,Norwegian Official ReportNOU 1995:3.ArchivedJanuary 10, 2008, at theWayback Machine
- ^The history of Aschehoug publishing house (in Norwegian)ArchivedFebruary 5, 2006, at theWayback Machine
- ^Newspaper article in DN (in Norwegian)ArchivedApril 5, 2012, at theWayback Machine
- ^Newspaper article from Aftenposten (in Norwegian)ArchivedSeptember 3, 2005, at theWayback Machine
- ^Kulturdepartementet (2010-06-10)."William Nygaard ny styreleder i NRK".Regjeringen.no(in Norwegian).Retrieved2020-01-06.
- ^A timeline of the events of the Satanic Verses controversy (in Norwegian)ArchivedOctober 14, 2006, at theWayback Machine
- ^Notes for Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses, including the text of the fatwaArchivedFebruary 13, 2005, at theWayback Machine
- ^Interview with Helga Waagaard who was first to find Nygaard and call for an ambulance (in Norwegian)ArchivedOctober 26, 2004, at theWayback Machine
- ^ab"Plages ikke av skuddene - Aftenposten Nettutgaven".aftenposten.no.Archived fromthe originalon 26 November 2004.Retrieved15 January2022.
- ^Pryser Libell, Henrik and Richard Martyn-Hemphill (10 October 2018)."25 Years Later, Norway Files Charges in Shooting of 'Satanic Verses' Publisher".The New York Times.Retrieved12 October2018.
- ^Isungset, Odd (2021-11-12)."NRK avslører: Var diplomat ved Irans ambassade i Oslo – siktet for Nygaard-attentatet i 1993".NRK(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved2021-11-12.
- ^Listing of the board of the Norwegian PENArchivedSeptember 27, 2007, at theWayback Machine
- ^"William Nygaard gjenvalgt som styreleder i Norsk PEN".Den norske Forfatterforening (DnF)(in Norwegian Bokmål). 22 April 2015.Retrieved2020-01-06.
- ^"Det Norske Akademi for Sprog og Litteratur"(in Norwegian). Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature. Archived fromthe originalon 10 February 2009.Retrieved25 April2009.
- ^Listing of the board of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and DesignArchivedMay 19, 2006, at theWayback Machine
- ^Didriksen, Nina; Fenne, Marit (10 June 2010)."William Nygaard ny styreleder i NRK"(in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved10 May2011.
- ^Henriksen, Petter, ed. (2007)."Fritt Ords pris".Store norske leksikon(in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Archived fromthe originalon 15 November 2011.Retrieved22 May2010.
- ^"Tidligere vinnere – NO24 – Gunnar Sønstebys minnefond"(in Norwegian Bokmål).Retrieved2020-01-06.
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