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Arts & Literature

Bennett Cerf

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Who

Bennett Cerf · Arts & Literature

What

Co-founded Random House in 1927 and fought the ban on Ulysses to a win in 1933; for sixteen years also a panellist on What's My Line?

When

25 May 1898, New York City, USA — 27 August 1971, Mount Kisco, New York, USA

Where

New York, USA

Founded
Random House1927
Biography

Bennett Cerf is recognized among Jewish contributors to Arts & Literature — Co-founded Random House in 1927 and fought the ban on Ulysses to a win in 1933; for sixteen years also a panellist on What's My Line?

How & why

Bennett Alfred Cerf was born Benoît Cerf in New York, to an Alsatian Jewish father and a German Jewish mother; the Wikipedia article on his partner records that 'Cerf and Klopfer were both prominent Jewish businessmen'. In 1925 the two bought the Modern Library, and in 1927 they founded Random House — so named because they meant to publish a few books 'at random' on the side. Cerf then took the United States government to court over Ulysses and won: the 1933 decision that the book was not obscene opened American publishing.

For sixteen years he was also a fixture of Saturday-night television on What's My Line?, which made a book publisher into a household face.

Sources & external links

Verify and go deeper with these external references.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_Cerf

This page is published in seven languages from an English source. The translations are reviewed, but a mistake can still slip through. If you spot one on this profile — a wrong word, a lost date, a sentence that says something the English does not — please tell us.

Contributions & Sources

Co-founded Random House in 1927 and fought the ban on Ulysses to a win in 1933; for sixteen years also a panellist on What's My Line?

1927

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_Cerf