Ernest Hecht is a publisher, producer, and philanthropist and the founder, owner and managing director of Souvenir Press Ltd, the last remaining independently owned major publishing house in Great Britain.

Early life

Born in 1929 in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, Ernest Hecht arrived in Britain as a Kindertransport

Kindertransport

Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...

 child in 1939. He was evacuated to Wiltshire, then to Minehead

Minehead

Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...

, Somerset. He read Economics and Commerce at Hull University College.

Publishing

Hecht started Souvenir Press in 1951 in his bedroom with a loan of £250. He built the business up, and has now successfully run the company for sixty years. Souvenir press now has over 500 titles in print and has had number one bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. He has published five Nobel laureates

Nobel Prize in Literature

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...

, including Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....

 and the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....

. He received the British Book Awards Lifetime Achievement award in 2001 and has been a chairman of the Society of Bookmen.

Theatre

Souvenir Press also presented many theatrical productions, including Uproar in the house with Brian Rix, Joan Sims

Joan Sims

Joan Sims was an English actress best remembered for her roles in the Carry On films, and latterly for playing Madge Hardcastle in As Time Goes By.-Early life:...

, and Nicholas Parsons

Nicholas Parsons

Nicholas Parsons OBE is a British actor and radio and television presenter.-Early life:...

; Sign here please by Valentin Katev, adapted by Marty Feldman

Marty Feldman

Martin Alan "Marty" Feldman was an English comedy writer, comedian and actor who starred in a series of British television comedy shows, including At Last the 1948 Show, and Marty, which won two BAFTA awards and was the first Saturn Award winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Young...

; with Terry Scott

Terry Scott

Owen John "Terry" Scott was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven Carry On films. He also appeared in BBC1's popular domestic sitcom Terry and June with June Whitfield...

, Peter Jones

Peter Jones

Peter Jones or Pete Jones may refer to:*Peter Jones , English actor*Peter Jones , Australian rules footballer for Carlton...

 and Ambrosine Philpotts; and most recently The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy, CBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry at the Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Britain's poet laureate in May 2009...

; with Sinéad Cusack

Sinéad Cusack

Sinéad Moira Cusack is an Irish stage, television and film actress. She has received two Tony Award nominations: once for Best Leading Actress in Much Ado About Nothing , and again for Best Featured Actress in Rock 'n' Roll .-Background:...

, Harriet Walter

Harriet Walter

Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...

, Jan Watson, Lynn Farleigh

Lynn Farleigh

-Television and film:Lynn Farleigh is perhaps best known for playing: Helen Wycliffe in Wycliffe; Krupskaya opposite Patrick Stewart's Lenin in the historical BBC drama Fall of Eagles; and the glamorous Vivien Ashton in the second series of the LWT secret agent series Wish Me Luck broadcast in...

 and Barb Jungr

Barb Jungr

Barb Jungr is an English singer-songwriter, composer and writer, of Czech and German parentage. She is perhaps best known as a chansonnière, or singer of chansons—in the sense of classic, lyric-driven French songs; in the broader sense of European songs in the cabaret style; and in the even...

.

The Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation

Setup in 2003, the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation has the aim of providing financial and practical assistance that can "make a difference". The Foundation aims to support the work of other charitable organisations in helping the disadvantaged and promoting the advancement of the arts and education by making grants, with the aim of making a difference in a particular field.

Awards

Hecht's awards include the Neruda Medal presented by the Chilean government

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, and an honorary fellowship of University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

, in 2006.

Personal Life

He continues to live and work in London where he is a long-standing supporter of Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 He was the literary agent of Pele

Pelé

However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...

 and found the time to attend nine of the past 11 World Cup finals by 2002..

External links

http://www.souvenirpress.co.uk/