Personal life

Jørgen Wright Cappelen was born in Porsgrund

Porsgrunn

is a town and municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Porsgrunn....

 in 1805 as the ninth and last child of ship-owner Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen

Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen

Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen was a Norwegian ship-owner and businessman.-Personal life:Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen was born in 1770 to landowner and merchant Diedrich von Cappelen and his first wife Petronelle Pedersdatter Juel . He had two older brothers, one sister and one younger half-brother...

 (1770–1820) and his wife Benedicte Henrikke, née Aall (1772–1812). His maternal grandfather was Nicolai Benjamin Aall

Nicolai Benjamin Aall

-Personal life:Nicolai Benjamin Aall was born in 1739 as the first son of Niels Jacobsen Aall and Benedicte Henrikke Bergh from Moss. Niels Jacobsen Aall was born in London, but moved to Porsgrund in 1712. Benedicte Henrikke was the second of three wives. Nicolai Benjamin's younger half-brother...

, and as such his group of uncles included Constitutional founding fathers Niels, Jacob and Jørgen Aall

Jørgen Aall

Jørgen Aall was a Norwegian ship-owner and politician.-Personal life:Jørgen Aall was born in 1771 as the second son of Nicolai Benjamin Aall and Amborg Jørgensdatter , née Wesseltoft. In total he had three brothers and three sisters...

. When Jørgen reached 15 years of age, he had lost both parents and the family business was bankrupt, however, his uncles Niels Aall and Didrich von Cappelen took over as trustees.

His oldest brothers Nicolai Benjamin

Nicolai Benjamin Cappelen

-Personal life:Nicolai Benjamin Cappelen was born in 1795 as the first child of ship-owner Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen and his wife Benedicte Henrikke, née Aall . His namesake and maternal grandfather was Nicolai Benjamin Aall...

 and Ulrik Frederik

Ulrik Frederik Cappelen

Ulrik Frederik Cappelen was a Norwegian jurist and politician.-Personal life:Ulrik Frederik Cappelen was born in 1795 as the second child of ship-owner Ulrich Fredrich von Cappelen and his wife Benedicte Henrikke, née Aall . His maternal grandfather was Nicolai Benjamin Aall...

 became jurists and members of the national parliament. The third brother, Wittus Juel, became a merchant in Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

. The oldest sisters Didricha and Louise were married consecutively to bishop and politician Jens Lauritz Arup

Jens Lauritz Arup

Jens Lauritz Arup was a Norwegian bishop and politician. He was born in Kristiansand, where his father was a sexton and a school teacher. In 1811 he was sent to Copenhagen to study, but had to end his studies due to lack of funds...

. The fourth sister Benedicte married their cousin Hans Blom Cappelen; from this marriage, Jørgen got a nephew Didrik who became a member of parliament, and a niece Marie who married Fritz Trampe Flood

Fritz Trampe Flood

-Personal life:Fritz Trampe Flood was born in 1826 to merchant Jørgen Flood and his wife Hanna , née Aall. As such his maternal grandfather was Constitutional founding father Jørgen Aall. He grew up in Eidanger....

 of the notable Flood ship-owner family.

Jørgen married actress Fredrikke Helene Schwirtz. She was a Danish citizen.

Career

Jørgen Wright Cappelen started theological studies in Basel

Basel

Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...

, but abandoned these. He instead moved to Kristiania and founded J.W. Cappelens Forlag

J.W. Cappelens Forlag

J.W. Cappelens Forlag, usually referred to as Cappelen, was one of the oldest publishing houses of Norway. J.W. Cappelens Forlag was founded in 1829 by Jørgen Wright Cappelen, of the distinguished Cappelen family. Torger Baardseth was the director of Cappelen between 1904 and 1943. JW Cappelens...

, a publishing house and bookshop, in 1829. The publications were largely centered around religious topics. In the second half of the nineteenth century, they rather concentrated on school books.

Cappelen was the first chairman of the Norwegian Booksellers Association

Norwegian Booksellers Association

The Norwegian Booksellers Association is a Norwegian interest group. Its purpose is "looking after the interests of the booksellers and working to strengthen the position of literature and books in society". It awards the annual Norwegian Booksellers' Prize .It was founded on 10 January 1851. The...

, serving in that capacity from 1851 to 1870.

After his death the business was taken over by his son Jørgen Wright Cappelen, Jr. The publishing house and bookshop was split into two stock companies in 1957. The bookshop company was liquidated in 1973, but the publishing house still exists.