William Martin Nygaard was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 publisher and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

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Nygaard was born in Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

 as the son of educator and linguist Marius Nygaard

Marius Nygaard (academic)

Marius Nygaard was a Norwegian educator and linguist.-Personal life:He was born in Bergen as a son of shipmaster and merchant Mads Christensen Nygaard and Maren Behrens . On the maternal side he was a first cousin of Johan Diederich Behrens.Nygaard married Elise Martin in August 1863 in Bergen...

 (1838–1912) and his wife Elisabeth "Elise" Martin (1842–1923) and brother of Kristen Brunfeldt Nygaard and Finn Nygaard. He married to Constance Wiel, and the couple had seven children, among them Mads Wiel Nygaard and Andreas Melchior Wiel Nygaard, who was the grandfather of William Nygaard

William Nygaard

William Nygaard is a retired Norwegian publisher who graduated with a degree in economics in 1967. He is also chairman of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.-Business career:...

. In 1894 he bought Drammensveien 99 and moved in with his family. It is in the garden outside Drammensveien 99 the annual garden party

Garden party

A garden party is a social gathering with food provided, in the open in a park or a garden. An event described as a garden party is usually more formal than other similar gatherings, which may be called just parties, picnics, barbecues, etc,...

 of Aschehoug

Aschehoug

H. Aschehoug & Co , commonly known as Aschehoug, is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway. -History:...

 takes place each summer.

Publisher

He was employed in H. Aschehoug & Co

Aschehoug

H. Aschehoug & Co , commonly known as Aschehoug, is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway. -History:...

's bookstore in Kristiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 in 1887. In 1888, together with Thorstein Lambrechts, he bought the bookstore and the publishing house. Then, in 1900 he became the sole proprietor of the publishing house and changed the name of the company to H. Aschehoug & Co (W. Nygaard). He was chief publisher (CEO) of the publishing house until 1940 when his son Mads Wiel Nygaard took over as CEO and he continued as chairman of the board.

In 1895 William Nygaard initiated the founding of the Norwegian Publishers Association, serving as chairman from 1895 to 1922 and 1925 to 1929.

Politician

William Nygaard was a member of the Kristiania city council from 1908 to 1919. In 1910 he was one of the founders of the political party Liberal Left Party, chairing the local chapter in Kristiania until 1916. He was elected to the Parliament of Norway for the term 1922–1924, representing the constituency Kristiania. He served only one term.

He was also a member of the board of Oslo City Museum

Oslo City Museum

Oslo City Museum is located in the Frogner Manor in Oslo, the capital of Norway.The museum has an extensive library with the purpose of documenting the history of the City of Oslo, as well as the former municipality Aker. The museum also has one of the largest and most important photo collections...

 (1902–1922), 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...

 (1905–1918), Saugbrugsforeningen

Norske Skog Saugbrugs

Norske Skog Saugbrugs is a paper mill located in Halden in Norway. The mill is part of the Norske Skog Corporation and opened in 1859 with the name Saugbrugsforeningen...

 (1914–1932), Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse (1917–1922), Nationaltheatret

Nationaltheatret

The National Theatre in Oslo is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts.The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was founded in 1829...

 (1922–1923), Vinmonopolet

Vinmonopolet

Vinmonopolet , symbolized by Ⓥ and colloquially shortened to Polet, is a government owned alcoholic beverage retailer and the only company allowed to sell beverages containing an alcohol content higher than 4.75% in Norway....

 (1929–1932) and the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design

National Gallery of Norway

The National Gallery of Norway is a gallery in Oslo, Norway. Since 2003 it is administratively a part of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design.-History:...

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