Alfred A. Knopf, Sr.

Alfred A. Knopf Sr.
Knopf in 1935, photograph by Carl van Vechten
Born	Alfred Abraham Knopf (1892-09-12)September 12, 1892 New York City
Died	August 11, 1984(1984-08-11) (aged 91) Purchase, New York
Education	Columbia University (1912)
Spouse(s)	Blanche Wolf Knopf 1916-1966 (her death)
Children	Alfred A. Knopf, Jr.
Parent(s)	Samuel Knopf and Ida Japhe Knopf
Relatives	Edwin H. Knopf, brother

Alfred Abraham Knopf Sr. (September 12, 1892 – August 11, 1984) was an American publisher of the 20th century, and founder of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.. His contemporaries included the likes of Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, and (of the previous generation) Frank Nelson Doubleday, J. Henry Harper and Henry Holt. Knopf paid special attention to the quality of printing, binding, and design in his books, and earned a reputation as a purist in both content and presentation.

Asked how to say his name, Knopf told the Literary Digest: "Sound the k: k'nupf."

Knopf was born into a Jewish family in New York City. His father Samuel Knopf was an advertising executive and financial consultant, his mother was Ida Japhe, and his brother Edwin H. Knopf, who worked for Alfred briefly, then became a film director and producer. Alfred attended Columbia University, where he was a pre-law student and a member of the Peithologian Society (a debating and literary club) and the Boar's Head Society. He began to show an interest in publishing during his senior year, becoming advertising manager of an undergraduate magazine. His interest in publishing was allegedly fostered by a correspondence with British author John Galsworthy. After visiting Galsworthy in England, Knopf gave up his plans for a law career, and upon his return went into publishing.

After receiving his B.A. in 1912, Knopf worked as a clerk at Doubleday (1912–1913), then as an editorial assistant to Mitchell Kennerley (1914). He founded his own publishing house in 1915. The company initially emphasized European, especially Russian, literature, hence the choice of the borzoi as a colophon. At that time European literature was largely neglected by American publishers; Knopf published authors such as Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Sigmund Freud, André Gide, Franz Kafka, D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, W. Somerset Maugham, T.F Powys, Wyndham Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre.