People Remembered: Sven-Erik Bergh

Sven-Erik Bergh

Sven-Erik Bergh, 96, who published books in Swedish, German and English and was an OPC member, died June 5. Born in Sweden, he moved with his family to Germany in 1922 but returned to Sweden when Hitler came to power.

In Sweden, he was trained in book publishing and in 1940 became head of Ljus AB, a publishing house in the Esselte group. Bergh founded a literary agency in New York City in 1947, and a year later the United Nations appointed him to its publishing division. He returned to Stockholm in 1954 and founded the publishing house, Berghs Fõrlag.

Over the years, he published more than 2,000 titles including Babar, a well-known children’s book. Wishing to publish in German, he went to Düsseldõrf in 1970 and founded the company Edition Sven-Bergh im Econ Verlag. In an e-mail to his daughters, Sylvia Bergh, also an OPC member, and Bettina, OPC executive director Sonya Fry wrote, “Your father was one of my favorite OPC members and I always looked forward to his visits to New York City.” Also surviving is his wife, Liselotte, a concert pianist.