Maxwell M. Geffen (May 28, 1896 – October 11, 1980) was an American publisher.

Life and career

Geffen graduated from the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

School of Journalism in 1916. He then worked as a correspondent for The

New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

newspaper. From 1922 to 1941 he was the publisher of New York Medical Week, the official publication of the

New York County Medical Society The New York County Medical Society is a professional membership organization for physicians who live or work in the Borough of Manhattan. As such, it is part of the larger network of medical organizations which includes the American Medical Ass ...

. From 1938 until 1957 he and

Victor Knauth Victor Whitman Knauth (10 June 1895 – 2 September 1977) was a journalist, publisher, and broadcasting executive. Knauth served as the editor-in-chief and an owner of ''The Bridgeport Times-Star'', a newspaper published in Bridgeport, Connecticu ...

edited

Omnibook Magazine ''Omnibook'' was a magazine published from 1938 until 1957 by Omnibook Inc. in New York. It was edited by Maxwell M. Geffen and Victor W. Knauth and featured "authorized abridgements of current best-selling books."�Omnibook (Overseas Edition)� ...

, which published abridged versions of current best-sellers. Geffen was also one of the founders of the Blue List, a daily paper that consisted entirely of advertising for municipal bonds that was later merged into

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is con ...

, which was in turn acquired by

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

. He also founded a magazine for doctors, '' Medical World News'', in 1961 and sold it to McGraw-Hill in 1966 for $17 million. In 1968, at the age of 72, he resigned as a senior vice president at McGraw-Hill and became the principal owner and chairman of the publisher David McKay, Ltd. In the same year, he started another magazine, ''

Family Health Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary ...

'', which was later renamed to ''Health''.

Personal life

He was the brother-in-law of the writer

Matthew Josephson Matthew Josephson (February 15, 1899 – March 13, 1978) was an American journalist and author of works on nineteenth-century French literature and American political and business history of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Josephson popu ...

Death

Geffen died Saturday, October 11, 1980 at

North Shore University Hospital North Shore University Hospital (formerly known as Manhasset Hospital) is a part of Northwell Health, New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer. It is a primary teaching hospital for the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of ...

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geffen, Maxwell M Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American publishers (people) 1896 births 1980 deaths