Peter Owen (24 February 1927 – 31 May 2016) was a British publisher, the founder of

Peter Owen Publishers Peter Owen Publishers is a family-run London-based independent publisher based in London, England. It was founded in 1951.John Self"Peter Owen: Sixty years of innovation" Books Blog, ''The Guardian'', 4 July 2011. History The company was founded ...

. He was born Peter Offenstadt in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

in 1927, with

rickets Rickets is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children, and is caused by either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stunted growth, bone pain, large forehead, and trouble sleeping. Complications may ...

, the only child of a German Jewish couple. His mother was Winifred Offenstadt. He was sent to live with his grandmother in England at the age of five, later to be joined by his parents, who were reluctant to leave Germany. In 1948, at the age of 21, Owen went into partnership with Neville Armstrong in a publishing enterprise called Peter Neville. This lasted until 1955.Ian Miller
Other lives: Neville Armstrong
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 26 September 2008, accessed 27 July 2021 He went on to found

in 1951. He was awarded the OBE for services to literature in 2014. Owen's funeral instructions included, "no religious crap of any kind".

References

1927 births 2016 deaths British book publishers (people) 20th-century German Jews German emigrants to the United Kingdom {{UK-business-bio-1920s-stub