Biography Joachim Unseld

Joachim Unseld qualified in publishing management, studied German, sociology and philosophy in Munich, Paris and Berlin and took his PhD on Franz Kafka at Berlin’s Technical University in 1981. In 1983, he became executive partner and head of sales at the publishing companies Suhrkamp and Insel and in 1988 “publisher with equal rights” alongside Siegfried Unseld. He left operational publishing at Suhrkamp and Insel in 1991, but remained a partner. Since 1994, Joachim Unseld has been publisher and sole partner in the Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt GmbH and since 2004, chairman of the Commercial Publishing Companies Group. His translation of Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s “Das Badezimmer” was published in 2004.

The members of the Academy

In September 2004, the board of the Börsenverein made its unique appointment of the German Book Prize Academy which is made up of eleven members.

With representatives from the book industry and the arts and co-sponsors of the Prize, the advisory committee’s most important task is the annual selection of the jury. Publisher Dr. Gottfried Honnefelder is president of the German Book Prize Academy.

From left to right: Juergen Boos, Jan Paschen, Dr. Gottfried Honnefelder, Viola Taube, Dr. Dirk Vaihinger, Prof. Dr. Jutta Limbach, Hubert Winkels, Wilfried Weber, Dr. Joachim Unseld. Not shown: Bernd Neumann.