Greenburger, Sanford Jerome

Sanford J. Greenburger (1903-1971) was born in upstate New York in 1903 and died in New York City in 1971. He spent his early working years in Hollywood, where he made valuable connections that proved helpful in his later career as a literary agent and foreign publisher's representative. Greenburger would later found the the Sanford J. Greenburger literary agency in 1932.

Though he was an independent agent for much of his career, in the 1930s he was associated with an agency known as the International Literary Bureau. From that connection, Greenburger learned about foreign publishers, translation rights, and foreign literary agencies.

Greenburger's success in the field of foreign publishing and publication rights is demonstrated by his long association with major European publishers, such as Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore of Milan, Giuliu Einaudi, and the Rowoht Verlag.

Within his own agency, Greenburger pioneered the editorial scouting business, advising European publishers which American writers to translate and publish. The agency built a prestigious reputation by representing such icons as Kafka and Sartre, and contemporary authors including Dan Brown, Nelson Demille, and Robin Preiss Glasser. The agency specialized in representing European writers and publishers in the U.S.

Source: Sanford J. Greenburger agency website: http://www.sjga.com/code/about.htm

From the guide to the Sanford J. Greenburger Literary Agency records, 1921-1977, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)