French publisher who issued a wide range of textbooks, dictionaries, and numerous other publications that gave impetus to French education and culture.

After studying law in Paris, Hachette bought a small bookshop there (1826) and, following the revolution of 1830, began to publish textbooks for the new primary schools. His firm rapidly became a leading French publishing house. Publications included manuals in almost every branch of knowledge, scholarly editions of ancient and modern classics, a cheap railway library, guide books, and directories. He also founded several journals, wrote pamphlets on the conditions of the poor, and pressed for the establishment of an international copyright convention.