Hubert Nyssen was born on 11 April 1925 in Bruxelles, Belgium. He was married to Christine Le Boeuf. He died on 12 November 2011 in Paradou, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
Publisher, he cofounded L'Atelier de cartographie thématique et statistique (Actes), in 1969 with Jean-Philippe Gautier,which became in 1977 the publisher Actes Sud. He is the father of Françoise Nyssen.