Robert Laffont, affectionately known as the grandfather of French publishing, died on 19th May aged 93.
The son of a naval officer, Laffont first embarked unenthusiastically on a legal career. But then came the second world war and a radical change of direction. Hesitating between cinema and books, his friend and sometime partner Guy Schoeller, who then worked for Hachette, warned him that both lead to certain ruinbut that the first was more rapid and the second more refined.
But Laffont was not destined for ruin. He created his own publishing house, Editions Robert Laffont, in 1941, and was responsible for more than 10,000 titles....
The son of a naval officer, Laffont first embarked unenthusiastically on a legal career. But then came the second world war and a radical change of direction. Hesitating between cinema and books, his friend and sometime partner Guy Schoeller, who then worked for Hachette, warned him that both lead to certain ruinbut that the first was more rapid and the second more refined.
But Laffont was not destined for ruin. He created his own publishing house, Editions Robert Laffont, in 1941, and was responsible for more than 10,000 titles....