The publisher Alain Gründ, director of the editions of the same name from 1963 to 2008, died at the age of 83 in Paris on Thursday July 14. He was the first president of the Federation of European Publishers. Gründ Editions was founded in the late 19th century by the son of a German immigrant to Paris, Ernest Gründ. They belong since 2008 to Editis (Vivendi group).
Alain Gründ was the grandson of the founder, and had succeeded his uncle and his father at the head of this publishing house renowned for its beautiful books, and among others for the “Bénézit dictionary” of painters, sculptors, engravers and designers, a benchmark in the art world. He had taken over a declining house, which he had straightened out by being a “pioneer in co-publishing” with foreign publishers, according to Editis. He also launched “Gründ’s opening up to children’s publishing”.
One of its successes was Where’s Charlie?, a series created by a Briton in 1987, which immediately arrived in France. “Until the end, he will have been attentive to our profession and to the influence of books and reading in France and internationally”, commented the president of the National Union of Publishing Vincent Montagne.