Renowned Spanish editor Claudio López Lamadrid died January 11, the Bookseller reported. He was 59. A Penguin Random House spokesperson said, "This has been a tough weekend for many of us.... Claudio was publisher of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and also its Literatura Random House imprint. His title doesn't begin to do justice to his impact on the importance and success of our Spanish-language publishing program, or the esteem in which he was held as an editor and publisher in Spain and internationally."
Lamadrid began his 40-year career as an editor in Paris with Christian Bourgois and then worked for 10 years in Tusquets Editores with his uncle Antonio López Lamadrid, co-editor of Tusquets, before helping to launch the Galaxia Gutenberg seal of Círculo de Lectores. He was appointed literary director of Grijalbo Mondadori in 1997, later taken over by Mondadori.
PRH noted that he "oversaw our world-class imprints in Spain and Latin America, setting and unifying Grupo's publishing strategies, criteria, and planning across our territories. He also, in the words of PRHGE CEO Nuria Cabuti, was 'one of the most important editors of our time.' "
Noting that his "passing is especially devastating for everyone at Grupo," Cabuti wrote in a memo to her staff: "Claudio's death leaves a huge void in our lives... he invariably had a kind word to say and a friendly smile to share, and he always displayed remarkable levels of complicity, sagacity and empathy. I know that all of you who had the chance to work with him came to revere him."