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| Thomas Neurath | |
Thomas Neurath, the longtime managing director and later chairman of Thames & Hudson, died June 13. He was 84. T&H CEO Sophy Thompson said: "T&H's 75th-anniversary celebrations in 2024 put Thomas's immense contribution to publishing into perspective. He spent more than 50 years at the helm of the company and permeated the house with his intellectual and cultural aura, as well as his unrivaled commercial understanding of the opportunities and perils of illustrated publishing.
"Working with Thomas was both challenging and deeply rewarding: daunting interrogations were offset by long, happy discussions about the program, publishing and the art world more broadly. His wisdom, experience and passion will be greatly missed by everyone at T&H."
Neurath was the son of publisher Walter Neurath and teacher Marianne Müller, who both fled Austria after the Nazi takeover in 1938. After her death, Walter Neurath founded T&H in 1949 with his third wife and publishing colleague Eva Feuchtwang, naming it for the rivers in London and New York. Thomas Neurath joined the family firm as an editor in 1961. He developed the groundbreaking World of Art series, which offered scholarly illustrated introductions to all aspects of visual culture. Containing some 300 titles, it continues to be a flagship series for T&H.
When Walter Neurath died in 1967, the day-to-day running of the company was handed to Thomas Neurath, as managing director, and his sister Constance Neurath, who looked after design. T&H said: "Thomas soon displayed extraordinary publishing instincts and was able to translate his vision for a book into a physical design concept, with attention paid to every detail, from fonts and typography to the all-important relationship in illustrated books between text, caption and image...
"Neurath was an astonishingly skillful publisher and an astute businessman. Aspects of publishing such as distribution and finance were as important to Thomas as the quality of a book's editorial, design and production standards. He knew how to run a company and under his leadership T&H was prudently managed as an independent business, with profits reinvested and growth driven organically rather than reliant on acquisitions. Thomas was also a caring and generous employer, taking a sincere interest in all his colleagues and with a remarkable memory for the details of their lives."
Neurath stepped down from his role as managing director in 2005, assuming the role of chairman until 2021. The Neurath family said: "We are grateful to everyone at T&H and the wider publishing community, who enriched Thomas's professional life, his great passion for good books and filled his years with stimulating conversations, creative collaborations, inspiring challenges and, most importantly of all, many deeply cherished friendships."