German Buch News: Bertelsmann Founder Mohn Dies; Roth Wins Die Welt Lit Prize

In German Buch News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary

mohn_reinhard_neu_2008_g_grossReinhard Mohn, the post-war founder of German media giant Bertelsmann, has died at the age of 88 (as reported in a press release from the company and covered in BuchReport). Mohn was born in Gütersloh in 1921, the fifth generation of the Bertelsmann/Mohn business family, and took over the reins of his family’s printing and publishing house C. Bertelsmann Verlag in 1947. Over the next 60 years, he built the company into an international media empire, with more than 100,000 employees in more than 50 countries.

Die Welt has awarded its annual Welt Literature Prize to Philip Roth, reports the Boersenblatt. The jury selected him based on his five decades of meaningfully depicting “the tragedy of human existence.” The 76-year-old Roth will receive 10,000 Euros in prize money.

About the Author

Siobhan O'Leary

Siobhan O’Leary is a literary agent, translator and writer based in Berlin. She previously worked in the Foreign Rights department of the Crown Publishing Group (Random House) and at the publishing consulting firm Market Partners International.