Juan Grijalbo Serres (1911-2002) was an invaluable Tarragones publisher, part of a generation of Spaniards that revolutionized the hispanic-american publisher industry. Avid reader, self-taught and with a strong political and ideological commitment. He was a member of the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (PSUC) and Director General of Commerce. During Spain’s civil war, he prevented a group of anarchist from burning a stock of religious books, one of those rare feats that just those who love books are able to pull. For this action, he was named delegate of the Generalitat in Barcelona’s Book chamber.

In 1939, he helped establish the Atlante publishing house in Mexico, supported by the PSUC. Here he published marxist works, russian literature, Spanish poetry, etc. Later, he bought Atlante’s shares and created the legendary Grijalbo publisher, which took the best from its predecessor but (as any good publisher that knows its market would do) expanding it to fit north american bestsellers, amongst other books.

Participantes de la XXXI Beca Juan Grijalbo, realizada del 23 al 29 de octubre de 2022.

When he returned to Spain, Grijalbo grew the success of his publishing house with books like The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk and The Godfather by Mario Puzo. In 1976, Grijalbo and Gonzalo Pontón founded Crítica, a publisher destined for a critical public. Just a decade before the start of a new century, Juan Grijalbo sells his publishers to group Mondadori.

History is written, but it’s more accurate to say history is published. This is where the publisher’s touch comes in. The page-calculating heroe that gives birth to the book and, with any luck, prints a phrase, maybe even a chapter in the history of humanity. In 1990, the Innovation and Professional Development Center for the Publishing Industry (Editamos) of the Caniem and the Juan Grijalbo Foundation created the Juan Grijalbo Scholarship, with the aim of contributing to the development of future publishers in the country. After two years of obligatory absence due to the pandemic, the scholarship is back to revive the spirit of Grijalbo: the love for books as objects of art and knowledge.

Diego Echeverría, ponencia “Conversión digital de contenidos: epub”, XXXI Beca Juan Grijalbo.

During my contribution as part of the activities of the Juan Grijalbo Scholarship, I had the opportunity to share with the attendees the digital book overview, its history and opportunities. It’s very gratifying to talk about the book industry with such passionate young people, who reminded me why I decided to dedicate my life to publishing.

Long live the Juan Grijalbo scholarship, and long live the books!, source of our history and a powerful agent that makes us more human.

References

Mengual, Josep. (2013, 20 de diciembre). Los inicios de Grijalbo, en Negritas y cursivas (WordPress). Recuperado de https://negritasycursivas.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/los-inicios-de-grijalbo/ (consulta: 23 de noviembre de 2022).

Serrano Pascual, Mariano. (s.f.). Joan Grijalbo i Serres, en Real Academia de la Historia. Disponible en https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/84589/joan-grijalbo-i-serres (consulta: 23 de noviembre de 2022).