Manuel Schortgen, the third generation of the family to head the publishing house founded by Michel Schortgen in 1949, died on 14 January. The Schortgen family issued a statement on Friday saying that he had suffered a “tragic accident“ and had been in a coma for several days.

Manuel Schortgen took on the role of managing director of the family business in 2003. The house published Luxembourg literature, including children’s books, and also had a series of art books, coffee table books and cookbooks in its catalogue. At the start of 2020 Editions Schortgen had taken over the book publishing arm Editions Saint-Paul, the publisher of Luxemburger Wort, after it closed down that side of its business.

The family statement explains that the running of the publishing house will be continued by his wife, Lena Schortgen. Miguel Fernandes will be appointed as consultant and official press spokesperson, and the other partners in the firm, Jean-Paul, Martin, and Maurice Schortgen, will remain in place.

“He was one of the most remarkable publishers we had,” book retailer Fernand Ernster said in a telephone interview. “Manuel brought dynamism to the business.” Ernster had previously had professional dealings with Jean-Paul Schortgen, Manuel’s father.

But it was Manuel, says Ernster, who developed Editions Schortgen’s interest in cookbooks by buying the rights to Ketty Thull’s influential work. He later recognised Anne Faber’s potential as a cookbook writer when she launched her first series of shows on RTL television.

Manuel’s passion also extended to children’s books and he was keen to nurture local talent such as Diane Orban and Myriam Karels, who won the 2020 Lëtzebuerger Buchpräis and the audience award for their book “De Wëlle leeft am Bësch”.

“He was humble, and didn’t seek the spotlight,” said Ernster. “He liked to stay in the background.” But Ernster is confident that the company will be in good hands now that Lena Schortgen is taking over.

Delano extends its condolences to the Schortgen family.