André Deutsch
André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded the publishing company André Deutsch Ltd in 1951.
He was born in Budapest, the son of a Jewish dentist. He studied in Budapest and Vienna. After the Anschluss, he fled Austria because he was Jewish and moved to Britain in 1939. In London he worked as a floor manager at the Grosvenor House Hotel. In 1941, when Hungary joined the war on Germany’s side, he was briefly interned as an enemy alien.
Deutsch learned publishing while working for Francis Aldor in London. He then left Aldor to work with Nicholson & Watson. After World War II he started his own company, Allan Wingate, but was soon forced out. André Deutsch Limited began trading in 1952.
His small but influential publishing house published many important authors, including Jack Kerouac, Wole Soyinka, Norman Mailer, Margaret Atwood, John Updike, Philip Roth and others. He worked with editor Diana Athill, who helped shape the company; she later described him as a very demanding man.
Deutsch helped create several book series, such as The Language Library, Grafton Books, and the Introduces guides. In 1989 he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
He died in London on 11 April 2000, aged 82. John le Carré based the character Toby Esterhase on Deutsch, using a similar voice and manner of speech.
After his death, the André Deutsch imprint became part of the Carlton Publishing Group when Carlton bought the company in 2000 from Video Collection International Plc.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:04 (CET).