Who was Emanuel Querido?
Emanuel Querido
To understand the “now” you often must go back to the “Then.” In this thoughtful essay, learn about the significance of Querido, in the words of Arthur A. Levine himself.
By Arthur A. Levine
Querido is how you might address someone you care about. It means “dear one,” literally, expressing a deep affection and warmth. Of course, that’s how I hope readers will feel about the books of LQ; so the meaning of the word is very important to me.
But there’s more to the story: Querido was also a person—Emanuel Querido, to be exact. He was born to a family of Sephardic Jews who fled from the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal in the 1490s. The Querido family developed roots in the Netherlands.
In 1898, when Emanuel was 27, he opened a bookstore in Amsterdam that became a center for all kinds of readers and thinkers. In a very short time he started publishing books, first among them a book on the ethics of love and marriage by the Swedish feminist educator Ellen Key. It was the beginning of a passionate effort to find and translate great writers for the delight of his readers.
In 1915 Querido made the leap from occasional publisher to founder of a publishing house. From the start the company embraced the ideals of fine writing and craftsmanship in bookmaking, as well as an openness to innovation. In fact, it was Querido who published the Salamander books —the first true paperback series—in 1934, a year before the first Penguin paperback was sold.
“But perhaps most inspirational to me was the Querido response to the rise of the Nazis in Germany. ”
But perhaps most inspirational to me was the Querido response to the rise of the Nazis in Germany. Although Emanuel himself was not a particularly observant Jew, he was still moved by the censure of German writers—dissidents and Jews—that gradually erased these writers’ voices. (And perhaps he knew that Nazis would not distinguish between a Jew who was observant and one who was assimilated.) Together with Fritz Landshoff they founded Querido Verlag, based in the Netherlands, from which they spread the urgent writing of these silenced creators as widely as they could. In 110 works of resistance, these exiled writers spoke out about the Nazi regime’s plan to start a war and rule the whole world.
Only a few days after the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, the Gestapo stormed the Querido offices, ultimately shutting it down. Querido himself was captured and sent to Sobibor, the concentration camp, where he died in 1943.
Fortunately, Querido’s colleagues re-launched the company after the war, continuing its great traditions and growing its fine reputation. In 1971 a children’s book division was founded which has consistently produced stunning, award-winning titles.
Now, with the help of my Dutch colleagues, I bring the Querido name to North America, in the form of a list that seeks out glorious talent from around the world for the pleasure of English-speaking readers. There’s a saying in Jewish culture that a person isn’t truly gone until the last person living no longer remembers their name. I hope that not only can this (Levine) Querido list bring great joy to readers, but that it can keep alive the name, the memory, the legacy, and the brave spirit of Emanuel Querido.
“I hope that not only can this (Levine) Querido list bring great joy to readers, but that it can keep alive the name, the memory, the legacy, and the brave spirit of Emanuel Querido. ”