French Publisher Kana's Founder Yves Schlirf Dies
Kana's catalog made it one of Europe's largest manga publishers, so the death of the man who founded it in 1996 leaves the house he built without its founder.
Reporting from 1 source: Anime News Network.
Yves Schlirf, who founded the French manga publisher Kana in 1996, died on September 13, according to an announcement from Dargaud and Kana on September 14. Born in Brussels, Schlirf opened the comic bookstore Schlirfbook in 1972 and later worked at Dupuis and built Dargaud's Belgian branch. Kana became one of Europe's largest manga publishers, releasing Naruto, Saint Seiya and Monster in French.
At his death Schlirf was also director-general for Dargaud in Belgium and editorial director at Dargaud Benelux. He opened Schlirfbook in Brussels in 1972, moved into publishing in the 1980s with a marketing post at Dupuis, and later created Dargaud's Belgian branch, where he oversaw titles including XIII and Le Scorpion.
Before his death he was preparing an anniversary album for the 80th anniversary of Blake and Mortimer, first published in 1946. Dargaud and Kana described him as a great connoisseur of the ninth art and a man convinced by the mechanisms of fiction and human adventure.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
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- Anime News Network News French Publisher Kana's Founder Yves Schlirf Dies