Profession: publisher

Freymann published highly significant books in a range of subjects that no-one else would. Weil already knew him and got him to publish the Bourbaki group’s work (it’s been suggested that Freymann, who brought Chevalley and Weil together, actually instigated their project). Wiener and Freymann had lived together in Mexico; the suggestion again is that Freymann persuaded Wiener to write his seminal book. Rivera was a friend. De Broglie introduced Freymann to Einstein (whose work he published) and to Langevin, and threatened to sue him for withholding publication of a book, but Freymann died three days later.

Publisher prepared to take risks. Girodias employed Trocchi, Logue and others to write erotica under various noms de plume. Southern had already been published by Girodias, and with Corso persuaded him to take on Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch.’ Bataille, Beckett, Nabokov and Donleavy all had work published by him; Nabokov was the only author to make him a lot of money, while Donleavy had a running battle with him over the rights to ‘The Ginger Man’, and when Girodias went bankrupt, acquired the remnants of his business. Calder liked him but said he’d never met anyone so complicated.

Girodias said he introduced Calder to Beckett, though Calder’s version differed; Beckett and he drank and played chess and billiards in Paris bars, becoming lifelong friends. Burroughs gave him editorial control, saying he started his career. Trocchi and MacDiarmid had a famous spat at a conference he organised, with Mailer, Burroughs and Miller. He also brought Wesker, Pinter, Ionesco and Arden together. Robbe-Grillet (taken on a writers’ tour with Sarraute and Duras) described him as “very trustworthy… with the slight exception of money.”