Tribute to Joop Berkhout

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11 February 2025

Mallory chairman Julian Hardinge writes: We were saddened to hear of the death yesterday (10th February) of Joop Berkhout, at the age of 95. Chief Joop Berkhout (often ‘Chief’) was a towering figure in the African book trade. He was made a chief, a bit like a knighthood in the UK, by the Nigerian Government, and had a number of other titles and awards. He was enormously influential; as one example, his personal intervention was a major factor in preventing customs duties being imposed on books in Nigeria.

His company, Safari, represented Mallory in Nigeria for many years, as well as publishing the biographies and autobiographies of anyone who was anyone. He will be greatly missed, and he was one of the last representatives of a book trade tradition going back to African independence, his own career having covered that entire period. I visited him several times at his flat in Kingston when he was in the UK, and he was unfailingly interesting, energetic, and fun to talk to.