Jean-Paul Capitani, 78, director of Actes Sud editions, died Tuesday in Arles in a bicycle fall

Jean-Paul Capitani, director of the Actes Sud editions, died Tuesday in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) in a fall from a bicycle, according to information from France Bleu Provence. Aged 78, the chairman of the executive board of Actes Sud, was riding a bicycle in the city center of Arles, when he hit a bollard at the level of the Place de la République. He had a fatal fall. Firefighters who arrived at the scene were unable to resuscitate him.

“Immense sadness to learn of the death of Jean-Paul Capitani”tweeted Tuesday April 4 Rima Abdul Malak, the Minister of Culture. “All his life he believed in the power of books, arts and education to connect people”she continues. “My thoughts go out to Françoise Nyssen, her family, the Actes Sud teams and the people of Arles who loved her so much.”

“He will leave a huge void in the house”, writes Actes Sud

“He had run the house for over forty years” alongside Françoise Nyssen and Bertrand Py, recalls her publishing house on her site. Actes Sud salutes a “passionate and enthusiastic editor”which had in particular “developed the fine books sector and initiated numerous collections on nature and ecology, including the prestigious “Domaine du possible”. “He will leave a huge void in the house.”

Jean-Paul Capitani was “a key player in the city, a man who has done so much for culture and for Arles”, reacted the mayor of the town Patrick de Carolis. Jean-Paul Capitani was the husband of the former Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen, daughter of the founder of the Actes Sud editions Hubert Nyssen.