The Hon Esmond Vyvyan Harmsworth, one of North America's leading literary agents for business, entrepreneurship and management books, died 9 April, 2025, while on holiday in Mauritius. He was 57.
A half uncle of the 4th Viscount Rothermere, chairman of Daily Mail and General Trust plc, Esmond lived in Boston in the US, where he had a hugely successful business representing authors from across the publishing spectrum.
His clients included the New York Times bestseller and the number one Wall Street Journal business bestseller Breakthrough: Secrets of America's Fastest Growing Companies by Keith McFarland; Amanda Ripley's New York Times bestseller The Smartest Kids in the World – And How They Got That Way; and Michelle Hoover's acclaimed 2016 literary novel Bottomland.
He was born 18 June, 1967, son of the 2nd Viscount Rothermere (1898-1978), by his third wife Mrs Mary Ohrstrom (former wife of Richard Ohrstrom, of The Plains, Virginia, USA), and eldest daughter of Kenneth Murchison, of Dallas, Texas, USA.
Mr Harmsworth was a younger half-brother of the 3rd Viscount Rothermere (1925-1998), and a half-uncle of the present 4th Viscount (born 3 Dec, 1967).
He was named after his father and was a half-brother of Vere, the 3rd Viscount. He was educated at Eton and Brown University in America from where he graduated magna cum laude in history and history of art.
From 1992 to 1995 he studied at Harvard Law School, graduating cum laude. He was a founding partner of the former Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency which in 2016 merged with Kuhn Projects to form Aevitas Creative of which Esmond was president. Each year he sponsored the Esmond Harmsworth lecture at Oxford University's Rothermere American Institute.
With his husband Jerôme Buet, Esmond was the father of two children, Alfred and Liliane.
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