Delpire was born in Paris, France, on 24 January 1926. As a medical student, Delpire became editor-in-chief of
Neuf (Nine), the Maison de la Médecine's
cultural review for its doctors.
Neuf devoted much of its content to photography by
Brassaï,
Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Robert Doisneau,
Izis,
Willy Ronis and
Robert Frank.
The Americans was "One of Delpire's pivotal contributions to photography": The
Encyclopédie Essentielle series also included
Les Allemands (The Germans, 1963) by
René Burri. Delpire & Co. also published children's books with its
Dix sur Dix (Ten Out of Ten) series, employing illustrators such as
André François and
Alain Le Foll. Its first was the début publication in book form of
Crocodile Tears (1955) by André François, having already published it in
Neuf No. 9 in 1953. Delpire & Co. was the first French publisher of
Maurice Sendak's
Where the Wild Things Are For a decade from around the mid 1950s, Delpire, in partnership with Claude Puech, produced sales brochures and posters for Citroën, using the work of photographers (
Helmut Newton,
Sarah Moon, and others), illustrators, painters and typographers. Delpire opened Galerie Delpire in
Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris, in 1963; and at the time of his death served on its advisory board. Delpire was married to the photographer Sarah Moon. He died on 26 September 2017 in Paris at the age of 91. ==Publications==