The organizer of the Lisbon Book Fair died after being run over: the person responsible had fled

The president of the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL), the entity responsible for the Lisbon Book Fair, Pedro Sobral, He died this Saturday at the age of 51 after being run over in the Portuguese capital.

The death of Sobral, who was also Administrator of the General Editions of the Portuguese publishing group LEYA, has provoked multiple reactions in Portuguese society, which has highlighted his work in promoting reading and culture in the country.

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The LEYA Group announced the news in a statement, in which it assured that it was “a loss with insurmountable damage.”

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said in a statement that Sobral did a “remarkable job” as president of APEL and that “he will be greatly missed by the book sector” and culture.

Also the Portuguese Minister of Culture, Dalila Rodrigues, expressed in another note his “deep regret” for the death of Sobral, whom he described as an “essential partner” of his Ministry. “Pedro Sobral will be remembered for his path dedicated to books and the importance of reading habits in our country,” he wrote.

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The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, highlighted that the president of APEL taught the City Council – co-organizer of the Book Fair – “a new way of working in the sector” to create “significant and structural changes.”

Local media reported that he was hit by a car while riding a bicycle in the Lisbon neighborhood of Belém. and that the driver, who initially fled, surrendered to the Police hours later.

Pedro Sobral, 51, had a degree in Economics and Political Science from the Catholic University of Lisbon.

He began his career in the financial and consulting area, until, in 2004, he was appointed Director of Marketing and Sales at the Almedina Group.

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In 2008 he joined the LEYA Group, and in 2021 he was appointed president of APEL, a position he held until today.