The Honorable Esmond Harmsworth died suddenly of natural causes on April 9, 2025 at the age of 57. He was traveling in Mauritius on holiday with his family.
Born in London on June 18, 1967, Esmond was educated in England at The Dragon School and Eton College, and had fond memories of his childhood at Daylesford House in Gloucestershire. He went on to university in the United States, graduating magna cum laude in 1990 with dual concentrations in History and Art History from Brown University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Esmond subsequently graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995.
In 1997, Esmond co-founded Boston based Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency, which in 2016 merged with Kuhn Projects to form Aevitas Creative Management, one of the largest literary agencies in the world, of which he was President. As a literary agent, Esmond represented authors of serious nonfiction books on topics such as politics, psychology, and business, as well as literary fiction, mystery and crime, and historical novels. Esmond read voraciously for both work and pleasure at a stunning pace, often exceeding three books in a day, spanning genres from science fiction, magical realism and surrealism to nonfiction to poor-little-rich-girl biographies.
Esmond lived for many years in Boston, Massachusetts, and had recently returned with his beloved husband, Jérome, to live in London with their burgeoning young family. He spent summers at his home in Rhode Island, where Esmond was known for his fabulous, fun-filled fetes, that variously included orchestral and operatic performances, burlesque, synchronized swimmers, fireworks, lip synching and, invariably, a dance floor, which he was known to frequent and where he was famous for his daring high kicks.
Esmond traveled widely – backpacking through India, diving in Hawaii, skiing the Alps, hiking glaciers in Iceland, rappelling canyons in the Azores, and vacationing with family and friends throughout Europe, North Africa, the Far East, the French West Indies and the Grenadines. He was a champion duplicate bridge player, pursuing tournament opportunities at care homes and community centers. Esmond challenged himself each summer to increasingly-long open water swims, culminating each August with a solo swim extending the length of Newport’s Cliff Walk.
More than anything, Esmond was a fiercely loyal and loving husband, father and friend. He frequently had large groups of family and friends under his roof or traveling with him to far flung parts of the world, bringing people together around his sensitivity, grace, silly stories, quick wit and bottomless well of historical and literary knowledge, forming the glue that introduced and bound together the many who loved him. He was the conductor of this symphony of family and friends, going so far as to instruct the seating for every meal – sometimes based on careful curation, but just as often with randomized arrangements, such as alphabetical order by brand of underwear. Esmond nearly always had his canine companion at his side – for many years an English Labrador named Eloise, and most recently his beloved Maude.
Esmond was an active philanthropist personally and through his charitable foundation, supporting numerous worthy causes including the literary arts, free expression, fine arts, and LGBTQ rights – with a particular devotion to the fight for marriage equality. He was a significant benefactor of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Equity Without Borders, GLAAD, and GrubStreet, a Boston based nonprofit founded “to ensure writers of all backgrounds have what they need to develop their voices and share their stories”. Each year he sponsored the Esmond Harmsworth lecture at Oxford University’s Rothermere American Institute.
Esmond was predeceased by his parents, Esmond Cecil Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere (29 May 1898 – 12 July 1978), a British Conservative politician and press magnate, and Mary, Viscountess Rothermere neé Murchison (24 October 1930 – 7 April 1993). His father served as aide-de-camp to prime minister David Lloyd George at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. That same year, he was elected as a Unionist Member of Parliament for the Isle of Thanet, one of the youngest MPs ever. Viscount Rothermere served as MP until 1929 and then later served as Chairman of the Daily Mail and Associated Press. Esmond was also predeceased by two English half sisters Lorna (neé Harmsworth) Cooper-Key and Esmé (neé Harmsworth), Countess of Cromer, as well as his half brother Vere Harold Esmond Harmsworth, 3rd Viscount Rothermere Chairman of the Daily Mail and Associated Press.
Esmond is survived by his husband, Jérome Buet Harmsworth, and their young children, Alfred and Liliane. He also leaves behind a large extended family to whom he was devoted – six American half brothers Ric, Ken, George, Christopher, Barnaby, and Mark all from his mother’s first marriage to Ricard R. Ohrstrom, as well as multiple generations of nieces, nephews and cousins with whom he was in constant contact and to whom he provided a beacon of support and inspiration.
Esmond served as a connector across family branches and generations. He was hilarious, whip smart, effortlessly charming, and generous with his time, his laughter and his friendship. His marriage to Jérome and their young family provided a space for utmost love and joy in recent happy years. Esmond’s family and friends are devastated by his sudden death.
A celebration of life will be planned for the coming summer. In lieu of flowers please consider a gift to a charity he supported.
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