* Claude Gallimard; Headed Prestigious French Publishing House

Claude Gallimard, 77, who until three years ago headed the company that published many of France’s 20th-Century literary giants. Editions Gallimard has long been France’s largest and most prestigious independent publishing house. It was founded in 1911 by Gallimard’s father, Gaston, who built its reputation around such men of letters as Jean-Paul Sartre, Andre Gide, Marcel Proust and Albert Camus. Claude ran the company from 1976 to 1988, when he retired for health reasons. A much-publicized family feud flared after he forced out his older son, Christian, and named his younger son, Antoine, as his successor. On Monday in Paris of the complications of Alzheimer’s disease.