Richard John Mayne (2 April 1926 – 29 November 2009) was a British journalist, broadcaster, writer and advocate for closer

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

. Mayne was born in North London and educated at St Paul's School in London. Towards the end of the war, because of his linguistic abilities, he was chosen for the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE), but spent most of his time in the armed forces with a signals unit. In 1947, he went up to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he read History, gaining a starred first-class degree. In 1953, having gained a Leverhulme grant, he began work on his PhD, which involved a period working in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...

. From Rome, he began to write for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

''. Mayne joined the High Authority of the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to integrate Europe's coal and steel industries into a single common market based on the principle of supranationalism which would be governe ...

in Luxembourg in 1956 and became an adviser to Jean Monnet, and then to Walter Hallstein, first President of the European Commission (1958–63). He succeeded François Duchêne as director of the Action Committee for the United States of Europe in 1963, and served as Monnet's personal assistant. He later translated Monnet's memoirs into English ( Doubleday, 1978), for which he won the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 1979. Several associates of Monnet believed Mayne's translation captured "Monnet's voice" better than the French original, which was drafted by François Fontaine. Mayne became the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

's chief representative in the United Kingdom in 1969 (Head of the London office, 1973–76)"Tributes for Richard Mayne"
European Commission, The EU in the United Kingdom and was involved in the campaign for continued membership of the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(EEC) during the UK's 1975 referendum. He stepped down from working for the Commission in London when his outlook towards Europe clashed increasingly with that of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

, following her government's election to power in 1979. From 1966, he was the Paris correspondent for '' Encounter'', later writing a personal column for the magazine. Mayne also contributed to ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

''. Among Mayne's publications were ''The Community of Europe'' (1962), ''The Institutions of the European Community'' (1968), ''The Recovery of Europe'' (1970), ''The Europeans'' (1972), ''Postwar: The Dawn of Today's Europe'' (1983) and ''Federal Union: The Pioneers'' (1990).

References

1926 births 2009 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British civil servants British male journalists People educated at St Paul's School, London British Special Operations Executive personnel 20th-century British translators {{Translator-stub