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

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic, political, legal, social, and cultural integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integration has primarily come about through the European Union and its ...

. 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 The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(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 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 college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

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

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

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

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...

'' and ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''Th ...

''. 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 regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxemb ...

in Luxembourg in 1956 and became an adviser to

Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political visionary. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the ...

, 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 François Fontaine (20 December 1917 – 23 March 1996) was a French civil servant and writer. Fontaine was long associated with Jean Monnet, with whom he started working in 1945 at the Commissariat général du Plan, and with the early build ...

. Mayne became the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

'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 (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 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

, 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 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 News UK, wh ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

''. 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 translators {{Translator-stub