René Maheu

Who was René Maheu?

René Gabriel Eugene Maheu, a close friend of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, was a French professor of philosophy and the sixth Director-General of UNESCO.

He was a cultural attaché in London and after teaching in Morocco during World War II, he occupied a managerial post in the France-Afrique press agency in Algiers, before joining the Executive Office of the Resident-General in Rabat. In 1946 he entered UNESCO as Chief, Division of Free Flow of Information. In 1949 Jaime Torres Bodet appointed him Director of his Executive Office. In 1954 he became Assistant Director-General and was UNESCO’s representative at UN Headquarters from 1955 to 1958. Promoted Deputy Director-General in 1959, Acting Director-General in 1961, and in 1962–1974 Director-General, for two successive mandates.