René Gabriel Eugene Maheu (March 28, 1905 – December 19, 1975) was a French professor of philosophy and the sixth Director-General of UNESCO. He was a close friend of

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

. He was head of the French Information Office in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(1936–1939) and after teaching in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

(1940–1942) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he occupied a managerial post in the France-Afrique press agency in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, before joining the Executive Office of the Resident-General in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

. In 1946 he entered UNESCO as Chief, Division of Free Flow of Information. In 1949

Jaime Torres Bodet Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974) was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico. He was the second Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Sci ...

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. He was promoted to Deputy Director-General in 1959, Acting Director-General in 1961, and in 1962–1974 Director-General, for two successive mandates.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maheu, Rene UNESCO Directors-General 1905 births 1975 deaths École Normale Supérieure alumni French officials of the United Nations Continental philosophers