“Great man of the public service”, ” high official at the service of the cultural life of his country ”, “Great servant” Where “Great clerk of the State” are the terms that come up most often in the tributes which greeted the death of Jean Maheu, on January 9, in Paris, at the age of 90 years.
The former enarque and student of the Institute of Political Studies of Paris, born in Paris on January 24, 1931, had been appointed to the Court of Auditors upon leaving the National School of Administration in 1958, without there exercise sustainably. He will work first, from 1962 to 1967, as representative of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, with General de Gaulle.
From 1967 to 1974, he was director of youth and socio-educational activities at the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister in charge of youth, sports and recreation. From 1974 to 1979, Jean Maheu was director of music, lyrical art and dance at the Ministry of Culture. Appointed to this function by André Malraux, he discussed it during a “Meal together”. As Jean Maheu confided to The Dispatch of August 7, 2015 : “It was of course André Malraux who spoke, and I was listening to him. Malraux, that was history. “
A discreet, almost anonymous man
In 1983, the left, which had come to power two years ago, offered him the presidency of the Georges-Pompidou National Center for Art and Culture, a position he held for six years during two terms. Jean Maheu considered this period of his professional life to be the one that had given him the most satisfaction, in particular on the occasion of the exhibition, from March to June 1988, of works by Marc Chagall received in donation.
In 1989, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Radio France, where his functions were extended until 1995, also during two terms. In one blog, Jean-Pierre Rousseau, current director of the Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, which Jean Maheu had appointed director of France Musique in 1993, recalls the protocolar fantasies of a sometimes whimsical president.
Mr. Rousseau, reached by phone Monday January 10, sketches the portrait of the former president of Radio France in a keyword: “Balancing act”, especially with political powers, whether on the right or on the left: “He was the archetypal senior civil servant with a brilliant career who didn’t bother anyone. “
Jean Maheu leaves the memory of a discreet, almost anonymous man, as reported by journalist Fabienne Sintes, of whom he was “The first CEO”, on his twitter account : “When he went to visit a local, he went there with at most one employee. The legend (or not) says that one day he arrives all alone at the reception of a radio station in the South-West. “- Hello, I am Jean Maheu. – And what game did you win? ” “
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