Jean Rose-Benoit

Jean Rose-Benoit, a mentor and inspiration to new recruits and a cherished colleague in the English Translation Service, died on 13 October 2020.

Jean joined the United Nations in September 1964, after placing second in the English translators’ exam (no mean feat in a gruelling examination in which hundreds of applicants all over the world participated). Her pre-United Nations experience included employment at UNESCO, followed by one year with the United Nations Operation in the Congo. Jean also worked at OECD and the Groupe Renault.

She was a rarity in the English Service, having obtained her B.A. degree (from the University of Toronto) in English, with a minor in French, and a perfect illustration of the fact (known to all translators) that stylistic perfection in one’s mother tongue is as important as in-depth knowledge of other languages. Jean was famous for her encyclopedic knowledge of English literature and would always produce an apposite and accurate quotation to illustrate a point.

Colleagues learning of Jean’s death have reminisced about her erudition, her wit and her elegance, as well as the depth of her knowledge and linguistic experience. They remember her with affection and gratitude, as a kind and encouraging reviser who eased their transition in the early days of their United Nations employment.

Dear Jean: as Horatio would have said, may “flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”.

PLN