Cecilia Gillie

Cecilia Grace Hunt Gillie ( Reeves; 17 August 1907 – 20 April 1996) was an English radio executive for the BBC. She joined the BBC Foreign Liaison Office in 1933 and had her first foreign assignment in establishing the BBC Paris Office six years later. Gillie was appointed the BBC French Service's senior talks assistant in 1940 and became head of the BBC European Liaison Office towards the end of the Second World War. From 1947 to 1967, she served as the BBC's Paris representative, and assisted senior members Robin Scott and Noble Wilson on radio matters.

Early life Gillie was born Cecilia Grace Hunt Reeves to the naval engineer Albert Robert Reeves and his wife Ella, née Hunt, at Alma Road, Sheerness, the Isle of Sheppey, Kent. Gillie enrolled at Newnham College, Cambridge and graduated with a degree in modern languages.

Career In 1933, she joined the BBC Foreign Liaison Office, which had been recently formed at the time, but returned to London in mid-1940 after the Battle of France.

In the early post-war era, Gillie assisted Documentation française in giving a full account of the BBC French Service's contribution to the war effort, and appeared on the BBC Home Service programme Woman's Hour three years later to discuss her life in wartime with the writer Flora Groult. She retired from the BBC in April 1967, and moved to Mirabeau, Vaucluse near to river Durance. Gillie taught herself cooking and authored a cookery book. She also taught English in the local area, earning the nickname "La Dame Anglaise". As she was about to be filmed at length by BBC Television Archives for an interview on 20 April 1986, she had a major stroke, which made it difficult for her to communicate and incapacitated her. Gillie was cared for by a friend from Poland, and she had more strokes that almost rendered her unable to speak.

Personal life

Gillie was married to the broadcaster and correspondent Darsie Rutherford Gillie from 1955 until his death from illness in 1972. She was cared for by an old Polish friend and staff he found for her home in France. In 1995, Gillie was transported by plane on a stretcher to Warsaw, where she died on 20 April 1996. After being cremated, Gillie' ashes were scattered over the English Channel.