Hugo John Smelter Young born 13 October 1938; Gilling Castle; Junior House 1950-52; St Bede's House September 1952- July 1957; Balliol College, Oxford 1957-60; Yorkshire Post 1961-63; Harkness Fellow 1963; Congressional Fellow, US Congress 1964; The Sunday Times 1965-84 [Chief Leader Writer 1966-77, Political Editor 1973-84, Deputy Editor 1981-84]; Political Columnist The Guardian 1984-2003; Director of The Tablet 1985-2003; Chairman of the Scott Trust 1989-2003; UK Advisory Committee Harkness Fellowship 1993-95; Columnist of the Year: British Press Awards 1980, 1983, 1985; Granada TV What the Papers Say Awards 1985; author - publications: The Zimoviev Letters 1966 (jointly), Journey to Tranquility 1969, The Crossman Affair 1974 (jointly), No, Minister 1982 (jointly), But, Chancellor 1984 (jointly), The Thatcher Phenomenon 1986, One of Us 1989 (revised 1991), This Blessed Plot 1998; married Helen Mason 1966 (died 1989) (4 children); married Lucy Warring 1990; died 22 September 2003

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The Editor of The Guardian said "Hugo was, simply, a towering figure in British journalism" Tony Blair said "he was someone of exceptional ability and integrity" BBC Director General Greg Dyke said he will "be missed most in his authority and insight" Will Hutton [The Observer, 28 September 2003] wrote that Hugo's "column had the capacity to be a political event in its own right, so igniting a trend or illuminating an issue that it acquired its own political dynamic", and writing of his later years : "This columnist without equal delivered some of the toughest and mosdt brilliantly argued judgements of an already extraordinary career" will Hutton recalled that in July 2003 "he told us that Blair's time had expired, that Brown's temporising over the euro had triumphed over Blair's enthusiasm and the opportunity on Europe had been tragically lost; that a historic mistake had been made in Iraq and that the American Right must be taken on at home and abroad". He called for the resignation of Blair - "It was a Hugo classic; brave in calling for the apparently impossible and a political event which transformed the way the Prime Minister was seen. That Newsweek's most recent cover story deals with the twilight years of Tony Blair's premiership flows directly from the dynamic Hugo unleashed" http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1051169,00.html

Hugo Young was the son of Gerard Young CBE GSCG KStJ DL (B27) and Diana who live in Sheffield. Hugo is the brother of Charles (B64).

Hugo Young went to Gilling Castle and then in 1950 to Junior House under Fr Peter Utley (OA24, died 1969), coming on to St Bede's House in 1952, then under Fr Paulinus Massey (OA24, died 1977). In September 1956 Fr Basil Hume (D41, Cardinal Basil Hume OM, died 1999) became Housemaster, and Hugo became both Headmonitor of the school and head of the House. Thus he was the first Head of House while Fr Basil was Housemaster [Housemaster 1956-63], and Hugo became a close lifelong friend of the future Cardinal. He was to describe that year as head of house both in television documentaries and in print.

On leaving Ampleforth, Hugo was at Oxford from 1957 to 1960, reading jurisprudence at Balliol College.

In 1961 he started his career in journalism, working with the Yorkshire Post from 1961 to 1963. In 1964 he worked in the US Congress. From 1965 to 1984 he was with The Sunday Times, being Chief Leader Writer (1966-77), Political Editor (1973-84) and Deputy Editor (1981-84) - but the arrival of Rupert Murdoch prompted his move to the Guardian in the 1984. From 1984 for the next 19 years until his death he was a political columnist with The Guardian.

From 1989 onwards he was Chairman of the Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian and its sister publications. As Chairman he helped the paper through important developments, including the purchase of the Observer.

In 1985 Hugo joined the board of the Tablet Publishing Co. He wrote many articles for The Tablet.

Europe became his great concern. He wrote "This Blessed Plot" in 1998, a study of the development of the European Union - he gave a copy to the library at Ampleforth.

Other books included, in 1966 "The Zimoviev Letters" (written jointly), in which he showed that the Zimoviev Letters of the 1920s, a crucial factor in an election campaign, were a forgery. "The Crossman Affair" dealt with the publication of Richard Crossman Diaries after his death in April 1974 and the battle between The Sunday Times and the Cabinet Secretary in the courts. "No, Minister" [1982], another jointly written book, and "But, Chancellor" [1984] looked at the inner workings of government. "The Thatcher Phenomenon" in 1986 and "One of Us" in 1989 (revised in 1991, after the end of Mrs Thatcher in 1990) were studies of the Thatcher Government.

On 16 September 2003, less than a week before he died, he wrote an article "Under Blair, Britain has ceased to be a sovereign state".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1042847,00.html

He married first Helen Mason; they had a son and three daughters. Helen died in 1989. In 1990 he married the American artist Lucy Waring, who survives him.

Over the past year he has suffered from cancer, but has continued to write regularly for The Guardian.

obituary in The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1048015,00.html

Tony Blair tribute

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1048501,00.html

Alan Rusbridger in The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1048533,00.html

Harold Evans in The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1047962,00.html

Leader in The Guardian - "The Masters Voice"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1048425,00.html

Letters and Tributes in The Guardian/Guardian Web page

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1048499,00.html

http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?50@@.685e8cfc

BBC report on Hugo Young

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3131202.stm

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3131202.stm

The Observer 28 September 2003 [Will Hutton, Anthonmy Sampson, Stephen Fay]

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1051169,00.html

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1051168,00.html

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1051167,00.html

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Father Felix Stephens (H61 - now Parish Priest of the Ampleforth parish of Warrington in Cheshire) celebrated the funeral Mass at St Mary's church, Hampstead, north London, and delivered the homily.

Fr Felix described Hugo as the "most dependent of men. Detached, independent of judgment, clinical and precise he may have been in his brilliant professional career; but as a human being nothing was dearer to him, nothing made that face softer and smile so sensitively as when he talked about or was with his family."

Fr Felix spoke of the twin influences on Hugo of Ampleforth and of being required, as a schoolboy, to read the essays of Macaulay. He was a man of easy grace. He spoke of his "rare combination of professional modesty yet sureness of touch and self-confidence when it came to writing a column, an equally rare lack of assertiveness when combined with detachment and potential ferocity when he felt the need to confirm a point. Ferocious as to the issue, but never malice, which did not lie within him. He did not want to die. He was even for a little time scared - as we all will be" "Catholicism is not always the easiest path en route to the heavenly Father. He said he would miss not seeing the future, for he did have a liberal vision and he was conscious that he had a hand in moulding and influencing the way to the future, or at least checking the worst effects of what he saw as errors on the way. As usual, God had other plans."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/hugoyoung/story/0,13920,1050954,00.html