Patrick Sergeant
{{Short description|British journalist and businessman (1924–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Patrick Sergeant
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Patrick John Rushton Sergeant
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|3|17}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2024|9|18|1924|3|17}}
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| years_active = 1945–2018
| known_for = Euromoney
| notable_works =
| spouse = Gillian Anne Wilks
| children = 2
}}
Sir Patrick John Rushton Sergeant (17 March 1924 – 18 September 2024) was a British journalist, investor and businessman who was the founder of Euromoney Institutional Investor. Previously, he served as the City Editor of the Daily Mail from 1960 to 1984.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/my-mentor-patience-wheatcroft-on-sir-patrick-sergeant-315192.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/my-mentor-patience-wheatcroft-on-sir-patrick-sergeant-315192.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=My Mentor: Patience Wheatcroft On Sir Patrick Sergeant|publisher=}}
Early life and education
Patrick Sergeant was born on 17 March 1924 in King's Down, Kent.{{Cite web|url=https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/2783/|title=London Stock Exchange oral history: interview with Sir Patrick Sergeant|first=Bernard|last=Attard|date=28 January 2011|website=Centre for Metropolitan History}} He was the son of George Sergeant, a coal merchant, and Rene Sergeant, a converted Roman Catholic. He attended Beaumont College after his mother insisted on it over his father's preference for Harrow.
Career
During World War II, Sergeant served as a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) from 1945 to 1948, where he was stationed on corvettes. After his military service, Sergeant joined Mullens & Co. a stockbroking firm and the official government broker in the bond market, with assistance from his aunt. He began his career as a messenger, a role he described as menial. His transition to journalism occurred after meeting Oscar Hobson, the City editor of the News Chronicle which he joined as a reporter in 1948. In 1953, he joined the Daily Mail, where he became joint deputy City editor. His writing led to a regular column on his travels in the Soviet Union, which was later expanded into the book Another Road to Samarkand (1955). He worked for the Daily Mail until 1984. Later, he served as a director of Daily Mail and General Trust Plc from 1992 to 2004.{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/-Q8LmvpNloGZtbvqtizWmH_G_nQ/appointments|title=Patrick John Rushton SERGEANT personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK|website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}}
In 1969, with financial backing from Viscount Rothermere, Sergeant launched Euromoney. In 1984, Sergeant was knighted by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Sergeant took retirement from the board of Euromoney in 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/news/articles/sir_patrick_sergeant_retires_from_euromoney_board_11889.aspx|title=Sir Patrick Sergeant retires from Euromoney board|first=|last=InPublishing|publisher=}}
Writing
Personal life and death
Sergeant lived in The Grove, Highgate from 1961.{{Cite news |last=Nevéus |first=Ingmar |last2=Lundborg |first2=Beatrice |date=12 May 2024 |title=Oligarkerna i London kämpar för att få behålla sina lyxbostäder |trans-title=Oligarchs in London struggle to keep their luxury homes |url=https://www.dn.se/varlden/oligarkerna-i-london-kampar-for-att-fa-behalla-sina-lyxbostader/ |work=Dagens Nyheter |language=Swedish}}{{cite web |last1=Sir Patrick |first1=Sergeant |title=Obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/sir-patrick-sergeant-obituary-champagne-quaffing-founder-of-the-euromoney-magazine-02pzw5bws |website=The Times |access-date=23 September 2024}} He was married to Gillian Anne Wilks, a nurse-turned-artist from Cape Town, and they had two daughters: Emma and Harriet.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705862/Emmas-brush-with-marriage.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010004821/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4705862/Emmas-brush-with-marriage.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2012|title=Emma's brush with marriage|date=16 November 1996|publisher=|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}
Sergeant turned 100 on 17 March 2024, and died on 18 September.{{cite news |title=Sir Patrick Sergeant, giant of financial journalism who founded the Euromoney magazine empire |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/09/19/sir-patrick-sergeant-giant-financial-journalism-obituary/ |access-date=19 September 2024 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=19 September 2024}}
References
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Category:British men centenarians