Tributes have been paid to Rupert Cornwell, a foreign correspondent for the Independent since it was founded in 1986, who died aged 71 in the US on Friday night.
He continued to write for the title while he was treated for cancer, with one of his final pieces examining Ivanka Trump’s influence on her father published early last month.
Cornwell died in the presence of his wife Susan – a Reuters correspondent whom he met in Bonn – and his two sons at Washington DC’s Sibley Memorial hospital.
Christian Broughton, editor of the Independent, tweeted:
We will all miss such a passionate journalist. Rupert's last advice to me: we must not allow Trump to become normalised.
— Christian Broughton (@Christian_B) April 1, 2017
“Rupert was as humble as he was brilliant, his peerless range extending far beyond the politics of Moscow or Washington, to boxing, ballet and baseball,” Broughton said.
“In many ways he was a journalist of a bygone, romantic age, but he will remain an inspiration to generations who have passed through the Independent, and will be missed by all who knew him to be such a warm, lovely man.”
Andreas Whittam Smith, the Independent’s founding editor, said: “Rupert understood in real time the meaning of the events he was covering. He knew the relevant history so he could provide illuminating context.
“And he wrote an impeccable English prose. His final piece, written when he was struggling with illness, was an obituary of David Rockefeller, published 11 days ago. He described this bearer of a famous name, chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank at its zenith, as never flustered and a patrician to his fingertips.
He added: “Likewise Rupert was, in the grubby trade of journalism, an aristocrat but by achievement rather than birth.”
Amol Rajan, former editor of the Independent and now BBC media correspondent, tweeted:
The great Rupert Cornwell, truly the most brilliant Brit in Washington, died last night. He was an exceptionally kind, funny and clever man.
— Amol Rajan (@amolrajanBBC) April 1, 2017
Sunday Times deputy editor and former Washington correspondent Sarah Baxter tweeted:
V sad news about my old Washington colleague, beautiful writer #RIPRupertCornwell https://t.co/5kN018YeUA
— Sarah Baxter (@SarahbaxterSTM) April 1, 2017
Cornwell had been a foreign correspondent for more than four decades, reporting from Paris, Brussels, Rome, Bonn, Moscow and Washington for Reuters and the Financial Times.
In 1983 he wrote the book God’s Banker, about Roberto Calvi, the Italian banker found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge.
Three years later he joined the Independent as Moscow correspondent and spent 21 years in the US, 12 of them as Washington bureau chief.
Cornwell was awarded the 1989 David Holden Award at the Press Gazette British Press Awards. The honour was later retitled foreign correspondent of the year award.
Cornwell was the younger half-brother of David Cornwell, better known as the author John le Carré.
In his role as the Independent’s chief US commentator, many pieces focused on President Trump.
Last month he wrote:
Trump’s tirades against the media are in large measure a deliberate distraction. He knows they are red meat for his base that lapped up the attacks during the campaign. He knows they divert attention from his unmet policy promises, the Russian imbroglio and other matters of genuine national concern. The trick for the MSM [mainstream media] is not to take his bait, and get into a public argument it won’t win. So far it’s doing the job admirably.”
