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The Englishman joined the staff of The Nation in early 1990 and was initially based at our original premises on Soi Saeng Chan, Sukhumvit Road, living nearby on Soi 42/1. He retired on August 15 this year.

For a large portion of his time with this newspaper he was in charge of the world-news desk. Towards the end of his career he served as this publication's primary check sub. Thanks to his extensive knowledge of languages, global history, geography and current affairs he was a valued and reliable source of information and opinion for his co-workers.

Simon William Johnstone was born in Darlington, England, on February 3, 1949, his family later moving to Leeds. He was the only child of Harry and Elsie Johnstone.

He was educated at Nottingham High School and Oxford University, where he attended Balliol College on a scholarship to study the classics, including Latin and ancient Greek.

His PhD from Leeds University, the thesis for which was published in 1979, was bestowed by the Department of Chinese Studies.

In 1980 he travelled to Beijing to pursue his interest in Chinese linguistics. He later decided to settle there and found employment as a ''word polisher'' (sub-editor) with the Xinhua News Agency.

In 1989, despairing for the future of the People's Republic of China following the Tiananmen Square massacre, he decided to return to the UK. Stopping off in Bangkok en route to visit a friend who was employed by The Nation he soon found himself working for the same publication. His retirement, on August 15 this year, brought to an end almost 30 years in the field of print journalism.

A voracious reader and gifted singer, Simon was also an enthusiastic polyglot, fluent in several extinct tongues, including Sanskrit, and more than seven modern ones, of which his favourite was Russian. He was an authority on the phonology of Chinese literary dialects during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

He had hoped to spend his retirement travelling the world and increasing his knowledge of ancient languages. He was especially looking forward to visiting the pyramids in Egypt but had postponed the trip until such time as he was able to read hieroglyphics, a skill he had come close to mastering at the onset of his final illness.