Richard René Silvin (born May 16, 1948) is an American retired corporate executive, turned author and lecturer, who is best known as an expert on Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, Palm Beach society architect, Addison Mizner, the 1930s French Line flagship, SS Normandie, and the history of Mar-a-Lago.

During the first six years of his life Silvin spent most of his time in Islip, Long Island, NY living with a nanny, Mary "Nonnie" Lee, while his parents were mostly in France.

He rose to the head of the International Division of AMI, which owned and operated thirty hospitals in ten foreign countries.

[11] In 2014 Silvin published his first coffee table book: "Villa Mizner-The House That Changed Palm Beach".

Normandie: The Tragic Story of The Most Majestic Ocean Liner[14] details the building of the French Line's magnificent Art Deco flagship, its four-year active working life, and its sinking in New York City in 1942, when she was being converted to serve as America's only large troop carrier.

Additionally, he expanded the Normandie presentation by lecturing about the history of transatlantic ocean liner travel in general.

[17] In 2017 Silvin premiered his presentation which chronicles the history of Mar-a-Lago, from Marjorie Merriweather Post to Donald Trump.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic lock down, he added another string of lecture topics, which he has been offering in Zoom format: Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, whom he was friendly with in the 1980s, Princess Alice of Battenberg, Marilyn Monroe, Edith Piaf, Whitney Houston, Marlene Dietrich, whom he was also friendly with when he was a teenager, and the history of the Concorde.

He has lectured at several universities,[19] as well as many venues in Key West,[20] Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida; Atlanta and Thomasville, Georgia;[21] Newport, Rhode Island; North Carolina; Cape Cod, Nantucket,[22][23] in the Berkshires, Massachusetts;[24] [25] and Harbor Springs, Michigan.

Silvin is also a regular speaker at the well-known Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.