He was born in South Africa and took his B.Sc. in chemistry and mathematics from the University of Witwatersrand in 1948. De Maine emigrated to England in 1949. He later moved to Canada where he completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of British Columbia. He finally moved to the United States in 1957 and served as professor at the University of Mississippi from 1960 to 1963. In 1982 he settled in Auburn.