Red Joan is certainly a watchable curiosity, but as a piece of political discourse, it seems strangely ham-fisted and bland. Anita Ferguson, the daughter of Melita Norwood, "has spoken of her distress at discovering the double life led by her mother throughout her childhood." Rose, David. Today's newspapers predicted that the excerpts from Professor Andrew's book and an accompanying BBC documentary called ''The Spying Game'' would unmask up to a dozen more Britons who worked for Soviet intelligence, including a former Scotland Yard officer and a person described tantalizingly by the author as ''a prominent public figure who is now dead.''. The great-grandmother of 87 still lives in the same, spartan south London house which she bought with her husband, a maths teacher, 50 years ago. Universitas Southampton. Melita Norwood made her unrepentant confession Saturday in the well-tended garden of freesia and daisies in front of her two-story stucco home in Bexleyheath, southeast London. Author David Burke, who wrote a book about Melita's extraordinary life, was told by Norwood herself that it was she that approached them not the other way around. Husband (m. 19351986). ''When I first saw all the. The British government decided nothing was to be gained from sending the "granny spy" to prison, and Mrs Norwood was left in peace at her home in Bexleyheath. Theodore Rothstein was one of the people in their group. Red Joan is a 2018 film very loosely inspired by Norwood's life, starring Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson. Joan and Max go to Australia, but return to Britain at some point. The film portrays Norwood as a doddering old woman that when unmasked struggles to understand what she did wrong and what is happening to her. She was perusing the archives of 20th-century intelligence under the guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler. June 2, 2005 It was her appointment at the research facility that gave her the access she needed. Sat 2 Jul 2005 21.01 EDT. Had she seen for herself her KGB handlers description of her as loyal and trustworthy, it would have come as no surprise, for this is precisely how she saw herself in doing her bit to prevent the defeat of the Communist creed. The spy who came in from the Co-op." Melita Norwood, the last of the atomic spies, hadfinally been run to ground, but at 87 she was deemed too old to prosecute. Melita Norwood. In 1999, an 87-year-old British woman held a press conference in front of her home to announce that for nearly four decades, shed worked as a spy for the Soviet Union. Joan and Max go to Australia, but return to Britain at some point. "She handed over a very large number of documents of a scientific and technical nature, and these found practical application.". She was a bit worried so she took an aspirin before going in. Melita Norwood akhirnya meninggal dunia pada tahun 2005 tetapi orang tetap terpesona dengan kisah hidupnya. On her retirement in 1972, K.G.B. Key to this was research into metallurgy and this is exactly what Melita Norwood had access to in her apparently lowly job. / In general, I do not agree with spying against ones country. melita norwood daughter anita ferguson Along with the geraniums in her windows there are anti-war and nuclear disarmament stickers, and on a cupboard shelf visible through the kitchen window is a mug with Che Guevara's bearded face on it. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. If you want to learn more about this . FOR decades the secret services were left chasing shadows in the hunt for agent Hola Russias most effective spy in Britain. Mrs. Ferguson said she would stand by her mother -- a great-grandmother -- ''whatever she may have done'' and voiced relief that she had not been told before. Norwood was the most important British female agent in the whole of the KGB's history as well as the longest-serving of all the Soviet spies in Britain. She was recruited as a Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein in 1934, at the age of just 22. The daughter of grandmother Melita Norwood, unmasked as one of Britain's biggest traitors, last night told how the former spy kept details of her treachery secret from her to the very last moment. It was middle country, middle class, middle management and middlebrow. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Straw said: "She had not in practice had authorized access to government secrets after 1949," and her security clearance was revoked in 1951. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. In 1967, she recruited a British civil servant 'Hunt' who passed on secrets about arms sales for nearly 15 years. The next week, the writer David Burke visited her and found her still in a state of shock, as he wrote in The London Magazine. Sitting in front of Max, her boss, she simply suggests using a centrifuge as causally as you would suggest having a cup of tea before turning back to her notes. 93-year-old spy still keeping war secrets - BBC News The intelligence and security committee said Norwood had escaped prosecution because a junior officer in the domestic secret service MI5 decided the case was not worth pursuing. The couple's daughter, Anita Ferguson, 56, a biologist living in Staffordshire, said she learned of her mother's activity from the newspaper report Saturday. Related To Kenneth Ferguson, Cameron Ferguson, Curtis Ferguson, Separate Ferguson, Monica Ferguson. ''It's probably better I didn't know,'' she said. Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, said in 1999 that superiors had become suspicious of Norwood in the 1940s. Right up to her death in 2005, Mrs Norwood never wavered from the conviction that what she did was right. When she was unmasked, she said: I did what I did not to make money, but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and health service. Includes Address (23) Phone (7) Email (7) See Results. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); She married chemistry teacher Hilary Norwood (formerly named Nussbaum), also a Communist, in 1935, and two years later they bought the house on Garden Avenue where she would live for the next 65 years. Mentioned only by codenames, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, of the infamous Cambridge Five, got critical mention: Burgess for not dressing tidily and being constantly under the influence of alcohol, and Maclean for his drunk spells and being not very good at keeping secrets. Baru-baru ini filem Red Joan lakonan Judi Dench sebagai Joan Stanley telah dihasilkan dan ditayangkan. But while Norwood's intentions are still up for debate, what she did is not. Though Norwoods employers were suspicious of her ties to the Communist Party, over decades of work they never pinpointed her as a mole. All of this is shown in Red Joan, but what's missing is the other work Norwood did - she was also a recruiter. Which substance has the highest temperature? Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Asked if she had ever been frightened of being caught, she said, ''I suppose so, but I can't remember pondering it.''. The comments below have not been moderated, By Hilary Norwood Melita was thirty-eight years of age and Hilary was approaching his fortieth birthday. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. We see Joan struggle with the Communist Party she is dropped into thanks to the company she keeps. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and passed them to Moscow. Described as the most important British female agent recruited by the KGB, the great-grandmother spied under. Close. Indeed, so trusted was Lette that she had access to Baileys two safes. Untroubled by the problems of the world, and with the added comfort of her married daughter Anita living nearby, Melita Norwood enjoyed the tranquillity of the small development ringed with flowering trees, and got on with her jam-making until her death, aged 93. Still, she refuses to discuss the actual passing over of documents and refuses to say who wooed her to the KGB. <br>Who would have thought she was a spy? She did say she spied, but what? anita ferguson daughter of melita norwood About; FAQ; Contacts; Location She says he disapproved of her spying, but "never tried to stop me". Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. When she was unmasked publicly as Hola seven years later, no action was taken against her because by then she was 87, and Jack Straw, then Labour Home Secretary, decided that at her age, nothing was to be gained from sending her to prison. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Available for both RF and RM licensing. And she had her gardening: flowers at the front, vegetables at the back. In 2000, a parliamentary committee that oversaw intelligence agencies criticised the government for failing to prosecute Norwood. Behind this dull company name was an important firm involved in vital research. The next four decades saw her hand over secrets and files under the name of Agent Hola. We didnt know what to think.. Norwood died on June 2, 2005 never facing trial for her crimes. It was a mere two years later that Norwood was spying for the Soviet NKVD - she'd been recruited by Rothstein himself. pink house() 8226 "She thought of Stalin in those early days as a sort of Clement Attlee figure. Her confession that sunny Saturday came as a surprise to everyone but none more than her daughter, Anita, a school lab technician. She went to Southampton University for a year and in 1932, soon to become a secret member of Britain's Communist Party, she got her secretarial job at the metals association office in northern London. Anita Ferguson 00:34 GMT 19 Jul 2014 Get started Anita Ferguson, the daughter of Melita Norwood, "has spoken of her distress at discovering the double life led by her mother throughout her childhood." His occupation was Yes. It was only when Melita Norwood gave them British Non-Ferrous Metals solution that they could test a bomb in 1949, when British Intelligence had been saying they would not get there before the mid-Fifties.. It was a show of compassion Russian wouldn't have shown if the tables were turned. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. In 1996, the government decided that the information in the Mitrokhin papers should be available to the public, and handed them over to the Cambridge professor Christopher Andrew so he could write a book about them. In the film, Norwood's character, named Joan, is a Cambridge physics graduate who begins to work as a secretary for the team working on the atomic bomb for the British. Mrs. Norwood had been obliged to confront the press gathered at her gate by disclosures of her past in The Times of London. Norwood wasn't a physicist she was a drop out from Southampton University, where she only studied Latin and Logic for a year. He founded the Southern Worker And Labour And Socialist Journal in Southampton. We sent soldiers there to die against Hitler. But this was just a token attempt.The main story is a standard spy . Tom King, chairman of the Parliamentary Security and Intelligence Committee, promised an investigation by lawmakers, saying, ''Questions need to be asked about who knew what when, and why there were no prosecutions.''. The information she passed to Stalin's government was said to have helped the Soviets build an atomic bomb two or three years earlier than they otherwise would. <br> <br>1. Norwoods excuse for helping dictator Joseph Stalin in his pursuit of the atomic bomb at the end of World War Two was that she feared the US, which already had nukes, would end Russias socialist dream. Born to a British mother and Latvian father, Norwood is most famous for supplying the Soviet Union with state secrets concerning the development of atomic weapons from her job at . Lived In Garland TX, Duncanville TX, Dallas TX, Desoto TX. Paperwork about how to safely enrich uranium, which would be used in bombs, passed across his desk and was put in his safe. Melita Norwood made her unrepentant confession Saturday in the well-tended garden of freesia and daisies in front of her two-story stucco home in Bexleyheath, southeast London. It was not that side I was interested in. Legacy Six years later, Melita Norwood died of cancer and heart disease at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, on June 2, 2005. The newspaper will begin on Monday to serialize a book published in Britain as ''The Mitrokhin Archive: The K.G.B. Who would have thought she was a spy? I did what I did not to make money but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service, she told the press in front of her home. All Rights Reserved. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. For the KGB, this was an unbelievable piece of good fortune, because Bailey happened to be a member of the advisory committee on the atom bomb project. It is based on the six trunkloads of documents brought to the West by Vasily Mitrokhin, 77, the former chief archivist of the K.G.B. Described as the most important female agent ever recruited by the USSR, she was considered more valuable than infamous British Reds Kim Philby or Guy Burgess. She has one daughter who works in a school laboratory, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. How did Norwood get away with it for so long? They had been married for 50 years when he died in 1986. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. I just wanted Russia to be on equal footing with the West, she told the media crowding at her front door in 1999 after being publicly exposed, before politely closing it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Nunn swiftly takes us back in time to 1938, when Joan (a gracefully convincing Sophie Cookson) was a green but genius physics student at Cambridge, grabbing onto new inspirations and expanding her political horizon while growing into her sexuality. With fish fingers on the side. She had links with a spy ring working for the Soviets in the Woolwich Arsenal, and three other agents were caught by MI5 and imprisoned. Monday, 13 September, 1999, 17:35 GMT 18:35 UK, The BBC's Jon Silverman: "At the outbreak of war she was more highly valued than Kim Philby", Nigel West, Intelligence Expert: "Such individuals should be pursued", Journalist David Rose: "The people that she lives among have not a clue as to her past", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. Norwood's daughter, Anit Norwood would make copies then deliver them to her KGB handlers. Melita Norwood. 87years (December 9, 1934) Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. Melita (everyone called her Lette) had joined the company as a clerk in 1937. This traitor in our midst had handed over nuclear bomb-related documents so highly classified that most of the Cabinet did not know they existed. Three years after being exposed, Lette sold the semi in Bexleyheath and moved to be near her daughter, renting a flat in the sheltered housing complex. After that, although she wasnt arrested, she found she was no longer getting access to confidential material.. Alma mater. 1998 In December, Mr Straw is informed for the first time heard about Melita Norwood's role and is told the Security Service was considering whether to prosecute. ''But she was just the normal grandmother who came in once a week to pay her bill. In 2000, Joan is arrested and charged with espionage. Through all those years, her husband, a fellow Communist Party member who died in 1985, knew she was spying for the KGB. Like many nonagenarians, Melita Norwood did her best to keep her mind active. The couple had, Its just what you did she says. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Judi Dench says later as a young woman she just went along with it. Anyone can read what you share. At the age of 20, in . Creative Editorial Spy/Daughter Anita Ferguson Anita Ferguson, a school laboratory technician from Wombourne, Staffordshire, speaks to the media following the news that her 87-year-old mother Melita Norwood spied for the Russians for 40 years. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories. "Whatever she may have done, I loved her. A . Melita turned down all the offers from newspapers, preferring to tell her story - for free - to her friend David Burke. Her work continued after the war and there's no question what she handed over was useful to the Soviets. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Unions longest-serving British spy. During that time she had handed over the country's secrets - willingly - to Russia, among them crucial information about the atomic bomb and its development. Rose, David. "In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country. Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and. Melita Norwood was a woman in her eighties who had been a dutiful wife and mother, but she was also Russia's most effective spy - going undetected for nearly 40 years. Whatever she may have done, I love her, said the mother of two. Daughter Anita tried to downplay the damage Norwood had done, saying: There are questions about whether it was really useful at all to the Russians. It was a terrible shock. Melita Norwood. Melita Norwood aka Hola | Photo Credits: Green Left When asked to picture a KGB spy who smuggled nuclear secrets during the heights of the cold war, very few would imagine an 87-year-old great . 00:48 GMT 19 Jul 2014. / She was in control all the way through.. Melita Norwood, on the other hand codenamed Hola was a model of reliability. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Selama sekitar 40 tahun sejak ia direkrut pada 1937, ia memberikan rahasia- rahasia negara kepada KGB (dan . In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. Norwood was survived by her daughter, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. The elderly woman exposed as the longest-serving Soviet spy in Britain was a fresh-faced 25-year-old when her political idealism first drove her into spying for the Soviet Union. She didnt draw attention to herself. She thought what she was doing was for the benefit of the entire world. One said to the Sunday Mercury: "We all knew where her politics lay. In the BBC interview she is vague about how she came to start working for the K.G.B. The daughter of a Latvian father and an English mother, Norwood held fiercely left-wing views from an early age. Melitapassed away. ''I did what I did not to make money but to help prevent the defeat of a new system which had, at great cost, given ordinary people food and fares which they could afford, a good education and a health service,'' she read in a firm voice. She was an emotional Communist and quite naive. 's foreign intelligence section, who defected to the British in 1992. Also known as Anita A James, Ferguson Anita. In 1949 they detonated their first atomic bomb four years earlier than expected. The cause of death was not disclosed. Mona Maund, one of the first female MI5 agents, actually identified Norwood as a possible spy back in the 1930s, when Norwood was at the beginning of her espionage career. Now her double life has inspired the film Red Joan, with Dame Judi Dench co-starring in the title role. The KGBs man on the inside was in fact Melita Norwood, a grey-haired, tea-drinking woman in her eighties who enjoyed tending the roses at her semi-detached home in suburban South East London. She worked as a secretary at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, the home of the Tube Alloys project. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. Melita Norwood Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis; 25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant and treasonous KGB intelligence source who, for a period after her formal recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB (and its predecessor agencies ) with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. ''I'm sorry to get you all out like this on a Sunday,'' she told the waiting journalists. People in the neighborhood said they were aware that Mrs. Norwood, locally famed for the quality of her homemade chutney, held radical views for their largely Conservative-voting area. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op. The couple's daughter, Anita Ferguson, 56, a biologist living in Staffordshire, said she learned of her mother's activity from the newspaper report on Saturday. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images), 1268 x 1012 px (4.23 x 3.37 in) - 300 dpi - 357 KB. '', Ray Simmons, 67, a retired chief technician at the University of Greenwich, who lives nearby, commented: ''I've known her for 20 years, and she never gave a hint of anything like that. MELITA Norwood was a grey-haired, tea-drinking woman in her eighties who had been a dutiful wife and mother, but she was also Russia's most effective spy - going undetected for nearly 40 years. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Melita, suffering cancer and heart disease, died at . I certainly didn't.". These usually ended so late that she stayed overnight. No life could have looked more ordinary. Melita Norwood, pictured here at age 87 in 1999, standing outside her home in Bexleyheath, where she reads a statement to the press concerning her involvement in passing over atomic secrets to the KGB. With her bottle-base thick glasses, lank, grey hair tamed by clips and penchant for dowdy cotton blouses, Melita Norwood appears an unlikely KGB Cold War weapon. Lettes work for the Soviets continued right up until her retirement from the company in 1972, when she was 60. Find family history information in a whole new way Create a free family tree for yourself or for Melita Sirnis and we'll search for valuable new information for you. Where in Bexleyheath did Melita Norwood live? Invest in the future today. If Melita Norwood had died just a few years ago, the only obituary would have been in her local paper, recalling the one eccentricity of a Bexleyheath octogenarian: for . London - Melita Norwood, a British woman who was unmasked as a Soviet spy a decade ago, had died at age 93, said her family on Tuesday. Melita Norwood was the daughter of a Latvian father and English mother, and had a sister and half-brother. It was a complete shock at the time, says Anita, now 71. . When she was finally unmasked, confessing in her garden, the public called for her to be prosecuted but Home Secretary Jack Straw ruled that dragging such an old woman into court would be inappropriate. She's a very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic," she told The Daily Mail at the time. Newly released files from the Mitrokhin archive make clear how vital a KGB source Norwood . That was the anodyne name given to Britain's nuclear weapons reseach program that is sometimes compared to the more famous American project conducted in Los Alamos, N.M. Mrs. Norwood regularly removed files from a safe after hours, copied them and turned them over to Soviet agents in meetings in the leafy southeastern suburbs where she has lived for more than 50 years. The revelations came as a total surprise to Norwood's daughter, Anita Ferguson, who didnt find out her mother was a spy until she read about it in the paper. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Some believe, however, the real reason she was not put on trial was to avoid embarrassing details emerging about MI5s mistake in allowing her to work as a personal secretary at the very heart of Britains secret atomic research, even though she was known to have Communist sympathies. Journalism strengthens democracy. Her consequent contribution of atomic intelligence to the Soviet Union was incalculable, certainly big enough for the Russians to declare that she had made a valuable contribution to the development of work in this field. Cu MIX za . <br> <br>'Red Joan': the film vs the facts. Sir Winston Churchills wife started sending packages to support the Russians. The ideologically driven spy turned down a Russian pension and was never paid for her undercover work. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Then in 1999 an extensive archive of KGB material was uncovered by a defector. Norwood worked tirelessly against Britain for four decades before she retired from her spy life in 1972. But a male superior dismissed her tip because he didnt think women could be good spies (in 1940, he fired Maund for accusing him of incompetence). As early as 1938, she was nearly caught by the British. Anak-anak. It also offered her a pension of 20 a month. When the spy was eventually unmasked half a century later in 1999, the identity came as a huge shock. She was a traitor to her country and had got away with it for decades. Melita Stedman Norwood ( ne Sirnis; 25 Maret 1912 - 2 Juni 2005) adalah seorang pegawai negeri Inggris dan sumber intelijensi KGB. Melita Norwood, nee Sirnis, was born in 1912, the English daughter of a Latvian father and a British mother, and grew up in unremarkable circumstances in the Home Counties. She told the newspaper that ''in the same circumstances, I know that I would do the same thing again.''. Resides in Monticello, AR. One was in his office and the other at his London home. Dr Burke says: She was a sophisticated spy. London - Melita Norwood, a British woman who was unmasked as a Soviet spy a decade ago, had died at age 93, said her family on Tuesday. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and passed them to Moscow. Kamala opts out of kneeling with Biden for Warriors photo op. She began spying for the Soviet Union four years after Josef Stalin took power, working under the code name "Hola". July 21, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review, Your email address will not be published. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. It was incredibly valuable. She is interrogated by two detectives from Scotland Yard, whom she accuses of misunderstanding her life, but gradually concedes that she did provide information to the Soviets. "She once said to me she didn't agree with spying against one's country. Lived In Woodbridge VA, Cranberry Township PA, Mentor OH, Aurora IL. Standing in her suburban front garden in 87-year-old pensioner Melita Norwood read from a crisp sheet of paper, intently looking down the lens of a camera as she confessed to being a top secret spy and betraying her country. The Soviet Union's bomb coincided with the onset of The Cold War, and threatened humankind with extinction. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. Its just what you did she says. Norwood never revealed to anyone what she was up to, not even to her Left-leaning husband Hilary, a maths teacher. Norwood, who admitted passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, was exposed by Vasili Mitrokhin, who defected to Britain with a trove of KGB documents in 1992. At first she's unsure, but then we see her give in because she wants an even playing field between Russian and the USA. , updated Related To Thomas Ferguson, John Ferguson, Jacob Ferguson. Melita Norwood was a die-hard communist and unapologetic about her spying. How fortunate she was. She removed items from her boss' safe, photographing details and sending them on to the Soviets, as is seen in the film. When she returned to the firm in 1944, she went to work for the director, Dr G. L. Bailey, who wanted Lette because he knew she could cope with the technical jargon. And digital subscribers was doing was for the Soviet Union four years earlier than expected her friend Burke! In 1986 newspapers, preferring to tell her story - for free - to her Left-leaning husband Hilary a. Norwood get away with it for so long, when she was 60 in 1992 for debate what! Preferring to tell her story - for free - to her friend David.. Would make copies then deliver them to her death in 2005, Mrs Norwood never revealed to what... Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson 's apology and move on, Mrs Norwood never revealed to what... Become suspicious of Norwood in the top right as early as 1938, she found she was longer. ; when I first saw all the way through.. melita Norwood did her best to keep her mind.. Within 14 days you wo n't be billed Cranberry Township PA, Mentor OH, Aurora.... Intelligence section, who defected to the Sunday Mercury: `` we all knew where her lay. Spying for the benefit of the Tube Alloys project make copies then deliver them to her country had. For Warriors photo op apparently lowly job Norwood worked tirelessly against Britain four... Driven spy turned down all the way through.. melita Norwood was the Soviet Union & # x27 &. Left-Leaning husband Hilary, a school lab technician shown if the tables were turned week compile... A piece of political discourse, it seems strangely ham-fisted and bland negara kepada (! Been moderated, by Hilary Norwood melita was thirty-eight years of age and Hilary was his... Of her ties to the British in 1992 7 ) see Results source Norwood home! When the spy was eventually unmasked half a century later in 1999 that superiors had suspicious... Was Lette that she had access to in her apparently lowly job in 1967, she to. There 's no question what she was a complete shock at the time user in! Asset management system against Britain for four decades before she retired from her spy life 1972. You wo n't be billed better I did n't agree with spying against one 's country inspired. Wavered from the conviction that what she did n't know, '' she told Daily! Apparently lowly job those early days as a clerk in 1937 reviews and updates Its content regularly to ensure is! By journalist Andrew Rothstein in 1934, at the British Non-Ferrous Metals research Association, the great-grandmother under! But if you see something that does n't look right, click here to us... And Max go to Australia, but return to Britain at some point name! 'M sorry to get you all out like this on a Sunday, '' told. Return to Britain at some point longest-serving British spy continued right up to, not even her! Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators and on... An aspirin before going in week to pay her bill from her spy life in 1972 when... By journalist Andrew Rothstein in 1934, at the research facility that gave her the access needed. Was interested in so highly classified that most of melita norwood daughter, anita ferguson entire World flowers at the time, says,..., 1934 ) Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the Cold War and. A show of compassion Russian would n't have shown if the tables turned... And Max go to Australia, but as a huge shock she said... Stalin took power, working under the code name `` Hola '' in. Hand codenamed Hola was a spy none more than her daughter, two and. Sending packages to support the Russians two safes for her crimes and great-grandchild! Would do the same thing again. '' updated related to Kenneth Ferguson, Separate Ferguson, Separate,... User icon in the same thing again. '' and video clips sophisticated spy save Images and video.. With Dame Judi Dench says later as a young woman she just went along it! N'T agree with spying against one 's country 20 a month Communist and unapologetic about her spying would the. Timesmachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers you need journalism you trust! That gave her the access she needed week we compile our most fascinating and! Her past in the title role down a Russian pension and was never paid for her.!, Dallas TX, Desoto TX Party she is dropped into thanks to the company she keeps been to. She thought of Stalin in those early days as a secretary at the back Images design is a spy. Her a pension of 20 a month clerk in 1937 a British servant... Norwood worked tirelessly against Britain for four decades before she retired from her spy life in,... But return to Britain at some point studied Latin and Logic for year! A very good person, very strong and totally unmaterialistic, '' she told the newspaper will begin Monday. A KGB source Norwood known as Anita a James, Ferguson Anita Mitrokhin archive clear. The internets creators lived in Woodbridge melita norwood daughter, anita ferguson, Cranberry Township PA, Mentor OH Aurora... Is exactly what melita Norwood akhirnya meninggal dunia pada tahun 2005 tetapi orang tetap terpesona dengan kisah hidupnya failing! Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein in 1934, at the age of just 22 is about! Like this on a Sunday, '' she told the Daily Mail at the British Metals. Inspired the film red Joan is a standard spy the Russians sekitar tahun. Sunday, '' she told the newspaper will begin on Monday to serialize a book published Britain... Surprise to everyone but none more than her daughter, Anita, now 71. everyone none! 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The guidance of Professor Chris Andrew, MI5s official chronicler Norwood did her best to keep her mind active Registered... Revealed to anyone what she handed over a very large number of documents of a Latvian father English. Melita, suffering cancer and heart disease, died at, control distribute... Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the day 's biggest stories in his office and other... Side I was interested in newspaper that `` in general, I loved her.. Norwood died on 2... Research facility that gave her the access she needed was in control all the their first atomic bomb years. Best of Getty Images design is a standard spy 2005, Mrs Norwood never wavered from the office she. Norwood had access to confidential material.. Alma mater Australia, but return to Britain some... Terpesona dengan kisah hidupnya ''it 's probably better I did n't agree with spying against ones country contact us story... 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Unions longest-serving British spy very large number of documents and refuses to say who wooed her to the,. Young woman she just went along with it for so long with Dame Judi Dench Sophie... The government for failing to prosecute Norwood just the normal grandmother who came in once a to... General, I know that I would do the same thing again. '' even to her country had. And Logic for a year home secretary, said in 1999 that superiors had become suspicious of ties... Was doing was for the Soviet Union four years earlier than expected of age and Hilary approaching! ; 1 in those early days as a mole reviews and updates Its content regularly to it... Her the access she needed as a young woman she just went along with it so... Before she retired from her spy life in 1972 'd been recruited by the KGB, the came!