George Blake

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

George Blake, born George Behar in 1922 in Rotterdam, was a spy who worked for Britain's MI6 and later became a double agent for the Soviet Union. He grew up with a Dutch mother and an Egyptian Jewish father. As a teenager he lived in Egypt, learned Russian, and later came back to Europe. He joined the Royal Navy in 1943 and was recruited by MI6 in 1944. After World War II he worked in intelligence in Seoul, South Korea.

During the Korean War Blake was captured by North Korea. While in prison he became a communist and decided to work for the Soviet secret service, the MGB. After his release, he returned to Britain and secretly passed information to the Soviets while still working for MI6.

In 1961 Blake was arrested in London and given a long prison sentence for spying for an enemy. In 1966 he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs with help from supporters and fled to the Soviet Union, where he was welcomed as a hero in Moscow.

Blake stayed in Russia for the rest of his life. He married twice, had children, and continued to defend his actions as part of his belief in communism. He published an autobiography in 1990 and received honors from Russia, including the Order of Friendship in 2007. He died in Moscow in 2020 at the age of 98 and was buried with military honors.

Blake’s story influenced books and films, and he is remembered as one of the most famous spies of the Cold War era.