Working so close to highly classified research, Lette had to go through a security vetting. Includes Address (23) Phone (7) Email (7) See Results. 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. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), New film Red Joan tells the tale of Melita Norwood - a KGB 'man on the inside' who went undetected in Britain for almost 40 years, Melita Norwood, aka Hola, was Russia's most effective spy and wasn't unmasked until 1999, Described as 'the most important female agent ever recruited by the USSR', she is now the inspiration behind Judi Dench and Sophie Cookson's character with the pair playing her at different stages in her life, Her daughter, Anita Ferguson, defends her mother's career as a spy saying 'she did it to help the Russian people', Anita says Norwood was trying to help people and 'wasn't selfish', After joining the Communist Party, Norwood was recruited as a Russian agent by journalist Andrew Rothstein when she was just 22, The film is a glamorised version of events but there is no doubt it is based on unlikely operative Norwood, She never revealed her true identity, not even to her devoted husband Hilary (right), Despite having put millions of lives at risk, Norwood was never prosecuted for her treachery and she never expressed regret for her actions, Norwood leaked highly-classified documents that she came into contact with through her work as a secretary to the director of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, Dr Burke says that it was only when she gave the Russians information on how to safely enrich uranium that they were able to test a bomb in 1949, Dr Burke believes Norwood enjoyed her moment of notoriety, noting the moment she dressed up to address the press outside her home, Asked if the story was true, Norwood replied 'Ive been a rather naughty little girl', Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). 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. 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. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. I thought perhaps what I had access to might be useful in helping Russia to keep abreast of Britain, America and Germany. She added that, in general, I do not agree with spying against one's country.. In the film, the young Red Joan, played by Kingsman actress Sophie Cookson, is seduced by a handler and has an affair with her boss. from the crowd in her street. And the sleepy South Staffordshire . It seemed that Britain was headed into another of the spy expose frenzies that have occurred periodically with the unmaskings of men like Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross who followed their Communist sympathies into espionage. Anita Lynn Ferguson, 75. "It's just what you did" she says. Members of her family didnt know what was going on at all. Prosecution was considered inappropriate due to ill health and advanced years. 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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. Theodore Rothstein was one of the people in their group. All of this is shown in Red Joan, but what's missing is the other work Norwood did - she was also a recruiter. Key to this was research into metallurgy and this is exactly what Melita Norwood had access to in her apparently lowly job. Anita FergusonMelita Norwood / Daughter. Rose, David. Her lofty motivations are a far cry from Norwood's deliberate choices. A . Her spying career began four years after Joseph Stalin had seized power, long before his atrocities had become known to the outside world. Melita Norwood, now called Joan Stanley, is played by two actors. Lived In Garland TX, Duncanville TX, Dallas TX, Desoto TX. While his identity still remains unknown to the public, Norwood confessed later: "I am not going to deny itI take complete responsibility and blame.". She thought he was the best. Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. ''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. There were several cries of ''traitor!'' MI5 worked out who Hola was in 1992, soon after Soviet defector Mitrokhin arrived in Britain with his KGB file. This afternoon she strolled in her garden at the request of photographers but refused to answer any questions. All she was doing was trying to help people it wasnt selfish.. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? Anita L Ferguson, 52. She retired in 1972, and remained in her Bexleyheath home until her death in 2005. She was only a secretary.. 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. Norwood wasn't a physicist she was a drop out from Southampton University, where she only studied Latin and Logic for a year. Mrs. Norwood had been obliged to confront the press gathered at her gate by disclosures of her past in The Times of London. According to new book by Cambridge University professor Christopher Andrew and a Soviet KGB defector, a woman named Melita Norwood, now 87 years old, furnished the Soviet Union with research . She began her spying career in the 1930s while working as a secretary for the Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London. 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. I talked to her about the spying, but she told me very little of what she had done, though she did say my father didnt approve. Its just what you did she says. Mon 27 Jun 2005 20.03 EDT. Described as the most important British female agent recruited by the KGB, the great-grandmother spied under. 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. She was in control all the way through.. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. [10] [9] It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. We didnt know what to think.. 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. Her name has been changed and the story sexed up, but there is no doubt it is based on unlikely operative Norwood. "Melita Norwood's relatives, friends and neighbours told [on 11 September 1999] of their shock on learning . The daughter of a Latvian father and an English mother, Norwood held fiercely left-wing views from an early age. 00:48 GMT 19 Jul 2014. "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.". As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Whatever she may have done, I love her, said the mother of two. Except for one thing she worked at the British NonFerrous Metals Research Association offices in Euston, central London. Norwood admitted she'd sometimes be typing up notes from meetings and then "typed an extra copy" to send on. Melita Norwood aged 87 when she faced the cameras ( Image: PA) Sophie Cookson plays Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood ( Image: Nick Wall/Lions Gate) Don't Miss Norwood wasn't a. Experts still debate how much she actually ended up helping the Soviet nuclear program. Her father died when she was six, but her mother was active in leftist causes, instilling in her children strong sentiments against all war and sympathy for countries like Germany that the family viewed as victims of warfare. 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 . But as she became head girl of Hitchin Grammar School and captained the hockey team, few could have predicted the extraordinary outcome of such an early communist indoctrination. She said her purpose had been to keep Russia abreast.". In 1967, she recruited a British civil servant 'Hunt' who passed on secrets about arms sales for nearly 15 years. Red Joan is released in cinemas on April 19, 2019. We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred. 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 . Remarkably, Dr Burke thinks Norwood enjoyed her late moment of notoriety. Her ability to understand technical material meant she was promoted to secretary to the director. In 2000, Joan is arrested and charged with espionage. We cannot guarantee accuracy of data published on this website. Judi Dench Like many nonagenarians, Melita Norwood did her best to keep her mind active. Widowed, Melita moved to Wombourne to be close to her daughter. Norwood was a long-time member of the Communist Party who supported the Soviet Unions attempt to bring communism to Eastern Europe and feared a world in which the United States and Western Europe held unchallenged nuclear power. Melita, suffering cancer and heart disease, died at . At first she's unsure, but then we see her give in because she wants an even playing field between Russian and the USA. Then in 1999 an extensive archive of KGB material was uncovered by a defector. For example, she used Che Guevara tea mugs and habitually posted copies of the Communist Morning Star through the letterboxes of 32 of her neighbours. Right up to her death in 2005, Mrs Norwood never wavered from the conviction that what she did was right. Anyone can read what you share. '', 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. 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 the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, where she . Daughter. 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. But what Melita exactly did is up for debate. . This was a woman who was seen pottering around tending to her vegetables and flowers. So who was Hola? In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. 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. Geoffrey Levy for MailOnline Required fields are marked *. Stock photos, 360 images, vectors and videos At firs the Security Service insisted her part in everything had been "marginal", it was a huge embarrassment. Daughter of Alex Sirnis and Private Wife of . In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. She was, in many ways, the perfect spy, living during most of her long years of treason in a pebble-dash semi in Bexleyheath, South-East London, with her maths and chemistry teacher husband Hilary, growing fresh vegetables in her back garden allotment and bringing up their daughter Anita. The couple had, Its just what you did she says. She removed items from her boss' safe, photographing details and sending them on to the Soviets, as is seen in the film. Spy Melita Norwood (far left) pictured with her mother Gertrude, sister Gerty and half-brother Alfred Brandt. [8] Death [ edit] They were a middle-aged professional couple with a fixed mortgage, presumably beyond reproach. Norwood joined Southampton University but dropped out and moved to Germany at the time of the rise of the Nazis. And in April 2019, a film adaptation premiered in the U.K. and the U.S. starring Judi Dench as Joan Stanley, the fictional counterpart to Melita Norwood, the real-life spy. 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. 00:34 GMT 19 Jul 2014 Melita was thirty-eight years of age and Hilary was approaching his fortieth birthday. 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 . She'd leave them somewhere to be picked up or handed them over at a meet-up. 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. Reuters. 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", ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------. Unlike those Mata Hari-style seductresses whose treachery is based in the boudoir, Mrs Norwood was a very different kind of agent. Her daughter, Anita Ferguson, said she died on June 2. ''I'm sorry to get you all out like this on a Sunday,'' she told the waiting journalists. files complimented her as ''a committed, reliable and disciplined agent, striving to be of the utmost assistance.'' Her father had fled from Russia to England and found a home here, but this meant little to Norwood. Despite being investigated by them TEN times, and not hiding her socialist sympathies, Norwood secured a job that gave her access to Britains nuclear secrets. Melita Norwood: The Soviet Union's Longest-Serving British Spy 220,739 views Mar 20, 2020 7K Dislike Share Save Biographics 2.08M subscribers Check out Business Blaze:. He suspected she had been meeting KGB agents when she arrived back late from work, but did not know the extent of her crimes. She thought he was the best. Newly released files from the Mitrokhin archive make clear how vital a KGB source Norwood . Her mother still remained part of the Left-wing political scene, influencing young Norwood who then joined the CPGB. In 2013, author Jennie Rooney published a novel, Red Joan, loosely based on Norwoods life. When her activities became publicly known in 1999, Norwood had 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 a health service. Anita Ferguson Melita turned down all the offers from newspapers, preferring to tell her story - for free - to her friend David Burke. <br>Who would have thought she was a spy? spy. The grandmother was 87 and living in a semi-detached house in Garden Avenue when she was first unmasked in an . But a decision not to put her on trial was quickly taken so that the collapsing Soviets would remain in ignorance about just how much we knew. Indeed, so trusted was Lette that she had access to Baileys two safes. 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. 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. Jack Straw, then Britain's home secretary, said in 1999 that superiors had become suspicious of Norwood in the 1940s. Judi Dench says later as a young woman she just went along with it. I did not want money. After all, Norwood had actually been investigated no less than seven times, she'd even been identified as a security risk in 1965. Today brings a fresh reminder of a national disgrace, the failure to prosecute Melita Norwood for treason. The trick is to be able to do this efficiently enough, and respond quickly enough, to take on the game's content that you would like to experience while . The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. And she had her gardening: flowers at the front, vegetables at the back. It was a complete shock at the time, says Anita, now 71. In the interview with The Times of London, she said that her husband, Hilary, a mathematics teacher who died in 1986, shared her Communist ideology but disapproved of her actively aiding the Russians. Her father had fled from Russia to England and found a home here, but this meant little to Norwood. Jennie Rooneys book Red Joan is inspired by the story she found but, When Leo is away, Joan begins to fall for co-worker. 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. When the spy was eventually unmasked half a century later in 1999, the identity came as a huge shock. The public were shocked when elderly woman Melita Norwood was uncovered as a KGB spy. From World War II through the Cold War, she stole nuclear secrets from the office where she worked as a secretary and. Akce tdne. When he called her to ask if the story was true, she replied, Ive been a rather naughty little girl, then dressed up for the Press camped outside her Bexleyheath home. Journalism strengthens democracy. What is the disease caused by diplococci. 's foreign intelligence section, who defected to the British in 1992. I certainly didn't.". On September 11th 1999 The Times newspaper carried the front page article "Revealed: the quiet woman who betrayed Britain for 40 years. This innocuous-sounding association was actually part of a secret nuclear weapons research project with the U.S. called Tube Alloy. When no one was looking, Norwood would sneak into her boss office, open his safe and take pictures of the secret documents inside. Still, she refuses to discuss the actual passing over of documents and refuses to say who wooed her to the KGB. By Melita Norwood Apart from passing on nuclear secrets, Norwood recruited at least one person to be a KGB spy. If you want to learn more about this . Two weeks ago, nine years after her death, Melitas barely-known name unexpectedly re-emerged when the Mitrokhin Archive, a file of top secret Soviet documents, was made available to the public for the first time. GRANNY Melita Norwood, the Soviet Union's top British spy, has died aged 93 - it was revealed last night. Melita Stedman Norwood ( ne Sirnis; 25 Maret 1912 - 2 Juni 2005) adalah seorang pegawai negeri Inggris dan sumber intelijensi KGB. 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. In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. ''But she was just the normal grandmother who came in once a week to pay her bill. 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. Baru-baru ini filem Red Joan lakonan Judi Dench sebagai Joan Stanley telah dihasilkan dan ditayangkan. Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis; 25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant, Communist Party of Great Britain member and KGB spy. Secrets of Bletchley Park: How codebreakers paved way for World War 2 victory, Ex-spy killing 'linked to unsolved murder of Brit family in the Alps', Novichok victim Charlie Rowley asks Putin's man 'did you kill my girlfriend? Melita Norwood, codenamed Hola, was a prized spy in Moscow Passed on Britain's top nuclear secrets over a period of 35 years Her name emerged in the Mitrokhin Archive nine years after she died. Following in her fathers footsteps, Norwood joined the Communist Party. 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. Norwood never revealed to anyone what she was up to, not even to her Left-leaning husband Hilary, a maths teacher. Close. 09:21 GMT 28 Jun 2005 Melita Norwood. Where in Bexleyheath did Melita Norwood live? Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Norwood's father died when was six from tuberculosis and the family moved to Southampton. Then in 1932, Norwood, now 20, began work in the clerical department of the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association (BN-FMRA). 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. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. handlers, she said, she would blame it on traffic tie-ups -- an excuse he accepted though he knew it to be sham. The couple had one child, Anita, who was born in 1943. ''When I first saw all the. She was a traitor to her country and had got away with it for decades. Get started TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. After that, although she wasnt arrested, she found she was no longer getting access to confidential material.. 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. This week her daughter defended her mums decision to spy for the Soviets from 1934 to 1972. The comments below have not been moderated, By [9] The film was shot in the UK. Born in 1912 she was brought up with Communists, Socialists and Leninists. appaloosa management short hills; opdl teams looking for players; io nerf paladins; ottawa tribe symbols; loyola chicago sorority recruitment; an unfinished life ending; 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. Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis) (25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant and KGB intelligence source who, for a period of about 40 years following her recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB (and its predecessor agencies) with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association . 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. Lived In Woodbridge VA, Cranberry Township PA, Mentor OH, Aurora IL. In general, I do not agree with spying against ones country. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images) Embed Save PURCHASE A LICENSE Age. 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. Who would have thought she was a spy? / It was incredibly valuable. But for the 40 years that she worked for Moscow, her bank balance rarely reflected the spoils of her labour. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. She was an emotional Communist and quite naive. As early as 1938, she was nearly caught by the British. Melita Norwood was the daughter of a Latvian father and English mother, and had a sister and half-brother. 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. The Russians had been struggling to find a solution to an issue they were having with creating the atomic bomb when Norwood found the answer. I made the approach.". Red Joan (2018) Ben Miles as Nick IMDb. ''It is a longstanding policy not to confirm or deny the details of security service investigations,'' she said. He founded the Southern Worker And Labour And Socialist Journal in Southampton. melita norwood daughter anita ferguson 93-year-old spy still keeping war secrets - BBC News She was an emotional Communist and quite naive. The cause of death was not disclosed. Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis; 25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant, Communist Party of Great Britain member and KGB spy.. 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 the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, where she . As she retreated back into her house, she murmured, ''No, no, no,'' to shouted questions asking whether she regretted her actions. ''I would not have liked to have kept such a secret.''. <br> <br>1. In 1979, she and her husbandwho knew about her spying and disapprovedvisited Moscow so the Soviet Union could award her the Order of the Red Banner (she accepted the honorary award, but turned down the financial reward). Melita Norwood was a die-hard communist and unapologetic about her spying. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Norwood's daughter, Anit ''When I first saw all the details, I just felt complete disbelief,'' she said. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images), 1268 x 1012 px (4.23 x 3.37 in) - 300 dpi - 357 KB. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. These usually ended so late that she stayed overnight. July 21, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review, Your email address will not be published. Where those men hid their activities behind their upper-class backgrounds, elite educations and urbanity, Mrs. Norwood disguised hers with her complete suburban unremarkableness. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. The Russians knew how to build a bomb, but they didnt know how to build a nuclear reactor to extract the uranium. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories. At the age of 20, in . Hilary Norwood Asisten pribadi, mata-mata. , updated Her husband Harry, died in 1986. Dr Burke explains: At one time she was vetted again. 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. But the unremarkable but highly intelligent office worker would pass those secrets to Moscow via clandestine meetings with Russian agents. She'd potter around the streets after her morning cup of tea, out of her Che Guevera mug, and deliver copies of the Communist Party newspaper, The Morning Star. Klaus Fuchs, Physicist Who Gave Atom Secrets to Soviet, Dies at 76 The New York Times. All Rights Reserved. Until her death in 2005 . Related To Kenneth Ferguson, Cameron Ferguson, Curtis Ferguson, Separate Ferguson, Monica Ferguson. We all knew where her politics lay. Melita Norwood. ''But I suppose it's all right as long as you are getting paid for it. Everyone liked her. "I must have thought if any of the work the BN-FMRA was doing, not secret stuff, might be useful," she explained. Dame Judy Dench stars as the KGB's longest serving British spy in 'Red Joan', Melita Norwood reads a statement in her garden, which she had lovingly tended, Judi Dench plays an older Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, Melita Norwood aged 87 when she faced the cameras, Sophie Cookson plays Joan Stanley, who is based on Norwood, The former British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association building in central London, Norwood read her statement, surrounded by the garden that she loved so much. 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. 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