Kim Philby
(1912-1988), SpyHarold Adrian Russell ('Kim') Philby
Sitter in 2 portraits
After developing communist sympathies whilst studying at Cambridge University, Kim Philby was recruited to spy for the Soviet Union, along with fellow students Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. In 1940, Philby joined MI6 and quickly climbed the ranks to the position of chief intelligence officer in Washington. When Maclean was exposed as a Soviet spy in 1951, Philby was interrogated but was officially cleared. However, in 1962 suspicions were confirmed when Philby was implicated in evidence given by KGB defector Anatoly Golitsyn. In 1963 Philby confessed to being a Soviet spy and defected to Moscow, where he was granted Soviet citizenship.
by Jimmy Wilds, for Keystone Press Agency Ltd
vintage print, 8 November 1955
NPG x137481
by Associated Press
bromide press print, 8 November 1955
NPG x139858
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