Whether it’s James Bond or Austin Powers, spy stories are always breathtaking. But, unfortunately, the reality of the life of secret agents is not as exciting as what we see in the movies. However, from time to time there is a real spy story that seems to fly out of the heads of the most creative authors. The story of Kim Philby, an MI6 spy who acted as a double agent for the Soviet Union, is one such story. In execution Guy PearcePhilby is the subject of MGM+’s latest thriller. Spy among friends. Based on the popular science book of the same name Ben McIntyrethe limited series follows Philby’s relationship with his friend and fellow spy Nicholas Elliott (Damien Lewis) and how their lives were affected by the exposure of Philby’s involvement with the Soviets.
Possibly one of the most infamous double agents to ever live, Philby is reviled in his homeland but died a hero in the country he chose to serve. His story has served as an inspiration for well-known authors of the spy genre such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyX John le Carré. But what is his real story? What is the truth about Harold Adrian Russell Philby aka Kim?
Who was the real Kim Philby, MGM+’s Spy Among Friends?
Harold Philby was born on 1 January 1912 in Ambala, India, and belonged to what he himself called “the ruling class of the British Empire”. He was nicknamed Kim after Rudyard Kipling novel of the same name about a boy who served as a British spy during the political standoff between Britain and Russia in the 19th century. Pretty ironic, considering what Mr. Philby’s addictions really were. His long career as a spy began sometime in the early to mid-1930s, when he, along with a group of fellow students from Cambridge, was recruited by the Soviet secret service, which later became known as the KGB.
The exact date of Kim Philby’s first contact with the Soviets is still a matter of controversy. Authoritative sources such as the Encyclopedia Britannica state that he was recruited by the USSR in 1933 while in his final year of university. However, Philby himself does not agree with this. According to his obituary in the New York Times, Philby always claimed that his recruitment took place in 1934, during a trip to Vienna in which he worked with local activists and married his first wife, Austrian communist Litzi Kolman. In execution Morgan Ferrou In the MGM+ miniseries, Colman divorced Philby four years after their marriage, in 1938. This is a plausible story, but according to once, many representatives of Western intelligence believed that Philby had already left for Austria as a Soviet agent to complete some kind of test task. In this version of the story, Philby lied about his recruitment in order to protect colleagues who might have gone through the same process.
However, this is the least important part of his story. Whichever version of the story you believe, what really matters is what happened after Philby was recruited. And while he eventually became a master secret agent known as “the spy who betrayed an entire generation,” his early career wasn’t all that impressive. , recovered by the BBC, Philby stated that his recruitment was “essentially a long-term project. No immediate results were or could be expected”.
However, it was clear from the start that Moscow had its eyes on the British secret service, better known as MI6. In order to be recruited as a secret agent in Britain, Philby began working as a journalist, covering conflicts such as the Spanish Civil War. His reports, always favorable to the Fascist General Francisco Franco, earned him a Red Cross for military merit after Franco’s forces captured Madrid. Over the next decades, he would use the medal to ward off accusations that he was a communist.
Kim Philby rose quickly through the ranks of MI6
With the Spanish Civil War over and World War II just around the corner, Philby began hinting that he would like to work for the government against Hitler. In 1941, he was invited to join the 5th counterintelligence department of MI6 and was accused of passing false information to the Soviet Union, which had been an ally of Great Britain during the war. This position gave him free access to Soviet intelligence officers.
Philby went into hiding throughout the war and was even awarded an MBE for his service. Posing as the perfect British spy, he delivered top-secret files to Soviet agents. How did he get those files? Well, according to his Stasi speech, MI6 was a real mess during the war, and all he had to do was befriend the archivist by taking him out for drinks two or three times a week.
“Each evening I left the office with a large briefcase full of reports I had written myself, full files and real documents from the archive. In the evening I passed them on to my Soviet contact. The next morning I received the files back, the contents were photographed, and early in the morning I put them in place. I did it regularly, year after year,” Philby explained.
Over time, Kim Philby rose through the ranks of MI6 until he was the number 2 guy in his department. He was then ordered to use bureaucratic intrigue to get rid of his superior, Felix Cowgill, and take his place. According to Philby, he felt sorry for Cowgill, whom he claimed to admire, but an order is an order. With Cowgill out of the way, Philby took another step up the chain of command and eventually became MI6’s liaison in Washington.
Kim Philby’s devotion to his fellow spies was his downfall
It was during Philby’s stay in Washington that two of his Cambridge friends and Soviet spies were discovered, marking the beginning of the end of his MI6 career. Philby himself warned Guy Burgess and Donald McLean, who were played in the series Thomas Arnold And Daniel Lapaine, respectively, about the intentions of the special services to call them for interrogation. Fearing exposure, Burgess and McLean fled to Moscow and raised the alarm. The British officers had only one question: who had alerted them, the man who would become known as “the third man”?
Suspicion soon fell on Philby, who even held a press conference in his own apartment to deny the accusations. “The last time I spoke to a communist, knowing that he was a communist, was around 1934,” he told reporters at the time. Questions about him were asked in the House of Commons, but were quickly dismissed by the then Foreign Secretary, Harold Macmillan. However, he was relieved of his duties in 1955.
After nearly 30 years with MI6, Philby returned to work as a reporter. Or did he? Some sources claim that he was readmitted to MI6 and that his work as a journalist was merely a front for his real job as a spy. Anyway, Philby moved to Beirut, where he was assigned to write articles for the Observer. It was there that his cover was finally blown.
In 1963, Philby ran into an MI6 colleague, but again denied all accusations that he was working for the Soviets. He was left in his apartment under the care of another MI6 agent, who eventually left him unattended to go on a ski trip - at least that’s what Philby told the Stasi people. Kim Philby then took the opportunity to contact Moscow. Shortly thereafter, he left for the Soviet Union with the blessing of the KGB.
A villain in the UK, Philby died as a hero in the Soviet Union
Philby lived a long and happy life in the USSR, where he was greeted as a hero. In 1965, the Soviets awarded him the Red Banner of Honor for services to the KGB. He later received privileges reserved only for KGB generals. In 1968 he published a memoir entitled My secret warand in 1971 he married for the fourth time Rufina Pukhova, a KGB officer.
Kim Philby passed away on May 11, 1988 at the age of 76. The Soviet government never revealed the cause of his death. However, according to his obituary in The newspaper “New York Times, in an interview with London’s The Sunday Times, Philby admitted that he was in the hospital because of an irregular heartbeat. A very ordinary ending for someone with such an incredible story.
Source: Collider
I have worked as a journalist for over 7 years and have written for many different publications. I currently work as an author at Daily News Hack, where I mostly cover entertainment news. I have a great deal of experience in the industry and am always looking to learn more. I am a highly motivated individual who is always looking to improve my skills. I am also a very friendly and personable person, which makes me easy to work with.
