John Cairncross

John Cairncross

Infobox Person
name = John Cairncross



image_size =
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date|1913|07|25
birth_place = Lesmahagow, Scotland
death_date = death date and age|1995|10|08|1913|07|25
death_place = France
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality =
other_names =
known_for =
education =
employer =
occupation =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion =
spouse =
partner =
children =
parents =
relatives =


website =
footnotes =

John Cairncross (25 July, 1913 – 8 October, 1995) was a British intelligence officer during World War II who passed secrets to the Soviet Union during the war. He was alleged to be the fifth member of the Cambridge Five. [cite journal | last =Barnes | first =Julian E. | title =Spy Stories: The Third Man | journal =U.S. News & World Report | pages =46 | date =Jan. 27/Feb. 3, 2003 | accessdate =2007-03-05]

Background

The brother of economist Sir Alexander Kirkland Cairncross (a.k.a. Alec Cairncross) and the uncle of journalist Frances Cairncross, Cairncross was born in Lesmahagow, Scotland, and educated at the University of Glasgow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied modern languages.

After graduating, he worked in the Foreign Office. In 1937 he joined the Communist party. In 1942 he worked on ciphers at Bletchley Park and MI6. During this time, he passed documents through secret channels to the Soviet Union. [Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky, "KGB: The Inside Story of its Foreign Operations from Lenin to Gorbatchev", London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1990, note 5, p. 247.] While at Bletchley Park, he supplied the Soviets with advance intelligence from ULTRA about what became the critical Battle of Kursk. The information he supplied enabled the Soviets to keep their ciphers one step ahead of British Intelligence, and also helped win the war against Hitler on the Eastern Front.

As a Spy

Cairncross admitted to spying in 1951 after MI5 found incriminating papers in his possession. Some believe that the information he supplied about the Western atomic weapons programmes kick-started the Soviet nuclear programme.Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, "The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West", London, Penguin Books, 2000. note 13, p. 150] He was never prosecuted, however, which later led to charges that the government engaged in a conspiracy to cover up his role. Indeed, the identity of the infamous "fifth man" in the Cambridge Five remained a mystery until 1990, when KGB defectors Yuri Modin and Oleg Gordievsky fingered Cairncross. [Christopher Andrew and Oleg Gordievsky, "KGB: The Inside Story of its Foreign Operations from Lenin to Gorbatchev", London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1990, note 5, pp. 210 and 253.]

Between 1941 and 1945, Cairncross supplied the Soviets with 5,832 documents, according to Russian archives.Richard Davenport-Hines, "Cairncross, John (1913-1995)" in the "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", 2004.]

Cairncross denied passing any information harmful to Britain, including atomic secrets. He also denied that he was the "Fifth Man" in the Cambridge spy ring. In his autobiography, he claimed his motivation was to assist the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany.

Later life

After his confession, Cairncross moved to Rome, where he worked for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization. He worked as economic papers translator for Research Office of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Banca d'Italia and IMI. In the BNL, a young economist engaged with international scenarios analysis (Iraq - Iran War, oil's strategic routes in Middle East and Far East) revealed a strong and unusual interest by Cairncross about the Bank's role for that area. He retired to the south of France. John Cairncross died in 1995, aged 82.

Cairncross in fiction

Cairncross appears as a character in the Franco-Belgian comic "India Dreams" by Maryse Charles and Jean-François Charles. He was also depicted in part 3 of the 2003 BBC TV series Cambridge Spies, where he appears reluctant to continue passing Bletchley Park data to the Russians for fear that the Red Army was heavily penetrated by German intelligence; Anthony Blunt is depicted in the drama as pressuring him with threats to continue.

The search for the Fifth Man (Cairncross) is a central plot device in the Frederick Forsyth novel "The Price of the Bride".

ee also

*Cambridge Five
*Anthony Blunt (1907–1983)
*Guy Burgess (1911–1963)
*Donald Duart Maclean (1913–1983)
*Kim Philby (1912–1988)

References

External links

* cite web | title =The Cambridge spy ring | work =BBC News | date =13 September 1999 | url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/09/99/britain_betrayed/444058.stm
accessdate =2007-03-05

* This URL is 404. Should probably be http://intellit.muskingum.edu/uk_folder/ukspycases_folder/ukspiesb&c.html
* cite web | title =Caincross biography at the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service website | url =http://svr.gov.ru/history/kernkross.html | accessdate =2007-03-05


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • John Cairncross — (* 25. Juli 1913; † 8. Oktober 1995) war ein britischer Geheimagent während des Zweiten Weltkriegs, der zusammen mit vier anderen, die unter dem Namen Cambridge Five bekannt wurden, für die Sowjetunion spionierte. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Cairncross — (25 juillet, 1913 – 8 octobre, 1995) fut un espion britannique connu sous les noms de code : le Carélien , List , pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. On le cite comme pouvant être le cinquième homme des Cinq de Cambridge, contrairement à ses …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Cairncross — John Cairncross (* 25. Juli 1913; † 8. Oktober 1995) war ein britischer Geheimagent während des Zweiten Weltkriegs, der zusammen mit vier anderen, die unter dem Namen Cambridge Five bekannt wurden, für die Sowjetunion spionierte.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Cairncross — can refer to the following people, and is a not uncommon name of Scottish origin:* John Cairncross, a Soviet spy from Glasgow * Elizabeth Cairncross, English educator * Cam Cairncross, Australian baseballer * Robert Cairncross, Scottish bishop of …   Wikipedia

  • John R. F. Jeffreys — († 1941) war ein britischer Mathematiker und Kryptoanalytiker. Während des Zweiten Weltkrieges trug er wesentlich zur Entzifferung der deutschen Rotor Schlüsselmaschine ENIGMA bei. Leben …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Jeffreys — John R. F. Jeffreys († 1941) war ein britischer Mathematiker und Kryptoanalytiker. Während des Zweiten Weltkrieges trug er wesentlich zur Entzifferung der deutschen Rotor Schlüsselmaschine ENIGMA bei. Leben Das Herrenhaus (engl.: The… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Herivel — John W. Herivel (* 29. August 1918 in Belfast; † 18. Januar 2011)[1] war ein britischer Historiker und Kryptoanalytiker. Während des Zweiten Weltkrieges trug er in der Government Code and Cypher School (GC CS) (deutsch etwa: „Staatliche Code und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Hessell Tiltman — Brigadegeneral John Hessell Tiltman (* 25. Mai 1894 in London; † 10. August 1982 auf Hawaii) war ein britischer Offizier, Geheimdienst Mitarbeiter und Kryptoanalytiker. Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs trug er als Chef Kryptoanalytiker[1] in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • John Anthony Walker — For other people of the same name, see John Walker (disambiguation). John Anthony Walker, Jr. (b. 28 July 1937, Washington D.C.)[1] is a former United States Navy Chief Warrant Officer and communications specialist convicted of spying for the… …   Wikipedia

  • John Tiltman — Brigadegeneral John Hessell Tiltman (* 25. Mai 1894 in London; † 10. August 1982 auf Hawaii) war ein britischer Offizier, Geheimdienst Mitarbeiter und Kryptoanalytiker. Während des Zweiten Weltkriegs trug er als Chef… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”