Cambridge Apostles

The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an elite intellectual secret society at Cambridge University, founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the Bishop of Gibraltar.

The Cambridge spy ring

The Apostles were once again thrust into prominence following the exposure of Cambridge spy ring. At least four men with access to the top levels of government in Britain — two of them former Apostles — were found to have passed information to the KGB. The four known agents were Guy Burgess, an MI6 officer and secretary to the deputy foreign minister; Anthony Blunt, MI5 officer, director of the Courtauld Institute, and art adviser to the Queen; Donald MacLean, foreign office secretary; and Kim Philby, MI6 officer and journalist.

Related Topics:
Cambridge spy ring - KGB - Guy Burgess - MI6 - Anthony Blunt - MI5 - Queen - Donald MacLean - Kim Philby

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although only four men were identified, there were rumors of a fifth man, a senior British intelligence officer, who was never found. Many stories linked this rumor to Victor Rothschild, another Apostle, who had supplied an apartment in London for some of the Cambridge spies to meet in, though there is no evidence that he knew about their spying activities. In 1963, American writer Michael Straight, also an Apostle, and later publisher of his family's The New Republic magazine, admitted to spying.

Related Topics:
Victor Rothschild - Michael Straight - The New Republic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Of the four named spies, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, both homosexual, had been members of the Apostles at a time when homosexuality seemed to be an attribute of many of the undergraduates chosen for membership, and stories persisted that the membership was mainly homosexual and Marxist. Anthony Blunt, a communist, was the first to be recruited by the KGB, during a visit to Russia in 1933. When he returned to Britain, he in turn recruited other Cambridge students, at the instruction of his KGB handlers, including Straight, though Blunt was not the person who recruited Burgess, Philby, and MacLean, according to writer Russell Aiuto. http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/spies/cambridge/2.html?sect=23

Related Topics:
Homosexual - Marxist - Communist - Russia - 1933

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the Queen's art advisor, Blunt was knighted in 1956, but was stripped of his knighthood in 1979 after Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publicly named him as a spy.

Related Topics:
Knighthood - Prime Minister - Margaret Thatcher

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~