Norwood joined Southampton University but dropped out and moved to Germany at the time of the rise of the Nazis. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Melita Norwood. anita ferguson daughter of melita norwood About; FAQ; Contacts; Location; Rose, David. melita norwood daughter anita ferguson 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. It's quite a shock to be told that the sweet old lady round the corner has been a K.G.B. It also offered her a pension of 20 a month. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. The KGB awarded her the prestigious military honour the Order of the Red Banner. Dr Burke says: She was a sophisticated spy. Judi Dench One said to the Sunday Mercury: "We all knew where her politics lay. "It's just what you did" she says. Its just what you did she says. In real life, Norwood was a Communist from an early age. 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. Creative Editorial Spy/Daughter Anita Ferguson Anita Ferguson, a school laboratory technician from Wombourne, Staffordshire, speaks to the media following the news that her 87-year-old mother Melita Norwood spied for the Russians for 40 years. 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 how is known, the what is mostly conjecture, which makes Judi Dench's film a controversial adaptation - it opts for a more romantic take on the tale that has been called everything from "preposterous" to "inaccurate". It was her appointment at the research facility that gave her the access she needed. / Melita Stedman Norwood (ne Sirnis; 25 March 1912 - 2 June 2005) was a British civil servant and treasonous KGB intelligence source who, for a period after her formal recruitment in 1937, supplied the KGB (and its predecessor agencies ) with state secrets from her job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association. The couple had, Its just what you did she says. ''It was a very big shock, I had no idea, no idea at all.'' 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. 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. 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 death. Her lofty motivations are a far cry from Norwood's deliberate choices. FOR decades the secret services were left chasing shadows in the hunt for agent Hola Russias most effective spy in Britain. The government decided against prosecuting her. She had links with a spy ring working for the Soviets in the Woolwich Arsenal, and three other agents were caught by MI5 and imprisoned. Norwood never revealed to anyone what she was up to, not even to her Left-leaning husband Hilary, a maths teacher. Melita Norwood was a woman in her eighties who had been a dutiful wife and mother, but she was also Russia's most effective spy - going undetected for nearly 40 years. I made the approach.". Her mother, too, was a suffragette with far-Left sympathies. 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. in Aktuality. They had one daughter: Anita Ferguson (born Norwood). In fact, Melita Norwood was the Soviet Union's longest-serving British spy. ''It's probably better I didn't know,'' she said. She told The Times of London that in the same circumstances, I know that I would do the same thing again.. The Russians knew how to build a bomb, but they didnt know how to build a nuclear reactor to extract the uranium. I just wanted Russia to be on equal footing with the West, she told the media crowding at her front door in 1999 after being publicly exposed, before politely closing it. Melita Norwood passed secrets to the Russians for decades after being recruited in 1935 by a former correspondent for the Soviet news agency TASS. Judi Dench says later as a young woman she just went along with it. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. She was dressed in a wide collared lavender floral print blouse and gray tweed skirt and clutching a handwritten piece of paper with slightly trembling fingers. Is it time Harry & Meghan accept Clarkson's apology and move on? '', See the article in its original context from. Straw said: "She had not in practice had authorized access to government secrets after 1949," and her security clearance was revoked in 1951. BN-FRMA linked up with a to-secret project to develop a nuclear weapon called Tube Alloys. 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). The cause of death was not disclosed. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. 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 . Born in 1912 she was brought up with Communists, Socialists and Leninists. 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 was only a secretary.. 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. [9] The film was shot in the UK. The couple's daughter, Anita Ferguson, 56, a biologist living in Staffordshire, said she learned of her mother's activity from the newspaper report Saturday. Norwood, who admitted passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, was exposed by Vasili Mitrokhin, who defected to Britain with a trove of KGB documents in 1992. ''In the war the Russians were on our side, and it was unfair to them that they shouldn't be able to develop their weaponry.''. Even after she was publicly exposed in 1999 as having worked for the KGB, neighbours found it very hard to condemn the nice old girl whod been such a good neighbour for decades. Asisten pribadi, mata-mata. Daughter. MI5 worked out who Hola was in 1992, soon after Soviet defector Mitrokhin arrived in Britain with his KGB file. in Europe and the West,'' by a Cambridge professor, Christopher Andrew. Year old great-grandmother Melita Norwood stands outside her home in Bexleyheath, where she reads a statement to the press concerning her involment. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won't be billed. As a member of the Independent Labour Party, and later the Communist Party, she had already been recruited as an agent at a meeting of the Friends of the Soviet Union. Indeed, so trusted was Lette that she had access to Baileys two safes. She has one daughter who works in a school laboratory, two grandchildren and a great-grandchild. She says he disapproved of her spying, but "never tried to stop me". And how had the mole managed to infiltrate our system? But Cambridge Universitys Dr David Burke, who interviewed Norwood for a book about her life, The Spy Who Came In From The Co-Op, insisted last night: She was a crucial spy. She began her spying career in the 1930s while working as a secretary for the Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association in London. Melita Norwood Legacy Six years later, Melita Norwood died of cancer and heart disease at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, on June 2, 2005. Universitas Southampton. '' he said. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Includes Address (9) Phone (3) Email (1) See Results. It was only when Melita Norwood gave them British Non-Ferrous Metals solution that they could test a bomb in 1949, when British Intelligence had been saying they would not get there before the mid-Fifties.. I certainly didnt.. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. 1998 In December, Mr Straw is informed for the first time heard about Melita Norwood's role and is told the Security Service was considering whether to prosecute. So who was Hola? Who is Melitta Norwood? "In general, I do not agree with spying against one's country. 09:22 GMT 28 Jun 2005, Bungling helicopter pilot blows over stadium roof injuring eight, Coles worker fights a woman allegedly trying to steal groceries, BBC Breakfast celebrates forty years of hilarious bloopers, Royal Family will find it 'impossible' to compromise with Sussexes, Ken Bruce will be joining the Greatest Hits Radio family in April, As it happened: UK Government blocks Scotland's new gender law, Russian pro-war fanatic warns Britain could be 'wiped off the map', Motorists slowly drive down snowy hill in treacherous conditions, Harrowing moment woman begs father not to kill himself, Shamima Begum never considered turning back during journey to ISIS. Joan also comes up with the idea of enriching uranium in the film, which is part of the process of making atomic energy. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. No life could have looked more ordinary. There were calls to prosecute the granny traitor, but the secret services did not want the details of their failure to come out at trial. Unlike those Mata Hari-style seductresses whose treachery is based in the boudoir, Mrs Norwood was a very different kind of agent. Until her death in 2005 . Melita Norwood Melita grew up to become a bright young girl, which she proved in 1923 by winning a scholarship to attend Itchen School, a secondary school near Southampton, in Southern England. But what Melita exactly did is up for debate. She told me she would have been prepared to be tried as a war criminal and would have accepted a prison sentence.. 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. 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. 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. Paperwork about how to safely enrich uranium, which would be used in bombs, passed across his desk and was put in his safe. Today brings a fresh reminder of a national disgrace, the failure to prosecute Melita Norwood for treason. Norwood, who joined the Communist Party in the 1930s, had access to British atomic secrets through her office job at the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, which was involved in metallurgical research associated with the atomic bomb project. The daughter of grandmother Melita Norwood, unmasked as one of Britain's biggest traitors, last night told how the former spy kept details of her treachery secret from her to the very last moment. 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. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. Akce tdne. She was a bit worried so she took an aspirin before going in. She thought he was the best. 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. Incredibly, despite doubts about her extreme Left-wing sympathies and links, she was cleared. Links to more UK stories are at the foot of the page. She says she was working for the ideology not the financial reward. spy. Red Joan (2018) Ben Miles as Nick IMDb. / The media were all gathered to hear what she had to say after revelations in the newspaper that day - Norwood had been a Soviet spy for nearly 40 years. Norwood died on June 2, 2005 never facing trial for her crimes. 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. One was in his office and the other at his London home. In general, I do not agree with spying against ones country. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. And the sleepy South Staffordshire . This was a woman who was seen pottering around tending to her vegetables and flowers. She began spying for the Soviet Union four years after Josef Stalin took power, working under the code name "Hola". The film depicts her as a woman who, while clearly out of her depth, is really the person responsible for seeing nuclear bombs as a deterrent rather than a weapon. Melitapassed away. Melita Norwood was a member of one of those communist spy networks in America and Britain, who by guaranteeing those weapons of mass destruction threw down a challenge to America as sole superpower in the post-Second World War era. 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. Anita Ferguson, 61, Mrs Norwood's only daughter, confirmed her mother's death, but . The great-grandmother of 87 still lives in the same, spartan south London house which she bought with her husband, a maths teacher, 50 years ago. The reality is that Norwood was devoted to her husband, who she nursed through liver cancer up to his death in 1986. Anita Ferguson, a school laboratory technician from Wombourne, Staffordshire, speaks to the media following the news that her 87-year-old mother. [10] [9] It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. When the spy was eventually unmasked half a century later in 1999, the identity came as a huge shock. Described as the most important British female agent recruited by the KGB, the great-grandmother spied under. All Rights Reserved. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Date of death. It seemed as if she'd got away with it all - and there was a lot to get away with. 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?
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