George Blake

George Blake (né Behar; 11 November 1922 – 26 December 2020) was a spy who worked for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and became a double agent for the Soviet Union. Captured during the Korean War, he was imprisoned by North Korean forces and became a communist, deciding to work for the Ministry of State Security (MGB). Upon returning to the United Kingdom, he resumed work with MI6 while secretly passing classified information to the Soviets, betraying dozens of agents working on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain. Blake was eventually discovered in 1961 and sentenced to 42 years in prison, one of the longest terms ever imposed for espionage in Britain. In 1966, with the help of fellow inmates and outside supporters, he escaped from HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs in West London. He fled the country and made his way to the Soviet Union, where he was received as a hero. Although not part of the Cambridge Five, Blake later associated with members such as Donald Maclean and Kim Philby after arriving in Moscow. He continued to live in the Soviet Union and, after its dissolution in 1991, remained in Russia. Blake was granted citizenship and lived out the rest of his life there, defending his actions until his death in 2020 at the age of 98.