Pierre Cot

Pierre Jules Cot (20 November 1895, in Grenoble – 21 August 1977, Coise-Saint-Jean-Pied-Gauthier), was a French politician and leading figure in the Popular Front government of the 1930s. Born in Grenoble into a conservative Catholic family, he entered politics as an admirer of the World War I conservative leader Raymond Poincaré, but moved steadily to the left over the course of his career. Through the decrypting of 1943 Soviet intelligence cables through the Venona Project it was established that Cot was an agent of the Soviet Union with the code name of "Dedal". However, other sources suggest that Cot was a communist fellow-traveller rather than an agent. The British Secret Intelligence Service describes him as "a highly controversial figure, vilified at the time by the French Right, and since accused of having been a Soviet agent".