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George Blake

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Spy

The Resume

    (November 11, 1922-December 26, 2020)
    Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands
    Birth name was George Behar
    Joined the British intelligence service MI-6 (1948)
    As a member of the British embassy staff in Seoul, was captured and imprisoned during the Korean War (1950-53)
    Became a double agent for the Soviet Union
    Received a 42-year sentence for espionage (1961)
    Escaped from prison and defected to the USSR (1966)
    Wrote the autobiography 'No Other Choice' (1990)
    Awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian president Vladimir Putin (2007)

Why he might be annoying:

    He revealed to the Soviets hundreds of agents, at least 40 of whom were executed.
    He provided multiple explanations for his working for the USSR.
    According to one account, he decided to bring down the British establishment after his fiancee's aristocratic parents forbade her from marrying a Jew.
    In another explanation, he switched sides after observing US bombers destroying 'completely defenseless Korean villages.'
    Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union he remained a committed Marxist, saying, 'I was helping in building a new society in which there would be equality, social justice, no longer any war, no longer any national conflict.'
    He sued after the British government tried to stop him from profiting from his autobiography and won 5,000 pounds. (Aren't Marxists supposed to be above petty monetary concerns?)

Why he might not be annoying:

    During World War II he worked for the Dutch resistance.
    In an interview with NBC, he said he regretted the deaths of the agents he had betrayed (1991).
    He inspired the book and movie 'The Manchurian Candidate.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 85 Votes: 65.88% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 10 Votes: 90.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 93.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 69 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 169 Votes: 66.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 17 Votes: 52.94% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 33 Votes: 57.58% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 453 Votes: 78.59% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 182 Votes: 74.73% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 182 Votes: 67.58% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 152 Votes: 73.68% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 109 Votes: 77.98% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 64 Votes: 75.00% Annoying