Anthony Blunt (1907-1983) was a British art historian and a member of the Cambridge spy ring. A Cambridge don, he was drawn into Soviet intelligence in the mid-1930s and acted as a talent spotter, helping recruit students including Michael Straight and John Cairncross. During the Second World War he served in MI5, where he passed the Soviets large quantities of material, including details of MI5 operations and intelligence derived from decrypted German communications.

After the war he became Surveyor of the King’s (later Queen’s) Pictures and director of the Courtauld Institute, and was knighted in 1956. In 1951 he helped Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean prepare their flight to Moscow. Identified by Michael Straight, Blunt confessed to MI5 in April 1964 in exchange for immunity from prosecution, and the matter was kept secret. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publicly confirmed his role in the House of Commons on November 15, 1979, and he was stripped of his knighthood. He died in London in 1983.

Sources

• Andrew, Christopher. Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.
• House of Commons. Written answer by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Anthony Blunt. Hansard, November 15, 1979.
• Andrew, Christopher, and Vasili Mitrokhin. The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB. Basic Books, 1999.

Summary entry. A fuller, document-based profile is in preparation.