Kim Philby Research Paper

Born on 1 January 1912, Harold Adrian Russell “Kim” Philby grew up to become one of the Soviet Union’s most valuable intelligence assets inside the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). His childhood began in India, where his father, Harry St. John Philby worked as an intelligence officer and diplomat for the British government. St. John Philby was also a well-known author, orientalist (an individual who specialized in Middle East and Asian policy), as well as a convert to Islam after his service to King ibn Saud, of Saudi Arabia. Philby’s Indian nanny taught him to speak Punjabi and essentially raised him. Kim Philby was so adept at the Punjabi language that he could roam his village, Ambala, virtually unnoticed as a foreigner by …show more content…
He attended the Westminster School in England until 1918 where he was intelligent, amusing, charming, very witty, and could change himself and his personality to fit different situations. To make Kim “into a man”, St. John Philby sent him to live with Bedouin tribes in Saudi Arabia between his time in preparatory school until his eventual enrollment at Trinity College at Cambridge University. In 1928, Philby joined the Cambridge University Socialist Society while attending his families’ alma mater, Trinity College. During his studies, he became enamored with socialism and subsequently communism after attending lectures in economics (My Silent War, 2002). Philby was distraught with the unequal distribution of wealth throughout the world and specifically in English noble society, of which he was a member. Philby simply believed the rich for far too long had exploited the poor, and it was his aim to change things with a degree in economics and to spread the ideas of …show more content…
as a liaison to the CIA and Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). Philby worked out the British Embassy, and lived in a posh downtown home. Philby maintained contact with his Soviet handlers and continued espionage activities. Philby's home was a popular get together for Washington's top intelligence officials including Walter Bedell Smith, the CIA Director; Allen Dulles, Deputy Director of CIA; James Jesus Angleton, CIA counterintelligence chief; and Robert Lamphere, FBI Soviet counterintelligence chief. Phiby often visited his American colleagues towards the end of the workday, knowing they would "suggest drifting out to a friendly bar for a further round of shoptalk” (KGB Archives). When asked about Philby’s activities, one intelligence officer close to Philby pointed out: "Intelligence officers talk trade among themselves all the time... Philby was privy to a hell of a lot beyond what he should have known" (A Spy Among Friends,