Kim Philby

About Kim Philby

Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby or H.A.R. Philby (OBE: 1946-1965), (1 January 1912 – 11 May 1988) was a high-ranking member of British intelligence, a socialist and served as an NKVD and KGB operative.

In 1963, Philby was revealed as a member of the spy ring now known as the Cambridge Five, along with Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing classified information to the Soviet Union. These activities were only lessened by Stalin's paranoia that Philby was a triple agent.

Born in Ambala, Punjab, India, Philby was the son of Harry St. John Philby, the British Army officer, diplomat, explorer, author, and Orientalist who converted to Islam and was advisor to King Ibn Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia. He was nicknamed after the protagonist in Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim about a young Irish Indian boy who spies for the British in India during the 19th century. After leaving Westminster School in 1928 at the age of 16, Philby studied history and economics at Trinity College, Cambridge where he was introduced to and became an admirer of Socialism. It has been suggested that his father, while not a spy himself, was opposed to the British establishment and was thus Kim Philby's inspiration and probable mentor. The elder Philby died in 1960.