Frederic Pryor

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This article is about an economist freed during a 1962 spy swap. For the cricket player, see Frederick Pryor (cricketer).

Frederic Pryor
Born
Frederic LeRoy Pryor

(1933-04-23)April 23, 1933
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationCollege professor
Known forinvolvement in Cold War "spy swap"
SpouseZora Prochazka
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisThe Communist Foreign Trade System (1962)
Academic work
DisciplineEconomics
InstitutionsSwarthmore College

Frederic LeRoy Pryor (April 23, 1933 – September 2, 2019)

spy swap" that also involved downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. He spent the bulk of his career as a member of the Swarthmore College
faculty, as a professor of economics.

Early life and education

Frederic LeRoy Pryor[2] and his twin brother Millard were born April 23, 1933, in Owosso, Michigan, to Millard H. and Mary S. Pryor,[citation needed] but spent most of their childhood in Mansfield, Ohio, and graduated in 1951 from Mansfield Senior High School.[1] He attended Oberlin College, where he received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1955. He then spent a year in South America and Europe, which included three months living and working on a commune in Paraguay.[1][2] He studied economics at Yale University, where he received a master's degree in 1957, then undertook a doctorate program.[1]

Cold War incident

In 1959, as part of his doctorate studies, Pryor went to Berlin, where he was finishing his doctoral thesis and also taking classes at the

without charge.[2][5] Pryor's cell was directly above an East German torture room.[4] While jailed, Pryor was intensively interrogated,[2] although not tortured.[4]

On February 10, 1962, after almost six months of detention, Pryor was freed at Checkpoint Charlie, just before American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was swapped for Soviet Spy Colonel Rudolf Abel at the Glienicke Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam, East Germany,[2][6][7] as a result of negotiations conducted by James B. Donovan.[2]

Pryor's involvement in this incident is dramatized as a subplot in the 2015 film Bridge of Spies starring Tom Hanks as Donovan.[5] Actor Will Rogers depicted Pryor.[8] Pryor was not consulted for the film, about which he commented, "It was good. But they took a lot of liberties with it."[5]

Career

Pryor received his doctorate from Yale in 1962, but his purported involvement in espionage and his imprisonment limited job opportunities in government—his preferred career—or industry.

professor emeritus.[2][1] Pryor published 13 books and more than 130 scholarly articles.[1][9]

Pryor worked as an economic advisor in

judge of elections, a local elected position in Pennsylvania.[1] He won research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Council of Soviet and East European Studies, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He served as a trustee at historically black colleges such as Miles College, Wilberforce University, and Tougaloo College.[1]

Personal life

On March 26, 1964, Pryor married Zora Prochazka, who was also an economist.[2] They remained together until her death in 2008.[1]

Pryor died on September 2, 2019, in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, where he had lived the final 11 years of his life. He is survived by his son and three grandchildren.[1]

Works

  • Pryor, Frederic (1963). The Communist Foreign Trade System. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The M.I.T. Press.
    ISBN 9780262160087
    .

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Valerie Smith (September 10, 2019). "In Honor of Professor Emeritus of Economics Frederic L. Pryor". Swarthmore College.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Richard Sandomir, Frederic Pryor, Player in 'Bridge of Spies' Case, Dies at 86, New York Times (September 11, 2019).
  3. ^ Alan Glenn, The spy who never was, Michigan Today, University of Michigan (January 21, 2016).
  4. ^ a b c d Jeff Gammage, Swarthmore prof was snared in 'Bridge of Spies' case, Philadelphia Inquirer (October 25, 2015).
  5. ^ a b c d e Ryan Dougherty, Economist Frederic Pryor Recounts Life as a 'Spy', Swarthmore College (October 21, 2015).
  6. ^ "Abel for Powers". Time. February 16, 1962. Retrieved July 3, 2008.[dead link]
  7. ^ Wicker, Tom (February 10, 1962). "Powers is Freed by Soviet in an Exchange for Abel; U-2 Pilot on Way to U.S." The New York Times. Retrieved October 17, 2015.
  8. ^ Mark Jenkins, Spielberg Takes On The Cold War In 'Bridge Of Spies', NPR (October 15, 2015).
  9. ^ L. Pryor, Frederic (March 6, 2011). "Web Page of Frederic L. Pryor". Swarthmore College. Retrieved June 19, 2021.

External links

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