Yevgeny Ivanov (spy)
Captain Yevgeny Mikhailovich Ivanov (Russian: Евгений Михайлович Иванов; 11 January 1926 – 17 January 1994), also known as Eugene Ivanov, was a
Early life and career
Ivanov was born in
Ivanov was accompanied to Britain by his wife Maya, daughter of
Targeted by MI5
Ivanov became friendly with
On the weekend of 8–9 July 1961, Ivanov was at a pool party at the Cliveden estate when Christine Keeler met John Profumo, the British Secretary of State for War.[5] Keeler's subsequent affair with Profumo went on at a time when she was also having sex with Ivanov. This was at a time when Cold War tensions were already heightened, just 15 months before the Cuban Missile Crisis. Ward and Ivanov are said to have asked Keeler to quiz Profumo as to when American nuclear missiles would be taken to then-West Germany.[5]
Profumo affair
When the Profumo affair became openly public in early June 1963, just three months after Profumo had lied in the House of Commons by denying an affair with Keeler, the ensuing scandal of Britain's war minister having an affair with the mistress of a Soviet spy resulted in several far-reaching consequences. On a personal level, Ivanov's relationship with Keeler caused Maya to leave him, while the Kremlin failed to show him much recognition. The double rejection led to Ivanov drinking heavily for some time afterwards. Ward took an overdose of barbiturates on the evening of 30 July 1963, just hours after a damning summing up by the judge at his trial on charges of living off the immoral earnings (i.e. prostitution) of Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. Ward slipped into a coma and was rushed to hospital; he was found guilty in absentia on 31 July, but died on 3 August before sentence could be passed.
Later years
Ivanov was recalled to Moscow on 22 January 1963,[6][7] prior to the Profumo affair becoming public knowledge, after the Soviet government had sensed a potential scandal involving MI5. Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Ivanov seemingly "disappeared" in the eyes of the international community by keeping a very low profile for the next 29 years, while he had actually continued his naval career, being assigned to the Black Sea Fleet, before publishing his memoirs in 1992.[8] It is not known whether Ivanov continued to work with the GRU but he was reportedly awarded the Order of Lenin late in his career.
Keeler revealed that she met Ivanov again in Moscow in 1993.[9] In 1994, Ivanov was found dead in his Moscow flat at the age of 68.
Memoirs
Ivanov's partially
Cultural references
Ivanov is portrayed by
Ivanov was portrayed by Visar Vishka, a Yugoslavian-born actor, in the 2019 BBC TV drama series, The Trial of Christine Keeler.[11]
Peter Sellers portrayed Ivanov in British audio comedy Fool Britannia (1963).
Bibliography
- Honeytrap (1987) by ISBN 0340429739.
- An Affair of State: The Profumo Case and the Framing of Stephen Ward ISBN 0-224-02347-0
References
- ^ Profumo scandal Russian spy just a drunkard who struck it lucky; declassified MI5 documents analysed by Daniel Caourro, History Correspondent to The Telegraph, 11 October 2022
- ^ Andrew Muir, A History of Modern Britain.[clarification needed]
- ISBN 9781857820096
- ^ Summers & Dorrill, chapter 7.
- ^ a b Summers & Dorrill, chapter 8.
- ^ Knightley and Kennedy, p. 128
- ^ Los Angeles Times, 23 January 1994.
- ^ a b The Guardian, 11 March 2006.
- ^ Keeler, pp. 278–79[clarification needed]
- ^ New York Times, 20 January 1994.
- ^ "Visar Vishka". IMDb. Retrieved 2021-09-11.