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Vol. I · 2026
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Tier B
Politics & Public Figures · UK · USSR

Kim Philby

Ким Филби

British intelligence officer and Soviet agent who went to Moscow in 1963

🇷🇺 Fame: UK🇷🇺 Origin: USSR🔗 Connection: Lived under Russian or Soviet rule🗓 Left Beirut for the USSR in January 1963 and lived in Moscow until his death in 1988.
KP
Profile #503
ProfessionIntelligence officer; Soviet agent
Russian originMoscow (resident 1963–1988)USSR
ConnectionLived under Russian or Soviet ruleSt John Philby; Dora Johnston
RussianUnknown
CategoryPolitics & Public FiguresTier B
Biography

Kim Philby — intelligence officer; soviet agent with roots in the USSR

Harold Adrian Russell 'Kim' Philby (1 January 1912 – 11 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring. He was recruited by Soviet intelligence officer Arnold Deutsch in June 1934 and in late 1944 became head of MI6's Section IX, which dealt with Soviet activity. He disappeared from Beirut in January 1963, was granted asylum and Soviet citizenship in July 1963, and died in Moscow in 1988.

"Left Beirut for the USSR in January 1963 and lived in Moscow until his death in 1988."

Migration story
Russian Connection

Tracing the roots — Moscow (resident 1963–1988)

Born in Ambala, British India, to St John Philby and Dora Johnston, he has no documented Russian ancestry. He lived in the USSR from 1963 as a Soviet citizen, died in Moscow in 1988 and is buried at Kuntsevo Cemetery.

Family Tree
Subject
Kim Philby🇷🇺 UK
↑
Ancestors
St John Philby
Dora Johnston
↑
Origin
Moscow (resident 1963–1988)🇷🇺 USSR
Historical context
Soviet Union (USSR) · 1922–1991
Map of the Soviet Union (USSR)

Moscow (resident 1963–1988). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.

Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Key Achievements

A career defined by ambition

01
Recruited by Soviet intelligence (Arnold Deutsch) in June 1934
02
Head of MI6's Section IX from late 1944
03
Recommended Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess to his Soviet recruiter
04
Granted asylum and Soviet citizenship in 1963
05
Order of Lenin; Order of Friendship of Peoples

"To betray, you must first belong."

Kim Philby
Russian diaspora
Sources