Whittaker Chambers | |
|---|---|
 Chambers in 1948 | |
| Born | Jay Vivian Chambers April 1, 1901 |
| Died | July 9, 1961 (aged 60) Westminster, Maryland, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, writer, spy, poet, translator |
| Spouse | Esther Shemitz |
| Children | Ellen Chambers, John Chambers |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | Soviet Union United States |
| Service branch | "Communist underground" controlled by the GRU |
| Service years | 1932–1938 |
| Codename | Carl (Karl), Bob, David Breen, Lloyd Cantwell, Carl Schroeder |
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Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet underground (1938), worked for Time magazine (1939–1948), and then testified about the Ware Group in what became the Hiss case for perjury (1949–1950), often referred to as the trial of the century, all described in his 1952 memoir Witness.[1] Afterwards, he worked as a senior editor at National Review (1957–1959). US President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1984.[2]
- ^ Chambers, Whittaker (1952). Witness. New York: Random House. pp. 799 pages. ISBN 9780895269157. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
- ^ Chambers, David; Nolen, Jeannette L. (April 15, 2020). "Whittaker Chambers". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2020.