Sir Christopher Keith Curwen, KCMG (9 April 1929 – 18 December 2013) was a British Intelligence officer specialising in South East Asia who was Head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1985 to 1989.
Christopher Curwen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 9 April 1929 |
| Died | 18 December 2013 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Intelligence officer |
| Awards | KCMG |
| Espionage activity | |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom  |
| Service branch | Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) |
| Rank | Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service |
Career edit
Curwen was educated at Sherborne School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge after which he was commissioned into the 4th Queen's Own Hussars in 1948, serving in Malaya.[1][2] He joined SIS in 1952 and was posted to Thailand in 1954 and Vientiane, Laos in 1956.[2] He returned to the service's London headquarters in 1958, had another spell in Bangkok from 1961 and then two years in Kuala Lumpur. He was at one time married to a woman from South-East Asia; they were later divorced.[3]
Curwen spent three years as SIS liaison officer in Washington D.C. from 1968 and was then head of station in Geneva.[4] He was deputy to Sir Colin Figures from 1980 and succeeded him as Chief of the Service in 1985.[5] His tenure was notable for the successful exfiltration from Moscow of the KGB officer and British agent Oleg Gordievsky.[3][2]
His obituary in The Times noted: "He possessed a romantic patriotism that belied his hard-headed persona."[2]
References edit
- ^ Burke's Peerage and Gentry
- ^ a b c d "Sir Christopher Curwen obituary". The Times. No. 71078. 27 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Sir Christopher Curwen obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 23 December 2013.
- ^ MI6 - 50 years of Special Operations, by Stephen Dorril, Page 753, Harper Collins, 2001, ISBN 1-85702-701-9
- ^ Cloaked Dagger
Notes edit
- Sir Christopher Curwen entry in Who's Who
- Curwen entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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