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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2023}}
{{Short description|British spy (1919–1990)}}
{{Short description|British spy (1919–1990)}}
{{Infobox spy
{{Infobox spy
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|caption =
|caption =
|birth_name = Greville Maynard Wynne
|birth_name = Greville Maynard Wynne
|birth_date = 19 March 1919
|birth_date = 19 March 1919<ref name=dob>{{cite web |url=http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/ngcoba/wy.htm |title=New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors}}</ref>
|birth_place = Shropshire, England, UK<ref>https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?scan=1&r=141677924:2512&d=bmd_1653949805</ref>
|birth_place = Shropshire, England, UK
|death_date = {{death date and age|28 February 1990|19 March 1919|df=y}}
|death_date = {{death date and age|28 February 1990|19 March 1919|df=y}}
|death_place = [[South Kensington]], [[Greater London|London]], UK
|death_place = [[South Kensington]], [[Greater London|London]], UK
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|spouse = Sheila M Beaton<br>(m. 1946; divorced)<br>Johanna Herma Van Buren (m.1970; separated)
|spouse = Sheila M Beaton<br>(m. 1946; divorced)<br>Johanna Herma Van Buren (m.1970; separated)
|children = 1 son - Andrew
|children = 1 son - Andrew
|parents =
|parents = Bert Wynne, Ada Wynne
|awards =
|awards =
|country = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|country = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
|allegiance =
|allegiance =
|branch =
|branch =
|agency = [[Secret Intelligence Service|''Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)'']]
|agency = [[Secret Intelligence Service]] (MI6)
|corporation =
|corporation =
|serviceyears = November 1960 – October 1962
|serviceyears = November 1960 – October 1962
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|signature =
|signature =
}}
}}
⚫
'''Greville Maynard Wynne''' (19 March 1919<ref name=dob/> &ndash; 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from the Soviet agent [[Oleg Penkovsky]].


⚫
Wynne and Penkovsky were both arrested by the [[KGB]] in November 1962, when some of the information their endeavours produced was of assistance to the West during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. They were convicted of [[espionage]]. Penkovsky was executed the following year and Wynne was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He was detained at [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka prison]]. Struggling with deteriorating health, he was released in 1964 in exchange for the Soviet spy [[Konon Molody]].
⚫
'''Greville Maynard Wynne''' (19 March 1919<ref>[http://www.authorandbookinfo.com/ngcoba/wy.htm ''New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors'']</ref> &ndash; 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from Soviet agent [[Oleg Penkovsky]].

⚫
Wynne and Penkovsky were both arrested by the [[KGB]] in October 1962, when some of the information their endeavours produced was of assistance to the West during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]]. They were convicted of [[espionage]]. Penkovsky was executed the following year and Wynne was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He was detained at [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka prison]]. Struggling with deteriorating health, he was released in 1964 in exchange for the Soviet spy [[Konon Molody]].


==Early life==
==Early life==
Wynne was born in Shropshire, England, and raised in [[Ystrad Mynach]], South Wales.<ref name="Olsen">{{Cite news |last=Olsen |first=Catherine |date=13 November 1981 |title=From Interrogation in the Lubyanka to rose-growing in Majorca |pages=7 |work=Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90430031/from-interrogation-in-the-lubyanka-to/ |access-date=2021-12-12}}</ref> His father was a foreman in an engineering workshop. He struggled with dyslexia and left school at 14 to work for an electrical contractor. He then worked at a telephone factory as an apprentice.<ref name="Trahair">{{Cite book |last=Trahair |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-ZVcsl0h3EC&q=Greville%2520Wynne |title=Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations |date=2012-01-10 |publisher=Enigma Books |isbn=978-1-936274-26-0 |pages=432–433}}</ref>
Wynne was born in [[Wrockwardine Wood]], [[Telford, Shropshire]], England, only son (an elder brother had died at the age of one year in 1915; he had three elder sisters) of Ethelbert Wynne and Ada, née Pritchard. He was raised in [[Ystrad Mynach]], South Wales, with a "modest background".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Olsen |first=Catherine |date=13 November 1981 |title=From Interrogation in the Lubyanka to rose-growing in Majorca |pages=7 |work=The Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90430031/from-interrogation-in-the-lubyanka-to/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> His father was a foreman in an engineering workshop. He struggled with dyslexia and left school at 14 to work for an electrical contractor. He then worked at a telephone factory as an apprentice.<ref name="Trahair">{{Cite book |last=Trahair |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-ZVcsl0h3EC&q=Greville%2520Wynne |title=Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations |date=10 January 2012 |publisher=Enigma Books |isbn=978-1-936274-26-0 |pages=432–433}}</ref> Before the [[Second World War]] he studied engineering part-time at the [[University of Nottingham]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Wynne, Greville Maynard |author=M. R. D. Foot |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of national Biography |date=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/40700 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-40700 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>''The Annual Obituary 1990'', ed. Deborah Andrews, St James Press, 1991, p. 156</ref> After the war, he traded in electrical equipment, travelling often through Europe and India.<ref name="Trahair" /> Wynne married Sheila Beaton in 1946; the couple had a son, Andrew, born in 1952.<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 April 1964 |title=Release was 'a complete surprise' |page=1 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90431666/release-was-a-complete-surprise/ |access-date=12 December 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> His business extended into [[Eastern Bloc]] countries from 1955.<ref name="Trahair" />

After the [[Second World War]], he traded in electrical equipment, travelling often through Europe and India.<ref name="Trahair" /> Wynne married Sheila Beaton in 1946; the couple had a son, Andrew, born in 1952.<ref name="Guardian - surprise">{{Cite news |date=23 April 1964 |title=Release was 'a complete surprise' |pages=1 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90431666/release-was-a-complete-surprise/ |access-date=2021-12-12}}</ref> His business extended into [[Eastern Bloc]] countries from 1955.<ref name="Trahair" />

== MI6 and later life ==
⚫
In November 1960, Wynne was recruited by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] and asked to make a sales trip to Moscow,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Schecter |first1=Jerrold L |last2=Deriabin |first2=Peter S |last3=Penkovskij |first3=Oleg Vladimirovic |author2-link=Peter Deriabin |author3-link=Oleg Penkovsky |title=The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War |date=1992 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/spywhosavedworld00jerr |language=English |oclc=909016158}}</ref> where he made contact with [[Oleg Penkovsky]], a high-ranking [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]] officer. Penkovsky had made earlier offers to spy for the West.<ref name=":0" /> Wynne later became an intermediary and courier for Penkovsky, smuggling top-secret Soviet intelligence to London on return from his frequent trips to the USSR.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Storm Birds|last=Brook-Shepherd|first=Gordon|publisher=Grove Press|year=1989|isbn=1-555-84122-8}}</ref>


== MI6 ==
⚫
Wynne‘s and Penkovsky's espionage activities were discovered by the [[KGB]]. Both men were arrested in October 1962, around the time of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].<ref name=":0" /> Wynne and Penkovsky each pleaded guilty on 7 May 1963 and were sentenced four days later.<ref name=Guardian19630508>{{Cite news |title=Wynne confesses to charges of spying for West |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259749630/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=8 May 1963 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |issue=36340 |pages=1, 10|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Frankland19630512>{{Cite news |title=Wynne sentenced to eight years |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/257869014/ |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=12 May 1963 |issue=8967 |page=1 |last=Frankland |first=Mark |via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Wynne was sentenced to eight years in prison.<ref name=Frankland19630512 /> Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, though Wynne believed he died by suicide in prison.<ref name=Frankland19630512 /><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Penkovsky Papers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/258017567/ |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=7 November 1965 |page=21 |issue=9097 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Spy Wynne dies aged 70 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/260302547/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=1 March 1990 |last=Milne |first=Seumas |author-link=Seumas Milne|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription |page=20}}</ref>
⚫
In November 1960, Wynne was recruited by [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] and asked to make a sales trip to Moscow,<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Schecter |first1=Jerrold L |last2=Deriabin |first2=Peter S |last3=Penkovskij |first3=Oleg Vladimirovic |author2-link=Peter Deriabin |author3-link=Oleg Penkovsky |title=The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War |date=1992 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/spywhosavedworld00jerr |language=English |oclc=909016158}}</ref> where he made contact with [[Oleg Penkovsky]], a high-ranking [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]] officer. Penkovsky had made earlier offers to spy for the West.<ref name=":0" /> Wynne later became an intermediary and courier for Penkovsky, smuggling top-secret Soviet intelligence to London on return from his frequent trips to the USSR.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=The Storm Birds |last=Brook-Shepherd |first=Gordon |publisher=Grove Press |year=1989 |isbn=1-555-84122-8}}</ref>


⚫
Wynne's and Penkovsky's espionage activities were discovered by the [[KGB]]. Both men were arrested in November 1962, around the time of the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].<ref name=":0" /> Wynne and Penkovsky each pleaded guilty on 7 May 1963 and were sentenced four days later.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Wynne confesses to charges of spying for West |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259749630/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=8 May 1963 |via=Newspapers.com |issue=36340 |pages=1, 10|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=Frankland19630512>{{Cite news |title=Wynne sentenced to eight years |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/257869014/ |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=12 May 1963 |issue=8967 |page=1 |last=Frankland |first=Mark |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Wynne was sentenced to eight years in prison. Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, though Wynne believed he died by suicide in prison.<ref name=Frankland19630512 /><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Penkovsky Papers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/258017567/ |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |date=7 November 1965 |page=21 |issue=9097 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}<br>- {{Cite news |title=Spy Wynne dies aged 70 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/260302547/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=1 March 1990 |last=Milne |first=Seumas |author-link=Seumas Milne |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |page=20}}</ref>
⚫
Wynne was held at the [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Soviet blackmail over Mr. Brooke |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259493645/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 March 1966 |page=10 |issue=37218 |edition=City |via=[[Newspapers.com]]|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In April 1964, amid British concerns for his deteriorating health,<ref name=":0" /> Wynne was released in exchange for the Soviet spy [[Konon Molody]] (also known as Gordon Lonsdale).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Seven Spies Who Changed the World|last=West|first=Nigel|publisher=Martin Secker & Warburg Limited|year=1991|isbn=0-436-56603-6}}</ref>


⚫
Wynne was held at the [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Soviet blackmail over Mr. Brooke |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/259493645/ |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 March 1966 |page=10 |issue=37218 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In April 1964, amid British concerns for his deteriorating health,<ref name=":0" /> Wynne was released in exchange for the Soviet spy [[Konon Molody]] (also known as Gordon Lonsdale).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Seven Spies Who Changed the World |last=West |first=Nigel |publisher=Martin Secker & Warburg Limited |year=1991 |isbn=0-436-56603-6}}</ref>
⚫
After his release, Wynne returned to his business career. He and his wife Sheila divorced and Wynne became estranged from his son, and only child Andrew. In 1970 Wynne married Johanna Herma Van Buren. The couple separated a few years before his death but were still legally married when he died.
== Later life and death ==
⚫
After his release, Wynne returned to his business career. He and his wife Sheila divorced and he became estranged from his son and only child, Andrew. In 1970, Wynne married Johanna Herma Van Buren. They separated a few years before his death but were still legally married when he died.


On 23 May 1966, he appeared as himself in an episode of the American television series ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', receiving two of four possible votes.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Tell the Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhmrO1FvLss |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/zhmrO1FvLss |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|website=[[CBS]] |access-date=29 April 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
On 23 May 1966, he appeared as himself in an episode of the American television series ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', receiving two of four possible votes.<ref>{{cite web |title=To Tell the Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhmrO1FvLss |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/zhmrO1FvLss |archive-date=21 December 2021 |url-status=live |website=CBS |via=YouTube |access-date=29 April 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>


Wynne struggled with depression and alcoholism in the aftermath of imprisonment.<ref name=":2" /> He died of throat cancer at the Cromwell Hospital in [[London]] on 28 February 1990, aged 70.<ref>{{Citation | title = Greville Wynne, Spy for Britain In the Soviet Bloc, Is Dead at 71 | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | date = 1990-03-02 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/02/obituaries/greville-wynne-spy-for-britain-in-the-soviet-bloc-is-dead-at-71.html | access-date = 2010-01-31 }}</ref>
Wynne struggled with [[clinical depression|depression]] and [[alcoholism]] in the aftermath of imprisonment.<ref name=":2" /> He died of [[throat cancer]] at the [[Cromwell Hospital]] in [[London]] on 28 February 1990, aged 70.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Greville Wynne, Spy for Britain In the Soviet Bloc, Is Dead at 71 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 March 1990 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/02/obituaries/greville-wynne-spy-for-britain-in-the-soviet-bloc-is-dead-at-71.html |access-date=31 January 2010 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>


==Questions over pre-Penkovsky MI5 work==
==Questions over pre-Penkovsky MI5 work==
Later in life, Wynne wrote two books about his work for British intelligence: ''The Man from Moscow'' (1967) and ''The Man from Odessa'' (1981). In these books, Wynne claimed to have been recruited by [[MI5]] as early as [[World War II]], long before his work with Penkovsky. Historians question this account. The authors of ''The Spy Who Saved the World'' wrote, “He [Wynne] had no previous intelligence experience or training.”<ref name=":0" /> Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
Later in life, Wynne wrote two books about his work for British intelligence: ''The Man from Moscow'' (1967) and ''The Man from Odessa'' (1981). In these books, Wynne claimed to have been recruited by [[MI5]] as early as the Second World War, long before his work with Penkovsky. Historians question this account. The authors of ''The Spy Who Saved the World'' wrote that Wynne "had no previous intelligence experience or training."<ref name=":0" /> Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />


==Portrayal in popular culture==
==Portrayal in popular culture==
*Wynne was portrayed by [[David Calder (actor)|David Calder]] in the 1985 [[BBC]] television serial ''Wynne and Penkovsky.''<ref name=Fordy20210816>{{Cite web |title=Gentleman, spy, fantasist? The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/courier-fact-fiction-truth-spy-greville-wynne/ |website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=August 16, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |last=Fordy |first=Tom}}</ref>
*Wynne was portrayed by [[David Calder (actor)|David Calder]] in the 1985 [[BBC]] television serial ''Wynne and Penkovsky''.<ref name=Fordy20210816>{{Cite web |title=Gentleman, spy, fantasist? The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/courier-fact-fiction-truth-spy-greville-wynne/ |website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=16 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021 |last=Fordy |first=Tom}}</ref>
*He was portrayed by Peter Lindford in the 2007 [[BBC Television]] [[docudrama]] ''[[Nuclear Secrets]]''.<ref name=Knox20210807>{{Cite web |title=Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/travelling-salesman-prevented-ww3-incredible-24710349 |website=[[Daily Mirror|Mirror]] |date=August 7, 2021 |access-date=August 27, 2021 |last=Knox |first=Miranda}}</ref>
*He was portrayed by Peter Lindford in the 2007 [[BBC Television]] [[docudrama]] ''[[Nuclear Secrets]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/tv-film-news/travelling-salesman-prevented-ww3-incredible-24710349 |website=The [[Daily Mirror]] |date=7 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021 |last=Knox |first=Miranda}}</ref>
*He was portrayed by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] in the 2021 film ''[[The Courier (2020 film)|The Courier]]''.<ref name=Fordy20210816 /> His wife Sheila was portrayed by [[Jessie Buckley]].
*He was portrayed by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]] in the 2021 film ''[[The Courier (2020 film)|The Courier]]''.<ref name=Fordy20210816 />


==References==
==References==
{{reflist|1}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Duns|first=Jeremy|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Dead_Drop/4x2e_BJv1jUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=dead+drop&printsec=frontcover|title=Dead Drop: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2014|isbn=9781849839297|location=London|page=}}
*{{cite book|last=Duns|first=Jeremy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4x2e_BJv1jUC&q=dead+drop|title=Dead Drop: The True Story of Oleg Penkovsky and the Cold War's Most Dangerous Operation|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2014|isbn=9781849839297|location=London|page=}}
*{{cite book |last1=Durie |first1=William |title=The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation/presence in Berlin |date=2012 |publisher=Vergangenheitsverlag ([[:de:Vergangenheitsverlag|de]]) |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-86408-068-5 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/british-garrison-berlin-1945-1994-nowhere-to-go-a-pictorial-historiography-of-the-british-military-presence-in-berlin-1945-1994/oclc/978161722 |language=English |oclc=978161722}}
*{{cite book |last1=Durie |first1=William |title=The British Garrison Berlin 1945 - 1994: nowhere to go ... a pictorial historiography of the British Military occupation/presence in Berlin |date=2012 |publisher=Vergangenheitsverlag ([[:de:Vergangenheitsverlag|de]]) |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-86408-068-5 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/978161722 |language=English |oclc=978161722}}
*{{cite book |last1=Schecter |first1=Jerrold L |last2=Deriabin |first2=Peter S |last3=Penkovskij |first3=Oleg Vladimirovic |author2-link=Peter Deriabin |author3-link=Oleg Penkovsky |title=The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War |date=1992 |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |location=[[New York City]] |isbn=978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/spywhosavedworld00jerr |language=English |oclc=909016158}}
*{{cite book |last1=Schecter |first1=Jerrold L |last2=Deriabin |first2=Peter S |last3=Penkovskij |first3=Oleg Vladimirovic |author2-link=Peter Deriabin |author3-link=Oleg Penkovsky |title=The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War |date=1992 |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |location=[[New York City]] |isbn=978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/spywhosavedworld00jerr |language=English |oclc=909016158}}
**{{cite web |title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War by Jerrold L. Schecter, Author, Peter S. Deriabin, With Scribner Book Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-684-19068-6 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date=March 1992 |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en}}
**{{cite web |title=Nonfiction Book Review: The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War by Jerrold L. Schecter, Author, Peter S. Deriabin, With Scribner Book Company $25 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-684-19068-6 |website=[[Publishers Weekly]] |date=March 1992 |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wynne |first1=Greville |title=The Man from Moscow: The Story of Wynne and Penkovsky |date=1967 |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/manfrommoscowsto0000wynn |language=English |oclc=923453949}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wynne |first1=Greville |title=The Man from Moscow: The Story of Wynne and Penkovsky |date=1967 |location=London |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/manfrommoscowsto0000wynn |language=English |oclc=923453949}}
:: Also published as: ''Contact on Gorky Street'' and ''Wynne and Penkovsky''.
:: Also published as: ''Contact on Gorky Street'' and ''Wynne and Penkovsky''.
*{{cite book |last1=Wynne |first1=Greville |title=The Man from Odessa |date=1981 |location=London |publisher=Hale |isbn=978-0-7091-9537-5 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/man-from-odessa/oclc/7990042 |language=English |oclc=7990042}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wynne |first1=Greville |title=The Man from Odessa |date=1981 |location=London |publisher=Hale |isbn=978-0-7091-9537-5 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7990042 |language=English |oclc=7990042}}


==External links==
==External links==
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[[Category:British expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:British expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:British spies against the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:British spies against the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer]]
[[Category:MI5 personnel]]
[[Category:MI5 personnel]]
[[Category:People extradited from the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People extradited from the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Secret Intelligence Service personnel]]
[[Category:MI6 personnel]]
[[Category:20th-century British people]]

Latest revision as of 15:03, 23 July 2024

Greville Wynne
Born
Greville Maynard Wynne

19 March 1919[1]
Shropshire, England, UK
Died28 February 1990(1990-02-28) (aged 70)
South Kensington, London, UK
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
Occupations
  • Electrical engineer
  • businessman
Criminal chargeEspionage
Criminal penalty8 years; served 18 months
Criminal statusReleased in exchange deal.
Spouse(s)Sheila M Beaton
(m. 1946; divorced)
Johanna Herma Van Buren (m.1970; separated)
Children1 son - Andrew
Parent(s)Bert Wynne, Ada Wynne
Espionage activity
Country United Kingdom
AgencySecret Intelligence Service (MI6)
Service yearsNovember 1960 – October 1962

Greville Maynard Wynne (19 March 1919[1] – 28 February 1990) was a British engineer and businessman recruited by MI6 because of his frequent travel to Eastern Europe. He acted as a courier to transport top-secret information to London from the Soviet agent Oleg Penkovsky.

Wynne and Penkovsky were both arrested by the KGB in November 1962, when some of the information their endeavours produced was of assistance to the West during the Cuban Missile Crisis. They were convicted of espionage. Penkovsky was executed the following year and Wynne was sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He was detained at Lubyanka prison. Struggling with deteriorating health, he was released in 1964 in exchange for the Soviet spy Konon Molody.

Early life

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Wynne was born in Wrockwardine Wood, Telford, Shropshire, England, only son (an elder brother had died at the age of one year in 1915; he had three elder sisters) of Ethelbert Wynne and Ada, née Pritchard. He was raised in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales, with a "modest background".[2] His father was a foreman in an engineering workshop. He struggled with dyslexia and left school at 14 to work for an electrical contractor. He then worked at a telephone factory as an apprentice.[3] Before the Second World War he studied engineering part-time at the University of Nottingham.[4][5] After the war, he traded in electrical equipment, travelling often through Europe and India.[3] Wynne married Sheila Beaton in 1946; the couple had a son, Andrew, born in 1952.[6] His business extended into Eastern Bloc countries from 1955.[3]

MI6

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In November 1960, Wynne was recruited by MI6 and asked to make a sales trip to Moscow,[7] where he made contact with Oleg Penkovsky, a high-ranking GRU officer. Penkovsky had made earlier offers to spy for the West.[7] Wynne later became an intermediary and courier for Penkovsky, smuggling top-secret Soviet intelligence to London on return from his frequent trips to the USSR.[8]

Wynne's and Penkovsky's espionage activities were discovered by the KGB. Both men were arrested in November 1962, around the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.[7] Wynne and Penkovsky each pleaded guilty on 7 May 1963 and were sentenced four days later.[9][10] Wynne was sentenced to eight years in prison. Penkovsky was sentenced to death and executed by firing squad, though Wynne believed he died by suicide in prison.[10][11]

Wynne was held at the Lubyanka.[12] In April 1964, amid British concerns for his deteriorating health,[7] Wynne was released in exchange for the Soviet spy Konon Molody (also known as Gordon Lonsdale).[13]

Later life and death

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After his release, Wynne returned to his business career. He and his wife Sheila divorced and he became estranged from his son and only child, Andrew. In 1970, Wynne married Johanna Herma Van Buren. They separated a few years before his death but were still legally married when he died.

On 23 May 1966, he appeared as himself in an episode of the American television series To Tell the Truth, receiving two of four possible votes.[14]

Wynne struggled with depression and alcoholism in the aftermath of imprisonment.[13] He died of throat cancer at the Cromwell Hospital in London on 28 February 1990, aged 70.[15]

Questions over pre-Penkovsky MI5 work

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Later in life, Wynne wrote two books about his work for British intelligence: The Man from Moscow (1967) and The Man from Odessa (1981). In these books, Wynne claimed to have been recruited by MI5 as early as the Second World War, long before his work with Penkovsky. Historians question this account. The authors of The Spy Who Saved the World wrote that Wynne "had no previous intelligence experience or training."[7] Others have made similar assessments, stating that Wynne was a civilian at the time of his recruitment by MI6 in 1960.[8][13]

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References

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  1. ^ a b "New General Catalog of Old Books and Authors".
  2. ^ Olsen, Catherine (13 November 1981). "From Interrogation in the Lubyanka to rose-growing in Majorca". The Evening Standard. p. 7. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c Trahair, Richard (10 January 2012). Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations. Enigma Books. pp. 432–433. ISBN 978-1-936274-26-0.
  4. ^ M. R. D. Foot (2004). "Wynne, Greville Maynard". Oxford Dictionary of national Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/40700.
  5. ^ The Annual Obituary 1990, ed. Deborah Andrews, St James Press, 1991, p. 156
  6. ^ "Release was 'a complete surprise'". The Guardian. 23 April 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 12 December 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c d e Schecter, Jerrold L; Deriabin, Peter S; Penkovskij, Oleg Vladimirovic (1992). The Spy Who Saved the World: How a Soviet Colonel Changed the Course of the Cold War. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-19068-6. OCLC 909016158.
  8. ^ a b Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (1989). The Storm Birds. Grove Press. ISBN 1-555-84122-8.
  9. ^ "Wynne confesses to charges of spying for West". The Guardian. No. 36340. 8 May 1963. pp. 1, 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Frankland, Mark (12 May 1963). "Wynne sentenced to eight years". The Observer. No. 8967. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "The Penkovsky Papers". The Observer. No. 9097. 7 November 1965. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
    - Milne, Seumas (1 March 1990). "Spy Wynne dies aged 70". The Guardian. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Soviet blackmail over Mr. Brooke". The Guardian. No. 37218. 7 March 1966. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c West, Nigel (1991). Seven Spies Who Changed the World. Martin Secker & Warburg Limited. ISBN 0-436-56603-6.
  14. ^ "To Tell the Truth". CBS. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2020 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "Greville Wynne, Spy for Britain In the Soviet Bloc, Is Dead at 71". The New York Times. 2 March 1990. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  16. ^ a b Fordy, Tom (16 August 2021). "Gentleman, spy, fantasist? The strange post-Courier life of Greville Wynne". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  17. ^ Knox, Miranda (7 August 2021). "Travelling salesman prevented WW3 in incredible true story behind new Cumberbatch film". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

Further reading

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Also published as: Contact on Gorky Street and Wynne and Penkovsky.
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