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Anthony Blunt

Updated: 12/10/2025, 9:08:16 PM Wikipedia source

Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University of London, the director of the Courtauld Institute of Art and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. His 1967 monograph on the French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin is still widely regarded as a watershed book in art history. His teaching text and reference work Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700, first published in 1953, reached its fifth edition (in a version slightly revised by Richard Beresford) in 1999, at which time it was still considered the best account of the subject. He was the "fourth man" of the Cambridge Five, a group of Cambridge-educated spies who worked for the Soviets between the 1930s and the 1950s. (Blunt was the fourth member of the group to be discovered.) The height of Blunt's espionage activity was during the Second World War, when he passed to the Soviets intelligence about Wehrmacht plans that the British government had decided to withhold. In 1964, after being offered immunity from prosecution, Blunt confessed to having been a spy for the Soviet Union. His confession—a secret for years— was revealed publicly by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in November 1979. He was stripped of his knighthood immediately thereafter and died a little over three years later.

Infobox

Born
Anthony Frederick Blunt(1907-09-26)26 September 1907Bournemouth, Hampshire, England
Died
26 March 1983(1983-03-26) (aged 75)Westminster, London, England
Burial place
Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium, London, England
Alma mater
Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)
Art historian, professor, writer, spy
Awards
KCVO, revoked in 1979 on the grounds of treason
Allegiance
Soviet Union
Codenames
mw- TonyJohnsonYan
Occupations
Art historian, professor, writer, spy

Tables

· External links
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Court offices
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Court offices
Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures 1945 to 1973
Court offices
Succeeded byOliver Millar
Academic offices
Academic offices
Court offices
Academic offices
Preceded byT. S. R. Boase
Preceded byT. S. R. Boase
Court offices
Preceded byT. S. R. Boase
Court offices
Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art 1947 to 1974
Court offices
Succeeded byPeter Lasko
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Court offices
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Court offices
Slade Professor of Fine Art, Oxford University 1962
Court offices
Succeeded byT. S. R. Boase
Preceded byJohn Pope-Hennessy
Preceded byJohn Pope-Hennessy
Court offices
Preceded byJohn Pope-Hennessy
Court offices
Slade Professor of Fine Art, Cambridge University 1965
Court offices
Succeeded byJohn Summerson
Court offices
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures 1945 to 1973
Succeeded byOliver Millar
Academic offices
Preceded byT. S. R. Boase
Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art 1947 to 1974
Succeeded byPeter Lasko
Preceded byKenneth Clark
Slade Professor of Fine Art, Oxford University 1962
Succeeded byT. S. R. Boase
Preceded byJohn Pope-Hennessy
Slade Professor of Fine Art, Cambridge University 1965
Succeeded byJohn Summerson

References

  1. Carter 2001, p. 180.
  2. Carter 2001, p. 302.
  3. Carter 2001, p. 319.
  4. GRO Register of Deaths: Mar 1983 15 2186 Westminster – Anthony Frederick Blunt, DoB = 26 September 1907; Varriano 1996.
  5. Shone, Richard and Stonard, John-Paul, eds. The Books that Shaped Art History, Introduction. London: Thames & Hudson, 20
  6. Hopkins, Andrew (2000). "Review of Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700 by Anthony Blunt, Richard Beresford", The Si
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  7. WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO
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  8. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/15/firstchapters.whitbreadbookawards2002
  9. Anthony Blunt: His Lives
  10. Paths of Progress: A History of Marlborough College
  11. Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations
    https://books.google.com/books?id=VNSMrps8mpcC
  12. Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer
  13. The Daily Telegraph
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  14. Charleston: The Bloomsbury Home of Art and Ideas
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  15. Cambridge Forecast Group, 22 September 2010; Carter 2001, pp. 457, 486.
  16. Carter 2001, p. 253.
  17. Rose (2003), pp. 47–48.
  18. Art Fund
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  19. Fitzwilliam Museum – OPAC Record Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
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  20. Press Conference of Anthony Blunt
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  21. BBC Television, 16 November 1979
  22. Andrews 2015, p. 112.
  23. Carter 2001, p. 179.
  24. Carter 2001, pp. 106–107.
  25. The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War
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  26. Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park
  27. The Climate of Treason
  28. The Times
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  29. Kitson.
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  31. Carter 2001, p. 305 (American edition).
  32. Carter 2001, p. 308 (American edition).
  33. Carter 2001, p. 311 (American edition).
  34. Bradford, p. 426
  35. Carter 2001, p. 312 (American edition).
  36. The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life
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  37. Martin Allen, Hidden Agenda: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies (London: Macmillan, 2000). ISBN 9780871319937.
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  39. Carter 2001, pp. 313–314 (American edition).
  40. Carter 2001, p. 315 (American edition).
  41. Carter 2001, pp. 315–316 (American edition).
  42. Carter 2001, p. 314 (American edition).
  43. "Scholar, gentleman, prig, spy", The Observer, London, 11 November 2001
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/nov/11/biography.highereducation
  44. A Chapter of Accidents
    https://archive.org/details/chapterofacciden0000rees
  45. BBC
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr842lejjxo
  46. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1981-11-09/debates/77ff1a3b-11cc-4a87-829e-c4f17dd7ba39/MrLeoLong
  47. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/obituaries/anthony-blunt-fourth-man-in-british-spying-scandal-is-dead-at-75.html
  48. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/23/blunt-soviet-spy-memoir
  49. Burns, John F. "Memoirs of British Spy Offer No Apology" The New York Times, 23 July 2009.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/world/europe/24blunt.html
  50. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/obituaries/anthony-blunt-fourth-man-in-british-spying-scandal-is-dead-at-75.html
  51. Wright (1987), p. 223.
  52. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/24/pm-was-not-told-anthony-blunt-was-soviet-spy-archives-reveal
  53. The Times
    https://www.thetimes.com/uk/history/article/historian-who-brought-anthony-blunt-to-book-0vc0zz5lh
  54. Carter 2001, p. 470.
  55. The Daily Telegraph, London, 22 July 2009; Carter 2001, p. 470.
  56. Carter 2001, pp. 470–472.
  57. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30829
  58. Carter 2001, p. 472.
  59. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1979-11-15/debates/a1aa89ea-6e01-4c09-8906-ea90e6045111/Security
  60. "1979: Blunt revealed as 'fourth man'"
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/16/newsid_3907000/3907233.stm
  61. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
    https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1979-11-21/debates/fa61fd7e-d09a-49a5-925a-b242ac576238/MrAnthonyBlunt
  62. The London Review of Books
    http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n23/nicholas-penny/joining-the-gang
  63. London Evening Standard
    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/brian-sewell-soviet-double-agent-anthony-blunt-did-no-harm-to-britain-8220525.html
  64. "Enigma Anthony Blunt devoted his life to art—and espionage"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20220507094755/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/01/14/enigma-6/amp
  65. "The Cambridge Four"
    http://www.nationalcoldwarexhibition.org/schools-colleges/national-curriculum/espionage/the-cambridge-four.aspx
  66. 'Only Connect': Learned Societies in Nineteenth-century Britain
  67. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/obituaries/anthony-blunt-fourth-man-in-british-spying-scandal-is-dead-at-75.html
  68. Anthony Blunt: Memoir[permanent dead link], archives and manuscripts catalogue, the British Library. Retrieved 2 June 20
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  69. BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8164251.stm
  70. The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/world/europe/24blunt.html#:~:text=CAMBRIDGE%2C%20England%20%E2%80%94%20After%20keeping%20it,1930s%2C%20as%20%E2%80%9Cthe%20biggest%20mistake
  71. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/23/blunt-soviet-spy-memoir
  72. The Courtald Institute of Art Newsletter
    http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/newsletter/autumn_2007/p05thompson.shtml
  73. Conspiracy of Silence: The Secret Life of Anthony Blunt
  74. Art Libraries Journal
    https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/art-libraries-journal/article/abs/courtaulds-witt-and-conway-photographic-libraries-two-approaches-to-digitisation/3C71D74E1A97CE309A86E34192A519FF
  75. Digital Media
    https://web.archive.org/web/20200703211341/http://blog.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/
  76. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/nov/13/art
  77. Erlanger, Steven (16 October 2015), "British Museum's Director Follows A Fascination To Germany", The New York Times
  78. Blunt: the fourth man, DVD video listing at WorldCat. OCLC 915981108.
    https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/915981108
  79. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/feb/11/johnbanville
  80. A Friendship of Convenience
    https://archive.org/details/friendshipofconv00rufu
  81. Vanity Fair
    https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/11/the-crown-season-3-true-story
  82. artnet News
    https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-true-story-behind-the-spy-that-stole-the-scene-in-the-crowns-premiere-1709373
  83. Vanity Fair
    https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/11/the-crown-season-3-true-story
  84. Gareth Rubin, Liberation Square.ISBN 9780718187095.
  85. The Blackpool Gazette
    https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/whats-on/entertainment/liberation-square-by-gareth-rubin-book-review-meticulous-research-a-rich-layer-of-authentic-detail-and-an-intelligent-imagining-of-a-dark-dangerous-and-disturbing-social-and-political-landscape-1-9727824
  86. iNews.com
    https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/a-spy-among-friends-true-story-kim-philby-kgb-double-agent-new-itvx-drama-series-2017879
  87. CBC Music
    https://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/12845/first-play-john-k-samson-winter-wheat-track-guide
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