Greville Wynne
British spy (1919–1990) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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.
Greville Wynne | |
---|---|
Born | Greville Maynard Wynne 19 March 1919[1] Shropshire, England, UK |
Died | 28 February 1990(1990-02-28) (aged 70) South Kensington, London, UK |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Nottingham |
Occupations |
|
Criminal charge | Espionage |
Criminal penalty | 8 years; served 18 months |
Criminal status | Released in exchange deal. |
Spouse(s) | Sheila M Beaton (m. 1946; divorced) Johanna Herma Van Buren (m.1970; separated) |
Children | 1 son - Andrew |
Parent(s) | Bert Wynne, Ada Wynne |
Espionage activity | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Agency | Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) |
Service years | November 1960 – October 1962 |
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.