Blunt, Anthony (1907-1983), a British art expert, won notoriety in 1979 after it became publicly known that he was a Soviet spy. He was an associate of Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, and Kim Philby. See Burgess, Guy ; Maclean, Donald ; Philby, Kim .
Anthony Frederick Blunt was born in Bournemouth, England on Sept. 26, 1907. He grew up in Paris, where his father, a clergyman, was the vicar of the English Church and chaplain to the British embassy. Blunt was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and became a fellow of the college in 1932. At Cambridge, Blunt was an influential member of the Apostles, an exclusive debating society. He also met Burgess and Maclean and, in common with them and with many other Cambridge University intellectuals during the 1930’s, developed pro-Communist convictions. He began to spy for the Soviet government by becoming a talent scout, giving Burgess the names of people who he thought might be suitable for recruitment to the Soviet Communist cause.
During World War II (1939-1945), Blunt worked for British intelligence and was well placed to supply sensitive information to the Soviet government. He may have stopped being an active spy after the war but was still able to help Burgess and Maclean escape from the United Kingdom to the Soviet Union in 1951. Although the British authorities suspected his involvement in Burgess and Maclean’s defection, Blunt denied it and nothing could be proved. In 1964, after Philby defected, Blunt agreed to make a confession in return for immunity from prosecution for treason. His spying activities did not become publicly known until 1979, when they were revealed in a statement by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This statement followed the publication of a book, Climate of Treason, by journalist Andrew Boyle.
Blunt’s espionage had for decades been hidden by a cloak of respectability. He was a distinguished art historian and had written many books, including a major study of Nicolas Poussin (1966 and 1967) and a 1953 volume on the art and architecture of France between 1500 and 1700. Blunt was the director of the Courtauld Institute of Art in London from 1947 to 1974. He also held the post of surveyor of the king’s pictures under King George VI from 1945 to 1952, continuing as surveyor of the queen’s pictures under Queen Elizabeth II until 1972. He received several honors, including a knighthood in 1956. He was stripped of his knighthood in 1979. He died on March 26, 1983.
