History 27/02/20 Maria Budberg: the Soviet spy who was the mistress of Maxim Gorky
Until now, historians argue about the identity of Maria Budberg. Some consider it fatal beauty-aristocrat, the other is a clever adventuress, and others – a professional scout. Maybe it combines all three professions? What we know about this woman?
the Adventures panky
Maria was born in 1892 in Poltava in a noble and wealthy family. Her father was the Senate the official Ignatiy Platonovich Zakrevsky. In 1911 Moore (that was the name of her family) were sent to London, where he served as farm adviser in the Russian Embassy her half-brother. Soon she entered into marriage with the Secretary of the Russian Embassy Ivan Benckendorff. Later he was transferred to Germany, his wife went with him to Berlin.
the First world war, and the couple was forced to return to Russia. They settled in the family estate Benckendorff under Revel. In 1917, the Benkendorf was killed by rebellious peasants. Maria was left a widow with two children – a son Paul and daughter Tatiana.
Very soon she was again married Baron Budberg. In fact, however, the marriage lasted only a few days: the newly-made husband was a spendthrift and a womanizer. However, Maria Ignatyevna was so pleased with the title of Baroness, she bore the name Budberg to the end of life.
After a failed marriage, Mary went to Petrograd, where he got a job as a nurse in an officer’s hospital. After some time, she, who knew English and German, made the acquaintance of the British Ambassador to Russia Robert Lockhart. They became lovers.
Soon Budberg and Lockhart moved to Moscow. But in September, 1918, Robert was arrested and charged with “conspiracy ambassadors”. Together with him was arrested and his mistress. But Moore security officers almost immediately released.
historians Have two verthe FIC on this account. The first States that Budberg was recruited by the KGB as an agent. The second was that she became the lover of the then head of the Cheka, Yakov Peters. However, it may be, not a hindrance?
For Lockhart, too, all ended relatively well, but he had to leave Russia. Budberg returned to Petrograd. With the work she helped writer Korney Chukovsky who arranged Maria Ignat’evna publishing house “world literature”. Later Chukovsky introduced her to A. M. Gorky.
the Baroness and the proletarian writer
Bitter invited Moore to the position of his Secretary, and she accepted the offer. A business relationship quickly grew into love. Bitter even wish to marry the beautiful Baroness, but she refused from such a perspective.
Before Maria Budberg than once accompanied his “boss” in travels abroad. There is evidence that “part-time” she performed the tasks of the OGPU, and perhaps collaborated with the intelligence services of other countries.
In particular, it follows from the documents, recently declassified foreign office of great Britain. They say that Maria Ignatyevna Budberg (or Countess benckendorff) illegal worked for Soviet intelligence in Western Europe. Data were taken from a report prepared in 1936 by the Moscow agents of intelligence service MI 5. It also stated that Budberg had several personal meetings with Stalin. Even later it has been suggested that Budberg, Gorky was murdered on the instructions of Stalin (there is a version that the writer was poisoned). Like, in the Gorky archive contained some papers, dangerous to the Soviet regime, and Stalin wanted to obtain them. Although, according to another version, at the time of the death of Gorky in 1936 Budberg was abroad and had only to his funeral.
the Successor wells
One of the “special ops” for the Mur could be a connection with the famous English science fiction writer Herbert wells.
wells and Budberg was found in September 1920, during the VIZita writer in Russia, in the Petrograd apartment of Maxim Gorky. It turned out, wells knew Budberg even as Maria benckendorf: in 1914, he was introduced to her on one of the social events.
Moore was playing at the bitter role of the interpreter and therefore participated in all the conversations between the two writers. In addition, it undertook to show wells attractions of the Northern capital. When Budberg and Gorky lived in Italy, they are from time to time corresponded with wells.
Then, Moore and wells several times met in London, where lived the children of Budberg. In the late 1920-ies Gorky decided to return to Russia. But Mary had other plans. In 1933 she settled in London, and between it and the wells finally broke novel.
wells also invited Mary’s hand and heart, but she refused. However, they played a symbolic wedding in the restaurant Quo Vadis in the presence of adult sons of the writer with their wives and close friends.
wells died in 1946. He was 79 years old, Mary Budberg – 54. Bequest she received part of the inheritance of the writer. After the death of the civil spouse of the Baroness continued to lead a secular life, had a wide circle of acquaintances.
Future years for Maria Ignatievna passed quietly. In 1974, she moved to Italy where she lived for her son. Two months later Budberg died. The body was taken to London, where flowed a significant part of her life. At the funeral service in the Orthodox Church was attended by the French Ambassador, members of the English nobility and the Russian aristocracy.
Pamah evidence that Budberg conducted intelligence activities, was not there. However, it can indirectly specify such facts as permission to freely travel from Russia abroad, often moving from one country to another, as well as life in a big way with modest incomes. Anyway, Baroness Mary Budberg remains one of the most enigmatic personalities of the twentieth century.
Daria Lyubimskiy
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© Russian Seven
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