14. Februar 2023 19:00
Mark Wilkins
In 1961 a member of the KGB defected to the West and brought with him sensational information of a “Ring of Five” – Russian spies within British secret intelligence and diplomatic circles. All had been to prestigious schools in England and were never considered possible candidates for betraying their country. Recruited together at Cambridge University in the 1930s they worked their way into the heart of the Establishment, passing back thousands of documents to the Russian intelligence service as they went. Their unbelievable ascent to top positions was not affected by their frequently bad behaviour (which always went unpunished) but the group eventually unravelled as one after another their identities were discovered.
Taking in a much wider cast of eccentric characters both in Britain and abroad, this entertaining talk will take us through the story from its roots in the English Class System in the 1930s to Washington DC, Beirut and other Cold War locations.
Mark Wilkins was born in Hove, Sussex, in 1979 and grew up on the south coast of England. He studied History and Geography at King’s College, London. Following university he trained as a Chartered Accountant and started learning German at evening classes before realizing he would need to live in Germany to learn it properly. In 2007 he took a year’s sabbatical and enrolled in a language school in Hannover with the intention of returning to the UK once he had mastered the grammar. 16 years later he is still attempting to do so and works for a leading international accounting firm in Düsseldorf beside enjoying music in the Tonhalle and Opera and enriching our DBG board.
After the talk you are invited to a drink
14. Februar 2023 19:00
Mark Wilkins
Veranstaltungsort
Goethe-Museum, Schloss Jägerhof
Jacobistr. 2
40211 Düsseldorf
In 1961 a member of the KGB defected to the West and brought with him sensational information of a “Ring of Five” – Russian spies within British secret intelligence and diplomatic circles. All had been to prestigious schools in England and were never considered possible candidates for betraying their country. Recruited together at Cambridge University in the 1930s they worked their way into the heart of the Establishment, passing back thousands of documents to the Russian intelligence service as they went. Their unbelievable ascent to top positions was not affected by their frequently bad behaviour (which always went unpunished) but the group eventually unravelled as one after another their identities were discovered.
Taking in a much wider cast of eccentric characters both in Britain and abroad, this entertaining talk will take us through the story from its roots in the English Class System in the 1930s to Washington DC, Beirut and other Cold War locations.
Mark Wilkins was born in Hove, Sussex, in 1979 and grew up on the south coast of England. He studied History and Geography at King’s College, London. Following university he trained as a Chartered Accountant and started learning German at evening classes before realizing he would need to live in Germany to learn it properly. In 2007 he took a year’s sabbatical and enrolled in a language school in Hannover with the intention of returning to the UK once he had mastered the grammar. 16 years later he is still attempting to do so and works for a leading international accounting firm in Düsseldorf beside enjoying music in the Tonhalle and Opera and enriching our DBG board.
After the talk you are invited to a drink
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