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← Previous revision		Revision as of 08:56, 15 September 2025
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	==External links==		==External links==
	*[~~http~~://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3559020.stm BBC Obituary]		*[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3559020.stm BBC Obituary]

	==References==		==References==

imported>Cornmazes at 17:43, 12 May 2025

2025-05-12T17:43:57Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2021}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Janet Chisholm
| image =
| caption = Intelligence agent
| birth_name = Janet Anne Deane
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1929|05|06}}
| birth_place = [[Kasauli]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2004|07|23|1929|05|06}}
| death_place =
| education = [[Queen Anne's School]]
| alma_mater = [[Grenoble University]]
| occupation = [[Intelligence agent]]
| spouse = [[Ruari Chisholm]]
| parents =
| children = Two sons and two daughters
}}

'''Janet Chisholm''' (6 May 1929 – 23 July 2004), born '''Janet Anne Deane''', was a British [[MI6]] [[spy|agent]] during the [[Cold War]].

==Early life==
She was born in [[Kasauli]], [[India]] to a Royal Engineers officer.<ref name="Grd">{{Cite web|last=Knightley|first=Phillip|date=2004-08-12|title=Obituary: Janet Chisholm|url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/aug/12/guardianobituaries.russia|access-date=2021-04-11|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> She was educated [[Queen Anne's School]], Caversham, in [[Berkshire]], where she learnt Russian.<ref name=Grd/> She then studied [[France|French]] at [[Grenoble University]].<ref name=Grd/> After school, she worked in [[London]] as a secretary before joining the [[Allied Control Commission]] and moving to [[Germany|West Germany]].<ref name=Grd/> There she met her future husband, Ruari Chisholm, and began working for British Intelligence.

Her husband was a spy who headed the MI6 station in Moscow but worked under the guise of a visa officer. When [[Oleg Penkovsky]] offered [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] military secrets to MI6, she became the go-between. Outwardly, Janet was an ordinary mother of four children. She would meet Penkovsky in a local park and he would offer what appeared to be sweets, but were actually disguised documents containing military secrets about the Soviet [[nuclear weapon]]s arsenal.

Their cover was eventually blown by another British agent, [[George Blake]], who defected to the Soviets. Penkovsky was quickly arrested and later [[Execution (legal)|executed]], while the Chisholms were deported. Controversy surrounds Penkovsky's death, with many believing that MI6 put him in danger after Blake confessed all to the Soviet officials. For their part, MI6 maintained that he insisted on continuing to feed the British information even after his life was threatened.

The Chisholms went on to work in [[Singapore]] and twice in [[South Africa]] until Ruari's retirement.<ref name=Grd/> He had planned to write a [[memoir]] but died of [[malaria]] before he could begin.<ref name=Grd/> Janet continued to travel around the world until well into her 70s. She refused to talk about her experiences in Russia and took all of the secrets she learned to the grave.

==Portrayal in popular culture==
Chisholm was portrayed by [[Lucy Liemann]] in the 2007 [[BBC Television]] [[docudrama]] ''[[Nuclear Secrets]]''. The programme included covert KGB photographs showing Janet Chisholm meeting [[Oleg Penkovsky]].

==External links==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3559020.stm BBC Obituary]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chisholm, Janet}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:Cold War spies]]
[[Category:MI6 personnel]]
[[Category:British expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:British spies against the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People educated at Queen Anne's School]]
[[Category:People from Kasauli]]

Janet Chisholm - Revision history

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