Hugh George Hambleton was born in Canada from an English father and he holds the double citizenship, Canadian and British. He studied in the United Kingdom and in Canada, including at Lisgar College, in Ottawa, and also spent part of his childhood in France, where his father was a press correspondent.
In 1954, he studied economics at the Sorbonne. In 1961, he studied at the London School of Economics, where he obtained a doctorate.
In 1944 and 1945, he was with the Free French Forces in Algiers and served as liaison agent with the United States Army. In 1945, he integrated the Intelligence Branch of the Canadian Army. In 1952, he was recruited by a Soviet agent.
In 1956, he began working for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in Paris.
He worked there for five years, during which he provided informations to the Soviet Union. In 1964, he became professor of economics at Laval University.
In 1977, his Soviet supervisor, known under the pseudonym Rudolf ("Rudy") Herman, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (Federal Bureau of Investigation) in the United States. In 1978, Hermann became an informant of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and revealed the identity of Soviet spies in America, including Hambleton.
Informations about Hambleton were also provided by defector Anatoliy Golitsyn.
On November 5, 1979 Hambleton"s home was searched and spying material was foundation Hambleton was questioned multiple times over many years by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but he was not arrested. In the early 1980s, Canadian media made the Hambleton affair public.
In June, 1982 Hambleton was arrested in the United Kingdom, during a transit there.
He was tried in the United Kingdom, under the British Official Secrets Acting. He pleaded guilty and, on December 7, 1982 he was sentenced to ten years in prison.
He spent jail time in Gartree Prison, in London. He was transferred to a prison in Canada in June, 1986.
He was liberated under surveillance in March, 1989.
Members of Parliament asked questions about it in the Canadian House of Commons, but the Canadian government invoked the necessity of secrecy.
