Background
Ulanovskaia, Nadezhda was born in 1903 in Bershady, Ukraine.
activist controller interpreter officer secretary author
Ulanovskaia, Nadezhda was born in 1903 in Bershady, Ukraine.
During the October Revolution, involved in Bolshevik activity in Odessa. Married a communist activist, A. Ulanovskii, who later became a prominent intelligence officer. Worked with her husband in Soviet spy networks in many countries, including Germany, China and the USA, in the 1930s, usually in charge of message transmission and coding.
Controller of Whittaker Chambers in the USA before World War II. During the restructuring by Stalin of the Soviet agents’ network in the 1930s, recalled to Moscow. Worked as a secretary of the Moscow Bureau of Foreign Correspondents (under close state security supervision). During World War II, assigned as interpreter to the Australian author G. Blunden, who later wrote a book based on conversations with her.
Arrested, 1948, and sent to the Gulag for 15 years. (Her husband was arrested for protesting about her arrest. Her daughter Maia was also arrested and sentenced to 25 years in camps.) Released, 1956.
Became a Jewish rights activist. Joined her children in Israel, 1975 (they had emigrated there earlier). Interesting memoirs published in Israel.