A Woman Named Edith

A major new biography of Edith Tudor Hart, the photographer and Soviet agent who recruited Kim Philby

Edith Tudor Hart has long evaded biographers. A Jewish-Austrian exile in 1930s London, she was a talented professional photographer, anti-fascist activist—and Soviet secret agent.

Daria Santini provides the first full biography of this elusive figure. She traces Tudor Hart’s life from her early years in the socialist intellectual circles of Vienna through her training at the Bauhaus to her work as a Soviet agent in Britain. Tudor Hart played a vital role in the Cambridge Spies network, including recruiting Kim Philby. Throughout her life, Tudor Hart was deeply committed to the ideals of communism. But despite being watched by the British Secret Service for decades, she was never caught and never confessed.

In this moving account, Santini pieces together the story of Edith’s life, revealing a woman of great energy, determination, and creativity.