Whittaker Chambers
| Whittaker Chambers | |
|---|---|
Whittaker Chambers in 1948
|
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| Allegiance |
 Soviet Union United States
|
| Service | "Communist underground" controlled by GRU |
| Active | 1932–1938 (spy), 1922–1959 (writer, poet), 1926–1939 (translator) |
| Award(s) | Presidential Medal of Freedom (1984), Order of the Red Star (1937) |
| Codename(s) | Carl (Karl) |
| Bob | |
| David Breen | |
| Lloyd Cantwell | |
| Jay David Whittaker Chambers | |
|
|
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| Birth name | Jay Vivian Chambers |
| Born |
April 1, 1901 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 9, 1961 (aged 60) Westminster, Maryland, U.S. |
| Cause of death |
Heart attack |
| Nationality | American |
| Religion | Episcopalian (birth), Quaker |
| Parents | Jay Chambers, Laha Whittaker |
| Spouse | Esther Shemitz |
| Children | daughter, son |
| Occupation | Journalist, Writer, Spy, Poet, Translator |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) also known as Jay David Whittaker Chambers, was a 20th-Century American writer, editor, and Soviet spy.
After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from communism (underground and open party) and worked at Time magazine (1939–1948). Under subpoena in 1948, he testified in what became Alger Hiss's perjury (espionage) trials (1949–1950) and he became an outspoken anti-communist (all described in his 1952 memoir Witness). Afterwards, he worked briefly as a senior editor at National Review (1957–1959). President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Medal of Freedom in 1984.
Chambers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent his infancy in Brooklyn. His family moved to Lynbrook, Long Island, New York, in 1904, where he grew up and attended school. His parents were Jay Chambers and Laha (Whittaker). Chambers described his childhood as troubled because of his parents' separation and their need to care for their mentally ill grandmother. His father was a half-closeted homosexual and treated Whittaker cruelly, while his mother was neurotic. Chambers' brother committed suicide shortly after withdrawing from his first year of college. Chambers would cite his brother's fate as one of many reasons that he was drawn to communism at that time. As he wrote, communism "offered me what nothing else in the dying world had power to offer at the same intensity, faith and a vision, something for which to live and something for which to die.”
After graduating from South Side High School in neighboring Rockville Centre in 1919, Chambers worked itinerantly in Washington and New Orleans, briefly attended Williams College, and then enrolled as a day student at Columbia College of Columbia University. At Columbia his fellow undergraduates included Meyer Schapiro, Frank S. Hogan, Herbert Solow, Louis Zukofsky, Clifton Fadiman, Elliott V. Bell, John Gassner, Lionel Trilling (who later fictionalized him as a main character in his novel The Middle of the Journey), and Guy Endore. In the intellectual environment of Columbia he gained friends and respect. His professors and fellow students found him a talented writer and believed he might become a major poet or novelist.
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