Colin Figures
Colin Figures KCMG OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 1 July 1925
Died | 8 December 2006 Esher, United Kingdom | (aged 81)
Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
Occupation | British intelligence officer |
Spouse(s) | Pamela Ann Timmis |
Children | a son and two daughters |
Parent(s) | Frederick and Muriel Figures |
Awards | Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Espionage activity | |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service branch | Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) |
Service years | 1951 – 1985 |
Rank | Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service |
Operations | Suez Crisis Prague Spring Falklands War |
Sir Colin Frederick Figures KCMG OBE (1 July 1925 – 8 December 2006) was Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (known as MI6) from 1981 to 1985. He was deputy secretary and Intelligence Co-ordinator of the Cabinet Office from 1985 to 1989.
Career[]
Figures was born in Birmingham, the son of Frederick Figures, an insurance executive, and his wife Muriel.[1] He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham[2] and served in The Worcestershire Regiment from 1945 until 1948,[2] during which time he studied Russian via the Inter-Service Language Course at Cambridge, and served in Romania and Hungary.[2] He read French and Russian at Pembroke College, Cambridge after being demobilised in 1948.[2] While there, he also founded the Woodpeckers, a combined Oxford and Cambridge touring rugby team.[1] He joined the SIS when he graduated in 1951.[2][3]
After a period in London, he served in Germany, served in Amman during the Suez Crisis, in Warsaw, and in Vienna during the Prague Spring, before returning to London.[2] He moved from Eastern bloc espionage in 1973 to supervise SIS activities in Northern Ireland.[2] He became deputy head of SIS in 1979 and its ninth Chief in 1981.[2] The following year, SIS was involved in the Falklands War, seeking to prevent Argentina obtaining stocks of Exocet missiles to be carried by their Super Etendard attack aircraft.[4] He received an OBE in 1969 and CMG in 1978, and advanced to KCMG in 1983.[2]
He retired from SIS in 1985, and became Intelligence Co-ordinator at the Cabinet Office.[2] He finally retired in 1989.[2]
He married Pamela Ann Timmis in 1956.[1] He suffered from Parkinson's disease in later life, and died in Esher.[1] He was survived by his wife, and their son and two daughters.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e Obituary: Sir Colin Figures The Independent, 29 December 2006
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sir Colin Figures obituary". The Times. No. 68884. 15 December 2006. p. 78.
- ^ "Figures, Sir Colin Frederick (1925–2006), intelligence officer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/97524. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
- ^ Obituary: Sir Colin Figures Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2006
Notes[]
- Civil servants in the Cabinet Office
- Cold War spies
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
- Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- 1925 births
- 2006 deaths
- People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham
- Chiefs of the Secret Intelligence Service
- Worcestershire Regiment officers
- British Army personnel of World War II