James MacGibbon (18 February 1912 – 29 February 2000) was a Scottish

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

who co-founded the house of

MacGibbon & Kee The British publishing house of Hart-Davis, MacGibbon was formed in 1972 by its parent group, Granada. The parent company had acquired the publishing concern of Rupert Hart-Davis in 1963 and the house of MacGibbon & Kee (founded by James MacGibb ...

in 1948. He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

the youngest son of Rev James MacGibbon MC DD (1865–1922), minister of

Glasgow Cathedral Glasgow Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Ghlaschu) is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. The cathedral was the seat of the Archbisho ...

. He was educated at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

. James was commissioned as a second lieutenant at the outbreak of

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and was posted to the Intelligence Corps due to his fluency in German. In spring 1941 he was posted to the War Office in MO3 (Military Operations, Section 3). In June 1944, he was posted to the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington. At his deathbed, he admitted in a 12-page affidavit that he had spied for the Soviet Union during the war, passing on information about German troop deployments and information about Operation Overlord to the Soviets before the Tehran Conference in 1943. He potentially used the cover names "Dolly" and "Milord" when spying during the war.

References

1912 births 2000 deaths British book publishers (people) Communist Party of Great Britain members {{publish-bio-stub