John Cairncross - Later Life

Later Life

At the end of the war, Cairncross joined the Treasury, claiming that he ceased working for the MGB (later KGB), at this time. KGB reports published since contradict this.

After his first confession, Cairncross lost his civil service job and was penniless and unemployed. He moved to the United States as a lecturer at Northwestern University and Case Western Reserve University. He became an expert on French authors and translated the works of many 17th century French poets and dramatists such as Jean Racine, Jean de La Fontaine and Pierre Corneille as well as writing three of his own books: Moliere bourgeois et libertin; New Light on Moliere; and After Polygamy was made a sin.

Arthur S. Martin, MI5's most outstanding investigative officer, ended this career. After Philby's flight to Moscow, Martin reopened the files to hunt for the Fourth and Fifth Men. To Martin's surprise, Cairncross made a full confession. Martin also received a denunciation which led to Blunt's confession.

Cairncross moved to Rome, where he worked for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as a translator, also taking on work for the Research Office of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, Banca d'Italia and IMI. In the BNL, a young economist engaged with international scenarios analysis (the Iraq-Iran War, petroleum's strategic routes in the Middle East and Far East) reported a strong and unusual interest by Cairncross about the Bank's role in that area. It was in Rome that his secret finally reached the public. In December 1979, Barrie Penrose, a journalist, concluded that Cairncross was the Fifth Man and confronted him. Cairncross's third confession was front-page news. His status was confirmed 10 years later by Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB defector. He retired to the south of France until 1995 when he returned to Britain and married American opera singer Gayle Brinkerhoff. Later that year he died after suffering a stroke, at the age of 82.