George Blake, a British intelligence official who betrayed closely guarded secrets to the Soviets and was among the most damaging traitors of the Cold War, then made a daring escape from a London prison in 1966 and lived out his days as a national hero in Moscow, has died at 98.
Russia s Foreign Intelligence Service, known as SVR, announced his death yesterday but provided no further details. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Blake as a brilliant professional and a man of remarkable courage .
News accounts from the 1960s described Blake as a Super Spy and perhaps one secret to his successful treachery was that he hid in plain sight. As one of his friends, a Salvation Army executive, told a reporter at the time, Blake resembled a typically blasé, bowler-hatted, rolled umbrella government official .