A Woman Named Edith

Andrew Long Books
2 days ago
8 min read

Émigré, Photographer, Secret Agent – The Extraordinary Life of Edith Tudor Hart by Daria Santini

BOOK REVIEW

Edith Tudor Hart, née Suschitzky, was born in 1908 in Vienna, Austria to Jewish parents. Brought up in a progressive environment, and with the world undergoing seismic changes around her, Edith’s life began a trajectory that would intersect with some of the most pivotal events in the 20th century.

She was witness to, and, in some cases, an active participant in some of these great events: the First World War; rapid change sweeping across Europe; political, social, economic, huge leaps in the arts, design, and architecture; a general rise in female emancipation; the rise of communism, the Soviet Union, and their quest for global revolution, including one of the most successful espionage efforts of the period; the parallel rise of the Nazis; the Spanish Civil War and the International Brigade; the devastating 1939 Molotov Ribbentrop (Soviet-German) Non-Aggression Pact; the Second World War, Hitler’s betrayal of the aforementioned Pact, and eventual defeat by the Allied powers; and the start of the Cold War. It is no wonder that she makes such a fascinating subject for this new biography.

Edith Tudor-Hart: Gee Street, Finsbury, London (Photographed about 1936), National Galleries, Scotland — Edith Tudor-Hart: *Gee Street, Finsbury, London* (Photographed about 1936), National Galleries, Scotland

Her political activism developed in parallel to her skill as a photographer, and she used her camera to capture the serious social inequalities of the 1930s, in her home city of Vienna, and later in London. In fact, the Communists widely used the medium of photography to further their agenda. As a result, Tudor Hart became one of the most important social documentary photographers of her generation, while becoming an ardent communist.

Edith Tudor-Hart: Edith Tudor-Hart [self-portrait] (Photographed about 1936) , National Galleries, Scotland — Edith Tudor-Hart: *Edith Tudor-Hart [self-portrait]* (Photographed about 1936) , National Galleries, Scotland

With her cosmopolitan background, political outlook, social conscience, and robust cover identity as a renowned photographer, it was no surprise that she was recruited by Moscow for intelligence work by none other than Arnold Deutsch, who was instrumental in setting up the infamous Cambridge Spy Ring. Tudor Hart was inextricably linked with this network and was directly responsible for the recruitment of Kim Philby, one of the most damaging Soviet spies of the twentieth century, through her friendship with his first wife, fellow Austrian Alice (Lizzy) Kohlmann. Edith was connected to all of the Cambridge Spies to some extent, and also to Engelbert (Berti) Broda, an Austrian physicist, who was on the periphery of the Manhattan Project ‘Atomic Spies’. This book suggests Broda had a bigger part to play in this spy network than was previously thought.

Edith Tudor Hart: Communist Demonstration, London (Photographed in 1932 or 1934), National Galleries, Scotland — Edith Tudor Hart: *Communist Demonstration, London* (Photographed in 1932 or 1934), National Galleries, Scotland

The role of national Communist parties, such as the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), in Moscow-led espionage is well known, but this biography gives much more background to their involvement – Tudor Hart was right at the centre of this clandestine operation. The inability of MI5, the British Security Service, to pin anything on her despite decades of intensive surveillance and numerous interrogations is a testament to her training, dedication to the cause, and tradecraft, and it was only in Peter Wright’s controversial 1987 memoir, Spycatcher, that her key role was revealed.

Edith Tudor-Hart: Untitled [Self-portrait with unknown man] (Photographed about 1935), National Galleries, Scotland — Edith Tudor-Hart: *Untitled [Self-portrait with unknown man]* (Photographed about 1935), National Galleries, Scotland

The story of Edith Tudor Hart is ultimately a tragic one. Her relationships never lasted, and she spent much of her mature years alone, caring for a severely autistic son, at a time when such a condition was not properly understood. She struggled to survive financially, bounced around different jobs when her photographic commissions dried up, eventually abandoning her photography in later life to become an antiques dealer in Brighton. The greatest tragedy, however, is seeing her fall out of love for Communism and the Soviet Union, which had already abandoned her when she failed to maintain the party line, and (quite justified) paranoia took over her life – Edith Tudor Hart died of cancer in 1973.

As is often the case, her importance as a photographer was only recognised posthumously, with her work only recently getting the attention it deserves.

Edith Tudor-Hart: Prater Ferris Wheel, Vienna (1931), National Galleries, Scotland, presumably the same ferris wheel that stars in the 1949 film directed by Carol Reed, The Third Man — Edith Tudor-Hart: *Prater Ferris Wheel, Vienna* (1931), National Galleries, Scotland, presumably the same ferris wheel that stars in the 1949 film directed by Carol Reed, *The Third Man*

Santini has produced an excellent biography of this fascinating individual, clearly based on extensive archival research. It reads well, although some of the early chapters rely a lot on supposition, which is not surprising given the subject’s clandestine life, the passage of time, and the turmoil she lived through.

However, the book comes alive when her role as a recruiter and courier for the CPGB bears fruit, giving Moscow some of the most spectacular intelligence wins of the Second World War, and early Cold War.

A fascinating, illuminating, and ultimately tragic story - highly recommended.

A Woman Named Edith, Émigré, Photographer, Secret Agent – The Extraordinary Life of Edith Tudor Hart by Daria Santini, to be published by Yale University Press London on 24 February 2026

Hardback

Final page count TBC

Includes Dramatis Personae, key to abbreviations, extensive references and bibliography, and index. Black and white plate section, and in-line black and white images.

ISBN 9780300276398

£25

A condensed version of this review will be appearing in History of War Magazine

Additional commentary

It is very rare to find a subject that appeals to so many of my areas of interest, but A Woman Named Edith, and the wider story of Edith Tudor Hart, do just that. Her commitment to the Communist cause and involvement in espionage on behalf of Moscow relate to my interest in Cold War history and the clandestine world of spies and tradecraft, as explored in my book Secrets of the Cold War. My passion for photography is clearly relevant, as is my interest in design, be it product, graphic, or architectural.

Note on espionage

Edith Tudor Hart was an ideal recruitment target for Soviet Intelligence because of her commitment to the Communist cause, her passion for social justice, cosmopolitan outlook, and network of like-minded 'fellow travellers'. She was recruited by none other than Arnold Deutsch, who later played a key role in the creation of the Cambridge Five spy ring. Tudor Hart has the dubious honour of having recruited Kim Philby through her friendship with his first wife, Lizzy, and Philby's career as a Soviet agent needs little introduction. Edith's circle of friends and acquantainces included all of the Five and she was later described as the 'Matriarch' of the Cambridge spy ring. However, she was linked to other key Soviet agents operating in the artistic and scientific community in the run up to the Second World War and in the post-war shake-down that became the Cold War. Santini's book lays bare the role national Communist parties such as the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Austrian Communist Party (KPÖ) played in espionage operations under tight control from Moscow. It also gives more background to the work of Engelbert (Berti) Broda, Tudor Hart's friend and sometime lover, and his role in the atomic spy story, which was far greater than other accounts (including in my Secrets of the Cold War) have suggested. Another character in Edith's story was Jim Skardon, the detective who managed to get Klaus Fuchs to confess to his role stealing atomic secrets from the Manhattan Project on behalf of Moscow. For all his skill, tenacity, and stubbornness, however, Tudor Hart managed to avoid incriminating herself and avoid arrest for spying, a testament to her commitment to the Communist cause and professionalism. The Dramatis Personae at the start of Santini's book reads like a 'who's who' of twentieth century espionage!

Another title on Edith Tudor Hart is set to be released in May 2026, The Darkrooms of Edith Tudor Hart by Peter Stephan Jungk, and I hope to do a review of that, too.

Note on architecture

Edith Tudor Hart: Isokon Flats 1934, Fotohof Salzburg, photographed at the opening of the iconic modernist flats on Lawn Road, Belsize Park, London — Edith Tudor Hart: *Isokon Flats 1934*, Fotohof Salzburg, photographed at the opening of the iconic modernist flats on Lawn Road, Belsize Park, London

Edith Tudor Hart was not an architect, but studied photography at the famous Bauhaus art school at Weimar, Germany in the late 1920s. It was a hugely influential movement founded by German architect Walter Gropius (1883–1969), and influenced product design, graphics, textiles, furniture, typography, and of course architecture. The Isokon Flats in Lawn Road was designed by Wells Coates for Jack and Molly Pritchard. It was opened in 1934 as a progressive experiment in new ways of urban living - it was the first block ever to be built chiefly using reinforced concrete, and the flats contained specially designed furniture using plywood, then a radical new material. Edith Tudor Hart, who moved in the same circles as the Pritchards, was commissioned to photograph the construction of the building and its grand opening. The flats attracted a very cosmopolitan and progressive clientele, including artists, architects (including Gropius), writers (Agatha Christie), and ... spies (Arnold Deutsch). I highly recommend reading The Lawn Road Flats by David Burke, which lifts the lid of the artistic and clandestine world centred around this iconic building The Isokon has been given an extremely rare Grade I listing by English Heritage, making it one of the heavily protected and historically significant buildings in the UK and you can read about the building and influence of the Bauhaus movement in Leyla Daybelge & Magnus Englund's excellent book Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain.

Note on photography

It should be no surprise that I was attracted to this story because of Edith Tudor Hart's talent as a photographer, While not wishing to pigeonhole a very versatile artist, Tudor Hart's work can be summarised in three areas: commercial commissions, such as promotional, product, or advertising work, magazine and book images, all of which which helped pay the bills; stark and sometimes disturbing shots of social injustice, depravation, and exploitation, albeit depicted in a very human and sensitive way, and driven by her social conscience and political beliefs; and photos of children. As a trained Montessori teacher and a keen interest in children's welfare and development (including raising a severely autistic son), Edith's work captures active children at play but also underprivileged, handicapped, and traumatised children and their carers in a world before the Welfare State became a reality. A technically brilliant but very empathetic photographer with a strong social conscience, whose amazing talent was not celebrated in her lifetime. The FOTOHOF in Salzburg, Austria holds many of Tudor Hart's photos, and the National Galleries, Scotland in Edinburgh also has a big collection, both of which can be viewed on-line: https://bildarchiv.fotohof.at/artist/51/Edith+Tudor-Hart.html and https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/edith-tudor-hart

Here's a gallery of some of Edith Tudor Hart's most striking images.