Sir Colin Frederick Figures (1 July 1925 – 8 December 2006) was Head of the British

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...

(known as MI6) from 1981 to 1985. During this time he had oversight of the supply of human intelligence information, including Argentine positions and their stocks of

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from surface vessels, submarines, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guillot, then the technical directo ...

missiles, to the UK Government during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

Career

Figures was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, the son of Frederick Figures, an insurance executive, and his wife Muriel.Obituary: Sir Colin Figures
The Independent, 29 December 2006 He was educated at

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent day school for boys in the British public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birm ...

and served in The Worcestershire Regiment from 1943 until 1948, during which time he studied Russian via the Inter-Service Language Course at Cambridge, and served in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

. He read French and Russian at Pembroke College, Cambridge after being demobilised in 1948. While there, he also founded the Woodpeckers, a combined Oxford and Cambridge touring rugby team. He joined the SIS when he graduated in 1951. After a period in London, he served in Germany, served in Amman during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

, and in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

during the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Se ...

, before returning to London. He moved from Eastern bloc espionage in 1973 to supervise SIS activities in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. He became deputy head of SIS in 1979 and its ninth Chief in 1981. The following year, SIS was involved in the

, seeking to prevent Argentina obtaining stocks of

missiles to be carried by their Super Etendard attack aircraft.Obituary: Sir Colin Figures
Daily Telegraph, 21 December 2006 He received an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1969 and

CMG CMG may refer to: Companies * Capitol Music Group, a music label * China Media Group, the predominant state radio and television broadcaster in the PRC * China Media Group Co., Ltd., publicly listed Chinese holding company in the media sector * ...

in 1978, and advanced to KCMG in 1983. He retired from SIS in 1985, and became Intelligence Co-ordinator at the Cabinet Office. He finally retired in 1989. He married Pamela Ann Timmis in 1956. He suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in later life, and died in

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greate ...

. He was survived by his wife, and their son and two daughters.

References

External links

* Figures' entry in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Figures, Colin 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