Michael Bialoguski
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Michael Bialoguski (19 March 191729 July 1984) was a Polish-Australian medical practitioner, musician and intelligence agent, who played a significant part in the 1954 Petrov Affair.


Biography

Michael Bialoguski was born to Polish Jewish parents in 1917 in
Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
and now the capital of
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. When he was three years old, Bolshevik forces were on the point of shooting him and his entire family, when his father bribed them with his gold watch; they were forced to flee immediately, and made their way to
Wilno Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
(now
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
).George Biro, Jim Leavesley, ''Flies in the Ointment: Medical Quacks, Quirks and Oddities''
/ref> He attended school there, studied violin at the Vilnius Conservatorium,''Watertown Daily Times'', 12 May 1969
/ref> receiving a diploma in 1935, and commenced a course in medicine at the Stefan Batory University. He had an early short-lived marriage.Australian Dictionary of Biography
/ref> He was jailed by the invading Soviet forces in 1939. It was at this time that he had his first experience of conducting an orchestra, that of a musical comedy troupe. In 1941, he travelled across the Soviet Union by train to
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, on to Japan, departing ostensibly for
Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...
(then part of the
Netherlands Antilles The Netherlands Antilles (, ; ), also known as the Dutch Antilles, was a constituent Caribbean country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisting of the islands of Saba (island), Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten in the Lesser Antilles, ...
in the Caribbean) but using forged papers to come instead to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, where he worked as a violinist and music arranger. He joined the Australian Army, served as an orderly at an army hospital, and was discharged to continue his medical studies at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
. He married again in 1943, was naturalised in 1947, the same year in which he qualified as a doctor, and he practised as a general practitioner from 1948, initially in Thirroul and later in
Macquarie Street, Sydney Macquarie Street is a street in the Sydney central business district, central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Street extends from Hyde Park, Sydney, Hyde Park at its southern end to the Sydney Opera House a ...
.


The Petrov Affair

Around 1945, Bialoguski had made himself known to the Commonwealth Investigation Service, the forerunner of the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...
(ASIO), and was recruited to gather information from Russian immigrants. Bob Wake, who ran the Brisbane office of the CIS, was one of the first CIS officers to work with Bialoguski. When Wake became an ASIO director in Sydney he paid Bialoguski about five pounds a week for information. Wake's story can be found in the non-fiction work ''No Ribbons or Medals: the story of an Australian counter espionage officer''. In 1951 in Sydney he met Vladimir Petrov, who had recently arrived from the Soviet Union to take up his post as third secretary at the Soviet Embassy in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. They cultivated each other's friendship, spending much time together, drinking and visiting prostitutes in Kings Cross. Bialoguski played a double game for some time, appearing to be spying on Petrov's behalf while simultaneously spying on Petrov himself for ASIO. He was able to confirm ASIO's suspicions that Petrov was spying for the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
in Australia.Museum of Australian Democracy
/ref> After the death of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
in 1953 and the execution of
Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...
, Bialoguski and Ron Richards were able to persuade Petrov that it was not safe for him to return. In return for a promise of safety and a substantial amount of cash, Petrov defected in April 1954. His wife Evdokia was initially unaware he had taken this action; although she was recalled, she did not want to leave her husband, but knew that to remain in Australia against her government's wishes would have placed her sister Tamara in danger back home. In the end, amid extraordinary scenes at Sydney and Darwin airports, she too defected. Bialoguski was a witness for ASIO at the subsequent Royal Commission on Espionage, which commenced the following month.History Cooperative
The Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Herbert Vere Evatt, LLD, who appeared at the Royal Commission to defend his staff members whose names had been dragged into the affair, characterised the whole episode as "The Petrov-Bialoguski Affair". Bialoguski divorced his second wife that year. He published a book ''The Petrov Story'' in 1955. Extracts were published in some newspapers, but rival newspapers published his ex-wife's alternative account of his life and character, which painted him in a rather negative light. He sued for libel and eventually won his case in 1961. In the meantime, the book was the basis of an American television documentary in 1956. But his divorce ate up all his earnings, and in 1957 he spent another short period in jail. He married his third wife in 1957. They had three children, two daughters and one son.R C S Trahair, ''Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies and Secret Operations''
/ref>


Later musical activities

Bialoguski had maintained his passion for music, and sought conducting lessons from Sir Eugene Goossens, then based in Sydney, but was rebuffed. Earlier, in 1949, Goossens had invited him to accept a position as a violinist in the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...
, of which he was the chief conductor. In 1964 Bialoguski and his wife moved permanently to England. Although continuing to make his living from medicine, he still strove to become a conductor, but was met with continual knockbacks. Sir
Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...
suggested he should stay with medicine. He applied for entry to the conducting courses at the
Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
and
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
, but was rejected on account of his age. He did some private conducting training with Ernest Read in London. He was accepted by the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in
Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...
, Italy, where he obtained his Masters Diploma in 1967 under the guidance of Franco Ferrara.Liner notes from Unicorn recording of Martinů and Voříšek. Then, unable to secure any regular conducting engagements back in the UK, he spent his life savings on hiring the New Philharmonia Orchestra for a single concert at the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
on 29 April 1969, which he conducted, to lukewarm reviews. The concert included
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's 4th Symphony and Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the pianist Fou Ts'ong as soloist. He also formed the Commonwealth Philharmonic Orchestra, which he conducted at the Albert Hall and in
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. He did further conducting in England and West Germany. He also recorded two symphonies with the New Philharmonia –
Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...
's 6th Symphony and Jan Václav Voříšek's Symphony in D – which were released on LP by Unicorn Records. He married Nonie Piper, a model who appeared in the film '' Bitter Springs'' (1950). Michael Bialoguski died in Surrey in 1984, aged 67. He was survived by his third wife and three children. He was played by Slawomir Wabik in the 1987 TV mini-series ''The Petrov Affair'' and by Gary Deirmendjian in the 2010 television movie ''I, Spry''. He appears in Andrew Croome's historical novel about the Petrov Affair, ''Document Z'' (2009).Adelaide Review


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bialoguski, Michael 1917 births 1984 deaths Australian general practitioners Australian conductors (music) Australian spies Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom Polish emigrants to Australia Polish classical violinists Australian classical violinists Male classical violinists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century Australian musicians Physicians from Vilnius 20th-century Australian male musicians Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni