Ruth Beverly Wilson (1906–1996) was an American nurse married to alleged spy

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American and British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1910. Early in his ...

. Epstein had been wounded in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

after he volunteered for the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

. Ruth, who was a nurse, met him while he was recuperating from his injuries. Communist activities among aliens and national groups United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization - 1950 "I was also assigned to check on another spy "apparatus" with headquarters on Perry Street, New York City. This was the home of a ... Sidney Leon Bogel, United States Army Medical Corps, and Ruth Beverley Wilson, wife of Jacob Epstein, Abraham Lincoln Brigade veteran. Ruth Wilson was a visiting nurse. Epstein had a .." They were allegedly

Soviet intelligence This is a list of historical secret police organizations. In most cases they are no longer current because the regime that ran them was overthrown or changed, or they changed their names. Few still exist under the same name as legitimate police fo ...

agents, who were stationed in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. They were allegedly involved in the efforts to break

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

's killer,

Ramón Mercader Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río (; ; 7 February 1913 – 18 October 1978)Photograph oMercader's Gravestone/ref> was a Spanish communist and NKVD secret agent who assassinated the revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in August 1940. Mercad ...

, out of a Mexican prison. Wilson's code name in Soviet intelligence and deciphered in the

Venona The Venona project was a United States counterintelligence program initiated during World War II by the United States Army's Signal Intelligence Service and later absorbed by the National Security Agency (NSA), that ran from February 1, 1943, u ...

transcripts is "Nona".

References

* John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, ''Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America'', Yale University Press (1999), pgs. 280–281, 282
Epstein, Ruth Wilson Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ruth American spies for the Soviet Union American people in the Venona papers 1906 births 1996 deaths