Oreste Pinto
Oreste Pinto (9 October 1889 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands – 18 September 1961 in London, England) was a Dutch counterintelligence officer and Lieutenant-Colonel. His activities during the Second World War, in which he worked with MI5 interrogating refugees to England, resulted in the capture of eight spies.
In 1952, Pinto published two books, Spy-catcher and Friend or Foe? These formed the basis of the 1959-1961 BBC television series Spycatcher, in which he was portrayed by Bernard Archard. A further book, Spycatcher 2, based on the series, was published in 1960. The 1962 Dutch programme De Fuik, in which Pinto was portrayed by Frits Butzelaar,[1] was also derived from them.
Dwight Eisenhower once described Pinto as "the greatest living authority on security".[2] The Daily Telegraph referred to him as a "human bloodhound".[3] Conversely, Guy Liddell stated in 1942 that he had been told that Pinto had "a thoroughly bad record".[4]
Pinto's career in intelligence began in 1913, when he was recruited by the Deuxième Bureau.
Works
- Spycatcher. Werner Laurie, 1952
- Friend or Foe? Werner Laurie, 1953
- Spycatcher 2. Four Square, 1963
External links
References
- ↑ De Fuik, at Beeld en Geluid; retrieved May 23, 2012
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Pinto, Oreste (1889-1961), by B.G.J. de Graaff, in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (archived at Utrecht University; published 05-09-2003; retrieved 23-05-2012
- ↑ The Guy Liddell Diaries: MI5’s Director of Counter-Espionagein World War II (volume 1, 1939-1942), by Guy Liddell (edited by Nigel West); published 2005 by Taylor & Francis
