# Marie Christine Chilver > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Marie_Christine_Chilver > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Marie_Christine_Chilver.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Christine_Chilver > Source revision: 1341949369 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Marie Christine Chilver**, known as Christine,[1] (12 September 1920 – 5 November 2007) (Latvian: *Marija Kristīne Čilvere*), also known by the codename **Agent Fifi**, was a British [secret agent](/source/Secret_agent) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II). Originally recruited after escaping the Nazis and helping a [British](/source/British_people) airman return to [England](/source/England), she worked for the [Special Operations Executive](/source/Special_Operations_Executive) (SOE) assessing and testing the security awareness of trainee secret agents.[2][3][4][5] ## Early life Chilver was born in [London](/source/London), [England](/source/England), to an [English](/source/English_people) father, a correspondent for *[The Times](/source/The_Times)* of London,[3] and [Latvian](/source/Latvians) mother.[6] Raised in [Latvia](/source/Latvia), she was educated at a [German](/source/Germany) school in [Riga](/source/Riga) before moving to Paris, France in 1940.[7] When Paris fell to [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) she was interned in the [Frontstalag 142](/source/Caserne_Vauban) internment camp at [Besançon](/source/Besan%C3%A7on), where escaped the harrison prison and reached England in 1941, helping a wounded [RAF Flight Lieutenant Simpson](/source/John_Simpson_(RAF_officer)) during her journey.[5] Meanwhile her mother and sister had fled to [Sweden](/source/Sweden) from Soviet-occupied Latvia, where their property had been confiscated by the Russians. The pilot, [flight lieutenant](/source/Flight_lieutenant) Simpson, suspected Chilver was a foreign spy, as she seemed too well fed when they met. His suspicions were found to be unsubstantiated, but Chilver had already come to the notice of British authorities.[6] ## Special Operations Executive In 1942, Chilver joined the SOE, and was given the task of assessing and testing the security awareness of trainee agents while they were on 96-hour training missions in the UK. Her code name was "Fifi", and she had a cover identity of Christine Collard.[5] It was rumoured that the SOE employed agents who would attempt to seduce men to persuade them to reveal their secrets; Chilvers reports show that flattery and attention were all that some trainee agents needed for them to reveal everything they knew. As a result of her reports, agents were sacked from SOE.[citation needed] Her wartime documents were declassified and released by the [National Archives](/source/The_National_Archives_(United_Kingdom)) in 2014.[2][4][5] ## Retirement After leaving the SOE, Chilver lived in [Chelsea](/source/Chelsea,_London). While in Chelsea, she studied French at Birkbeck College, London, graduating from there with First Class Honours in French in 1960. Later she moved to the [Wye Valley](/source/Wye_Valley), living in [Lydney](/source/Lydney), [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire). She spent much of her retirement with her friend, the widowed Jean "Alex" Felgate, a retired SOE intelligence officer. Chilver founded Dzīvnieku Draugs ("Animal Friends") in [Latvia](/source/Latvia), an animal charity and sanctuary. She died on 5 November 2007. ## References 1. Singh, Anita (2014-09-17). ["Revealed: identity of Fifi the stunning wartime spy"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11100041/Revealed-identity-of-Fifi-the-stunning-wartime-spy.html). *The Daily Telegraph* 1. ["Files reveal WW2 secret 'Agent Fifi' test for spies"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29231936). BBC News. 17 September 2014. 1. Cahal Milmo (17 September 2014). ["Revealed after 75 years of secrecy: 'Fifi' the glamorous WW2 special agent who tested British spies' resolve"](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/revealed-after-75-years-of-secrecy-fifi-the-glamorous-ww2-special-agent-who-tested-british-spies-resolve-9736660.html). *The Independent* 1. Jonathan Cole (17 September 2014). ["'Our Special Agent': 'Fifi' and the Special Operations Executive"](http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/special-agent-fifi-special-operations-executive/). National Archives. 1. Henry R. Schlesinger (29 October 2021). "Chapter 18". *Honey Trapped: Sex, Betrayal and Weaponized Love*. The History Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7509-9603-7. 1. Anita Singh and Gregory Walton (17 September 2014). ["Revealed: identity of Fifi the stunning wartime spy"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11100041/Revealed-identity-of-Fifi-the-stunning-wartime-spy.html). *Daily Telegraph*(Printed version, page 3) 1. Klein, Christopher (29 August 2018). ["British Files Reveal Secrets of WWII Spies, Traitors"](https://www.history.com/news/british-files-reveal-secrets-of-wwii-spies-traitors). *History* ## Bibliography - Māris Puķītis (23 April 2001). "LinkBijušie aktīvisti "Dzīvnieku draugu" uzskata par komerciālu iestādi". *Vakara Avīze Vakara Ziņas*. [ISSN 1407-4931](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1407-4931) (Latvian) - Kate Pankhurst (8 September 2016). "Agent Fifi". *Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World*. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4088-7697-8. ## External links - [Marie Christine Chilver - born 12.09.1920](http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14209643) at the National Archives - [Life in Pictures of the Secret Agent Seductress](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11110756/Life-in-pictures-of-the-secret-agent-seductress.html) at the Daily Telegraph, 21 September 2014, by Anita Singh, and Rayyan Sabet-Parry - [Dzīvnieku Draugs](https://web.archive.org/web/20120319031500/http://www.dzd.lv/new/?w=main) (also available in [Latvian](/source/Latvian_language), [Russian](/source/Russian_language) and [Finnish](/source/Finnish_language)) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Marie Christine Chilver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Christine_Chilver) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Christine_Chilver?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.