Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (Jay Vivian Chambers) was born on April 1st, 1901. Whittaker passed away July 9th, 1961 at 60 years old. Whittaker Chambers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Chambers attended Columbia University.
Whittaker Chambers was a journalist, Soviet agent, and member of the Communist Party in the United States. He was a critical witness in the
Alger Hiss case which has to be one of the most followed cases during the Cold War era.
It was in the 1920s that Whittaker began writing for
The Daily Worker, a communist publication, after joining the
Communist Party. Whittaker also published several articles for
The New Masses, a Marxist publication that he would edit for about two years.
In 1932, he became a member of the Soviet underground and by the mid-1930s he was living in Baltimore where he worked with communists in the federal government in Washington D.C. Following the
Great Purge of 1937, Whittaker became disillusioned with the Soviets, and in 1938, he left the
Communist Party.
In 1939, he got a job with
Time Magazine and he was a writer taking on a range of roles before he got into editing and became a special editor working directly with Henry R. Luce the founder. In the mid-1940s he helped the founder come up with a policy on how to write about Stalin and Russia.
While speaking on
Meet the Press, Chambers asserted that Alger Hiss was one of the senior government officials who spied for the communists in Washington D.C. during the 1930s. While Hiss filed a slander suit in Baltimore against Whittaker, he was ultimately found guilty and convicted.
In 1952, Whittaker Chambers published
Witness, an account of how Soviet spies operated in the United States and the trial that had the entire nation enthralled. It is part philosophical treatise and part literary effort in which Chambers articulates modern conservative philosophy in addition to providing insights into the Alger Hiss case.
Cold Friday is a work that Whittaker Chambers published in 1962. It is a collection of unfinished and finished pieces collected by his wife which was then published a few weeks following his death. They range from a vignette Chambers wrote about James Agee, his friend to his reflections on life in college during the 1920s.
Odyssey of a Friend which was published in 1968 is a collection of letters written by William F. Buckley to Whittaker Chambers. In these letters, he reflects on a range of topics from the fate of the free world, to the killing of livestock on his farm.
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Whittaker Chambers: F.A.Q
When was Whittaker Chambers Born?
Whittaker Chambers was born on April 1st, 1901.
When did Whittaker Chambers die?
Whittaker Chambers died on July 9th, 1961 at 60 years old.
Where was Whittaker Chambers Born?
Whittaker Chambers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
What was the first book Whittaker Chambers wrote?
The first book written by Whittaker Chambers was Witness, published in 1952.
What was the most recent book Whittaker Chambers wrote?
His most recently released work was The Whittaker Chambers Reader: His Complete National Review Writings, 1957 to 1959 (a short story) on January 1st, 2014.
How many books has Whittaker Chambers written?
Whittaker Chambers has written 6 books. 5 Non-Fiction Books, 1 book in the Library of Conservative Thought Series.