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| Polish spy said to be inspiration for Bond girls to be commemorated | Polish spy said to be inspiration for Bond girls to be commemorated |
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| The extraordinary life and tragic death of a Polish secret agent, said to have inspired the creation of at least two of Ian Fleming's heroines in James Bond novels, will be commemorated this weekend at her graveside in London. | The extraordinary life and tragic death of a Polish secret agent, said to have inspired the creation of at least two of Ian Fleming's heroines in James Bond novels, will be commemorated this weekend at her graveside in London. |
| The Polish Heritage Society has restored the grave of Krystyna Skarbek at St Mary's Roman Catholic cemetery in north-west London, and is organising a celebration of her life there on Saturday, to be attended by the Polish ambassador, military attaches from Poland and France, and other dignitaries. | |
| Skarbek, born in Poland in 1908 – but later taking advantage of one of her many name changes to knock five years off her age – was awarded the George Medal, the OBE and the Croix de Guerre for her wartime exploits. | |
| She was described as having a mesmeric power over men which helped her argue with the Gestapo to secure the release of three British colleagues. Captured in Hungary, she bit her tongue so hard that it bled, and convinced her interrogators to free her because she had tuberculosis. | |
| She made many trips to occupied Poland, once getting there by persuading a former Olympic skier to help her cross the snow-covered mountains in the dead of winter, served in the Special Operations Executive, and was parachuted into occupied France. | |
| After the war she was paid off with £100, and ended her working life as a cleaner on cruise ships. In 1952 she was stabbed to death in the cheap London hotel where she was living by an Irish ship's steward, Dennis Muldowney, who had become obsessed with her. | After the war she was paid off with £100, and ended her working life as a cleaner on cruise ships. In 1952 she was stabbed to death in the cheap London hotel where she was living by an Irish ship's steward, Dennis Muldowney, who had become obsessed with her. |
| She was twice married and divorced, but was long outlived by her friend, colleague and former lover Andrzej Kowerski-Kennedy, whose ashes were buried in her grave in 1988. | She was twice married and divorced, but was long outlived by her friend, colleague and former lover Andrzej Kowerski-Kennedy, whose ashes were buried in her grave in 1988. |
| There is no evidence that Ian Fleming ever met her, but she is said to have inspired his duplicitous characters Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love, and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. | There is no evidence that Ian Fleming ever met her, but she is said to have inspired his duplicitous characters Tatiana Romanova in From Russia with Love, and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale. |
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