Paul Dukes

Biography

Sir Paul Dukes (1889–1967) was a British intelligence officer, author, and yoga practitioner who became one of the most celebrated spies of the 20th century. Born in Bridgwater, Somerset, Dukes went to Russia in 1909 to study music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, becoming fluent in Russian and deeply immersed in Russian culture. During World War I he worked for the Anglo-Russian Commission in Petrograd. When the Bolshevik Revolution erupted in 1917, MI6 recruited Dukes to gather intelligence from inside Soviet Russia. Operating under multiple disguises—as a soldier, worker, and Communist Party member—Dukes infiltrated the Bolshevik government, the Cheka (secret police), and the Red Army, sending vital intelligence to London. His daring escape from Russia in 1920, narrowly evading capture, became legendary. He was the only person ever knighted solely for espionage work. His memoir, Red Dusk and the Morrow (1922), recounts his extraordinary experiences. Dukes later became an advocate for yoga and physical culture, writing The Yoga of Health, Youth, and Joy (1960).