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{{Short description|Belgian engineer (1902–1951)}}
'''Georges Kopp''', ([[St Petersburg]], Russia 1902 - [[Marseilles]], France 15 July 1951) was an engineer who had lived in Belgium for about 25 years and volunteered to fight for the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republicans]] in the [[Spanish Civil War]], rising to become commander of the 3rd Regiment, Lenin Division, a militia unit belonging to the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ([[POUM]]) which saw active service on the [[Aragon front]], and was later incorporated into the regular army as the 29th Division of the Republican government's Popular Army. Kopp rose to become captain in the general staff of the 45th brigade of the republican army.<ref>Salas Larrazábal, Ramón. ''Historia del Ejército popular de la República'', Madrid, Editora Nacional, 1973, page 3440</ref>
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox person
He is mentioned in [[George Orwell]]'s autobiographical account of the Civil War, ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]'' (1938), and towards the end of the book, when Orwell describes the [[Barcelona May Days]]. In his account, Orwell testifies to Kopp's personal bravery in the Barcelona episode in single-handedly preventing further bloodshed. The subsequent outlawing of the POUM (16 June 1937) resulted in its members being arrested and thrown into jail, and Orwell refers to his last-minute, and ineffectual, attempts to get Kopp released from prison.<ref>Orwell, G. ''Homage to Catalonia'' (Penguin)</ref> Kopp was finally released after 18 months, after having been interrogated by [[NKVD]] agents, and in 1939 managed to reach England, where he was nursed by Lawrence O' Shaughnessy, a thoracic surgeon and Orwell's brother-in-law ([[Eileen O'Shaughnessy]]'s brother), and his wife, Gwen.<ref>Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.) ''Orwell: The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 1 - An Age Like This'', p.297 (Penguin)</ref>
| name = Georges Kopp
| image = Georges_Kopp_(proc).jpg
| alt =
| caption = Kopp in 1944
| other names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1902|10|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Saint Petersburg]], Russia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1951|07|15|1902|10|10|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Marseille]], France
| nationality = Belgian
| occupation = Engineer, soldier, inventor
| alma_mater =
| years_active =
| notable works =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Germaine Warnotte|12 May 1925|9 August 1935|reason=div. }}
* {{marriage|Doreen Hunton|1944}}
}}
| children = 8
}}


'''Georges Kopp''' (10 October 1902 – 15 July 1951) was a Belgium-educated engineer and inventor of Russian descent. He is best known for his friendship with [[George Orwell]], whom he commanded in the [[Spanish Civil War]] when both men were volunteers in the fight against [[fascism]].
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, he joined the [[French Foreign Legion]] and fought in the [[Battle of France]] in May–June 1940. He was severely wounded and made prisoner, but escaped from a military hospital. Thereafter he joined the Foreign Legion headquarters in Algeria. But because of his frail health, he was allowed to leave the Legion. He set out to work as an engineer in Marseilles, in [[Vichy France]]. He used his work as a cover to work for [[British Naval Intelligence]]. When his spy-ring was discovered, he was flown out of France by the British.


==Early life and education ==
MI5 recognized the value of his work and helped him settle in England. His [[case officer]] was [[Anthony Blunt]].<ref>National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE-file</ref>
Georges Kopp was born in [[St. Petersburg]] to Russian parents with [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] origins.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kopp and Wildemeersch |title=The Enigma of George Kopp |url=https://orwellsociety.com/about-the-society/george-talks/ |website=George Talks |publisher=The Orwell Society |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref>
Previously married to Germaine Warnotte, in 1944 he married Gwen O'Shaughnessy's sister, Doreen Hunton, and farmed in Scotland.<ref>Facing Unpleasant Facts, Orwell CW p.9</ref>


In 1909, the family fled Tzarist Russia and settled close to [[Brussels]] in [[Schaerbeek]]. The family moved again in 1915 to [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, before returning to Schaerbeek in 1920, where Kopp studied [[civil engineering]] at the [[Université libre de Bruxelles]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wildemeersch |first1=Marc |title=George Orwell's Commander in Spain: The Enigma of Georges Kopp |date=2013 |publisher=Thames River Press |location=London |isbn=9780857281982 |pages=1–2}}</ref>
Kopp kept corresponding with Orwell for quite a while. He even sent him letters from France during the war. The friendship cooled in the late 1940s. When MI5 asked Orwell what kind of man Kopp was<ref>National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE-file</ref> he told them he was an "unpolitical" man. A loyal person, driven by honest anti-Nazi-feelings, but also an adventurer. After his adventurous military career, he became an inventor of a buggy, a washing machine and a sand-sieving machine. His biggest success was the Tinto heater, an oil heater. His designs were far ahead of his time but he lacked commercial instinct and his financial troubles almost ruined him. He went to France to take up a consulting job in the petrochemical industry.<ref>Marc Wildemeersch, De man die Belg wilde worden. Georges Kopp, commandant van George Orwell. Haarlem, In de Knipscheer, 2010</ref>
Georges Kopp died in 1951 in [[Les Pennes-Mirabeau]] near Marseilles from complications caused by his war wounds.


==Career==
Orwell's description of Kopp's background has been questioned.<ref>''The Lost Orwell'' by Peter Davison (Timewell Press, 2006) and Bert Govaerts: 'Comandante Georges Kopp' In: 'Brood en Rozen', 2007/1 (AMSAB, Ghent)</ref> According to this source, Kopp had invented most of his own past. For example, he claimed to have been a Belgian and to have served in the Belgian army. Although personal records show that Kopp understood what was at stake in Spain, he privately also admitted simply being on the run from a broken marriage. He had an ex-wife Germaine Warnotte and five young children when he went to Spain.
===Engineering===
In 1921, Kopp’s father died, leaving the family in debt and forcing Kopp to interrupt his studies to earn money, working as an engineer to support his family, initially living with his mother in Schaerbeek.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}


Kopp worked for a firm of heating manufacturers (Société Chaurobel) from 1923 until 1932.<ref>MI 5, 17 Sept 1943, Document reference HS9/858/8, National Archives London.</ref><ref>National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file.</ref> In 1925, he married Germaine Warnotte, the daughter of a prominent socialist and together they raised five children over the next ten years. The onset of the [[Great Depression]] resulted in Kopp being laid off from work in 1933. He struggled to make a living as a consultant, running up bills and allegedly having [[affair]]s. Germaine, discovering his infidelity, divorced him in 1935. The following year, after an argument with his mother, Kopp left for France to consider his future, overwhelmed with regret and missing his family.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' pp. 2–5.</ref>
One of Orwell's biographers, Jeffrey Meyers, suggested in his ''Orwell. Wintry Conscience of a Generation'' (2000), that Georges Kopp was Orwell's main inspiration when he created the character of O'Brien in ''1984''.

===Spanish Civil War===
In October 1936, Kopp crossed the border from France into Spain and volunteered as an officer{{refn|In 1936, the POUM militia operated under a structureless flat hierarchy, with no obvious distinction between [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] and [[Private (rank)|private]] soldier. It would have been easy for a skilled linguist like Kopp to assume a position of authority translating [[Command hierarchy|commands]] down the line in an international fighting force with no common language|group=n}} for the [[Second Spanish Republic|Republicans]] by joining the [[POUM]] militia column.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beevor |first1=Antony |title=The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 |date=June 2006 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=9780143037651 |page=277}}</ref> He first saw active service on the [[Aragon front]] near [[Zaragoza]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kopp |first1=Georges |title=Un escape de geoles staliniennes, George Kopp |agency=L'Espagne Nouvelles |issue=Yr III, No. 61 |publisher=L'Espagne Nouvelles |date=15 January 1939}}</ref> followed by [[Huesca]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Durgan |first1=A. |title=Revolutionary History: The Spanish Civil War: The view from the left |agency=London: Socialist Platform |issue= 291 |publisher= Socialist Platform |date= 1992}}</ref>

In December, the POUM militia was absorbed into the Catalan Army and later became the [[29th Division (Spain)|29th Division]]. George Orwell crossed in to Spain in the same month, joining the 29th Division with Kopp as his brigade commander.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Orwell |first1=George |title=Homage to Catalonia |date=1938 |publisher=Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd |location=London |isbn=9780141183053 |edition=Penguin - 1989}}</ref> Orwell describes how his "''comandante''" (Kopp) led them to the front in January 1937<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' pp. 17–18.</ref> and the various acts of personal bravery that followed over the next 115 days at the front.<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' - Chapters III to VII.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Edwards |first1=Robert |title=Soldier of Socialism |agency=New Leader |page= 2 |publisher= New Leader |date= 13 August 1937}}</ref> Orwell and Kopp developed a close working relationship over this period, establishing lasting mutual trust and respect.<ref>''ibid''</ref><ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' - Chapter II.</ref> There were inconsistencies in Kopp's account of his background, which Orwell was, uncharacteristically, not aware of at the time. Thus, his book on the Spanish War, ''[[Homage to Catalonia]]'', contains false details on Kopp's past as a "Belgian officer' and weapon-smuggler who had 'given enverything up" to save the Spanish Republic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Davison |first=Peter |chapter=Epilogue |editor-last=Wildemeersch |editor-first=Marc |title=George Orwell's Commander in Spain: The Enigma of Georges Kopp |date=2013 |pages=133–116}}</ref>

Kopp and Orwell left the front late in April 1937 for [[R&R (military)|rest and relaxation]] in [[Barcelona]] and became caught up in [[Barcelona May Days]] as Government Guards moved against the [[Anarchism in Spain|Anarchists]]. Kopp risked his life to stop the fighting at the Café Moka,<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 115.</ref> but the ideological war within the republican movement was to end in disaster for Kopp. Orwell had been joined in Barcelona by his wife [[Eileen Blair|Eileen]], who was working with the [[ILP Contingent]] of British volunteers attached to POUM.<ref>Letter to Eileen Blair April 1937 in ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1945–1950'', p. 296 (Penguin).</ref> Some sources reported that Eileen had a relationship with Kopp at this time,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowker |first1=Gordon |title=Orwell |date=2003 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-349-11551-1|pages=213–214}}</ref> and that the Orwells had a "somewhat open marriage".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Wilson |first1=Frances |title=The sacrifices of George Orwell's first wife |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2020/03/sacrifices-george-orwell-s-first-wife |magazine=New Statesman |access-date=5 March 2020}}</ref> However, [[Anna Funder]], in her 2023 book ''Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life'', reports that although Eileen realised that Kopp was in love with her, his feelings were not reciprocated.<ref>{{cite book | last=Funder | first=A. | title=Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life | publisher=Penguin Books Limited | year=2023 | isbn=978-0-241-48272-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i2HIzgEACAAJ | access-date=16 January 2024 | pages= 121–125}}</ref>

Orwell returned to the trenches and was shot through the throat by a sniper's bullet, ending his participation in the war. Kopp was on hand to help his friend<ref>Bowker, 2003, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 221.</ref> but returned to the front to participate in the [[Huesca Offensive|Battle of Chimillas]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Davison |editor-first1=Peter |title=Orwell in Spain |date=2001 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=9780141185163|pages=123–125 }}</ref>

In June, Kopp decided to leave the POUM, securing a testimonial letter describing him as "a person of confidence" by [[Sebastián Pozas Perea|General Pozas]],<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 161.</ref> who was commanding the [[Eastern Army (Spain)|Army in the East]]. He travelled to Valencia to register his new position as an engineer, having risen to become captain in the general staff of the 45th Mixed Brigade of the [[Spanish Republican Army]].<ref>Salas Larrazábal, Ramón. ''Historia del Ejército popular de la República'', Madrid, Editora Nacional, 1973, p. 3440.</ref> On 16 June, the POUM was declared illegal, resulting in its members, and former members, being arrested and thrown into jail. Purges against the POUM raged through Barcelona in secret to stop the news getting to the front where the POUM was still holding the line. Kopp had been advised to remain in Valencia to allow the dust to settle,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=David |title=Article |agency=New Leader |page=2 |publisher= New Leader |date= 13 August 1937}}</ref> which he ignored, possibly because he had "simply not taken it seriously enough".<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 171.</ref> He was arrested as soon as he arrived at his hotel in Barcelona, his papers confiscated, and imprisoned under appalling conditions. Orwell and Eileen visited Kopp in jail, immediately recognising the importance of the letter. Orwell successfully traced the letter to the chief of police and managed to get it transferred to the military authorities, exposing himself to arrest in the process.<ref>Bowker, 2003, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 224.</ref> The last time Orwell saw Kopp in Spain was on 21 June 1937, two days before he and Eileen slipped across the border into France.<ref>Orwell, 1938, ''Op. Cit.'' pp. 182–186.</ref>

Kopp was one of thousands of volunteers who fought in Spain to oppose [[fascism]] and was imprisoned by its own side,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anon |first1=Anon |title= To the Militant Revolutionaries of all Countries |agency=Lutte Ouvrière |page=2 |publisher= Lutte Ouvrière |date= 13 August 1937}}</ref> under the banner of an ideological purge imposed by the [[NKVD#Spanish Civil War|NKVD]] directed by [[Stalin]]. Kopp was interrogated, tortured and moved between prisons, detention camps in and around Barcelona for the next 18 months, largely out of sight.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' – Chapter 4 "The Revolution Eats its Children", p. 46.</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Kopp_1939.jpg|thumb|upright|Georges Kopp, French Foreign Legion 1939]]
Kopp was released in December 1938 a free man but in a severely reduced state, flying to [[Toulouse]] before making his way to Brussels to see his daughter.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 66.</ref> He had survived by building stories around himself,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stradling |first1=Rob |title=The Spies Who Loved Them |journal=Intelligence and National Security |date=October 2010 |volume=25|issue=5|pages=638–655|doi=10.1080/02684527.2010.537120 |s2cid=154062539 }}</ref> accused by the [[Communist Party of Spain|Communists]] of being a [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] and dismissed by [[Trotsky]] himself as politically "centrist".<ref>Letter from [[Leon Trotsky]] to Harry Milton about Kopp, dated 14 February 1939</ref> Whatever his allegiance, Kopp was [[anti-fascist]] in a Europe that was on the brink of War against fascism.

Kopp sought refuge in England in March 1939, in part at the invitation of Orwell. He stayed with Eileen's brother, Laurence O'Shaughnessy and sister-in-law Gwen, where he was gradually nursed back to health.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Orwell|first1=Sonia |title=The Collected Essays, Journalism And Letters of George Orwell Volume 1: An Age Like This 1920-1940 |date=1968 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=9780140187113|page=263 }}</ref> In May, he left [[London]] for [[Paris]].<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 69.</ref>

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Kopp joined the [[French Foreign Legion]] as a corporal and fought in the [[Battle of France]] in May–June 1940, barely surviving the [[Blitzkrieg]] that many of his comrades did not.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' – Chapter 7 "I Want to Live Grand and Gloriously" pp. 71–76.</ref> Kopp was severely wounded and made prisoner but escaped from a military hospital and was able to rejoin his unit, now a [[Armistice of 22 June 1940|defeated army]], just outside of [[Marseilles]] in August.<ref>National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file, Letter from Kopp to O'Shaughnessy, 17 December 1941.</ref> The following month, Kopp was transferred to Foreign Legion headquarters in [[Algeria]], where he was invalided out of the army and was awarded an 80% pension.

===Spy===
Kopp set out to work as an engineer in Marseilles, in [[Vichy France]] early 1941, where he remained for two and a half years working on a method for distilling synthetic oil from [[lignite]], common in that part of France.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 78.</ref> It is possible that the project was supported by the French admiralty under the control of [[Deuxième Bureau|French Intelligence]]. Kopp himself remained ambivalent about whether working on this technology would actually help the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]] but over the next year, he expanded his [[Vichy]] network, whilst simultaneously courting [[Directorate of Military Intelligence (United Kingdom)|British Intelligence]]. In March 1943, Kopp suspended development of synthetic oil because of the "high risk of the Germans wiping out the Vichy Government". [[MI5]], who had been monitoring his activities, decided to use his network on the recommendations of Major [[Anthony Blunt]], who became Kopp's controller.<ref>National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file.</ref> By June 1943, Kopp had created a new cover role as a consulting engineer for the Vichy Ministry of Industrial Production, allowing him to increase his network of [[Espionage#Agents in espionage|operatives]] further; in effect, Kopp was a [[double agent]] from that moment.{{refn|Arguably, Kopp could not back away from French intelligence without drawing attention to his enrolment with British intelligence.|group= n}}

In August 1943, the [[Gestapo]] arrested one of Kopp’s operatives. The following month, another operative failed to show at a pre-arranged meeting; the noose was tightening. Kopp was given the order to cease operations and a week later, he arrived in London for demobilisation.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 89.</ref>

==Personal life==
Kopp initially moved back in with the O’Shaughnessys,<ref>Gwen O’Shaughnessy was Eileen’s sister-in-law in Greenwich – her husband had died at Dunkirk</ref> where he met Gwen’s sister, Doreen Hunton. MI5 held out some hope for retaining Kopp’s services and helped him to settle, securing work for him as an engineer, arranging his papers and finding him somewhere to live.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' pp. 992–93.</ref> In February 1944, Kopp moved to a flat in [[Canonbury Square]] and the following month, he married Doreen,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=0mRnnyCNvHQdJyMsH0%2Bm4A&scan=1|title=Index entry|accessdate=21 January 2020|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS}}</ref> witnessed by his friend George Orwell.<ref>General Register Office, Marriage Certificate, District of Greenwich 10th March, 1944.</ref> A few months later, Orwell and Eileen also moved in to a flat in Canonbury Square a few doors down from the Kopps with their newly adopted son, [[Richard Blair (patron)|Richard]].<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' p. 89.</ref> Doreen had their first child in February 1945. A few weeks later Eileen, who had taken Richard to stay at the Hunton family home in [[County Durham]], died. After the funeral, Orwell brought his son back to Canonbury Square to stay with the Kopps until he could arrange for a fulltime nurse, and returned to Europe.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meyers |first1=Jeffrey |title=Orwell - Wintry Conscience of a Generation |date=2000 |publisher=Norton |location=New York |isbn= 9780393322637 |page=238}}</ref>

[[File:Buggy 1948 Kopp.jpg|thumb|right|Sample of "Baby Buggy" design by Georges Kopp, 1949]]
Kopp moved his family to Toftcombs House in [[Biggar, South Lanarkshire]], at the end of 1945, a radical change from town life to that of a "gentleman farmer" living in grand style, with a small holding of animals on the estate. He worked as an engineer for a small factory in Edinburgh, but the income was never enough to sustain life at Toftcombs. This was the time when Kopp turned once again to innovation, creating designs and filing patents for a string of innovative creations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kopp |first1=Quentin |title=My Father George Kopp, George Orwell's Commander in Spain |journal=The Orwell Society Newsletter |date=October 2012 |volume=2 |pages=5–8}}</ref> His capacity to invent devices for modern living convenience was not matched by his ability to commercialise them, which led to financial difficulty. Over the next few years, Kopp’s family expanded, but he was forced to sell Toftcombs and move to a series of temporary homes, haunted by the promise of contracts for his inventions that never materialised, which were taking a toll on his health.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'' pp. 95–97.</ref>

Orwell died in January 1950. Two months later, Kopp moved his family to France, bolstered by continued promises from potential investors in his designs. Kopp died suddenly on 15 July 1951 in [[Marseille]], possibly of [[cardiac arrest]]; he had suffered from [[phlebitis]] in both legs, which may have created a [[blood clot]] that induced a [[pulmonary embolism]]. Doreen reported that Kopp was repairing a clock when he died. There remains no trace of his grave.<ref>Wildemeersch, 2013, ''Op. Cit.'', pp. 106–112.</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist |30em|group=n}}


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}


==Sources==
{{Authority control|VIAF=171617409}}
* Wildemeersch, Marc, ''George Orwell’s Commander in Spain: The Enigma of Georges Kopp''. Thames River Press, 2013 {{ISBN|9780857281982}}
* [[George Orwell|Orwell]], George, ''Homage to Catalonia''. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd., 1938 {{ISBN| 9780141183053}}
* [[Gordon Bowker (writer)|Bowker]], Gordon, ''Orwell''. St. Martin's Press, 2003 {{ISBN| 978-0-349-11551-1}}
* [[Peter Davison (professor)|Davison]], Peter, ''Orwell in Spain''. Penguin, 2001 {{ISBN| 9780141185163}}
* [[Sonia Orwell|Orwell]], Sonia and Ian Angus, ''Orwell - An Age Like This, 1920-1940'', vol. 1. Penguin, 1968 {{ISBN| 9780141185163}}

==Further reading==
* Topp, Sylvia, ''Eileen : the making of George Orwell''. Unbound, 2020 {{ISBN|978-1-78352-708-3}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/revhist/backiss/vol4/no1-2/kopp.htm Don Bateman, Georges Kopp and the POUM Militia]

{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME =Kopp, Georges
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1902
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = 15 July 1951
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, Georges}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, Georges}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:Engineers from Brussels]]
[[Category:Belgian people of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:Belgian people of the Spanish Civil War]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the French Foreign Legion]]
[[Category:International Brigades personnel]]
[[Category:International Brigades personnel]]
[[Category:MI5 personnel]]
[[Category:George Orwell]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Belgium]]

Latest revision as of 10:47, 26 July 2024

Georges Kopp
Kopp in 1944
Born(1902-10-10)10 October 1902
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Died15 July 1951(1951-07-15) (aged 48)
Marseille, France
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Engineer, soldier, inventor
Spouses
Germaine Warnotte
​
​
(m. 1925; div. 1935)​
Doreen Hunton
​
(m. 1944)​
Children8

Georges Kopp (10 October 1902 – 15 July 1951) was a Belgium-educated engineer and inventor of Russian descent. He is best known for his friendship with George Orwell, whom he commanded in the Spanish Civil War when both men were volunteers in the fight against fascism.

Early life and education

[edit]

Georges Kopp was born in St. Petersburg to Russian parents with Ashkenazi Jewish origins.[1]

In 1909, the family fled Tzarist Russia and settled close to Brussels in Schaerbeek. The family moved again in 1915 to Lausanne, Switzerland, before returning to Schaerbeek in 1920, where Kopp studied civil engineering at the Université libre de Bruxelles.[2]

Career

[edit]

Engineering

[edit]

In 1921, Kopp’s father died, leaving the family in debt and forcing Kopp to interrupt his studies to earn money, working as an engineer to support his family, initially living with his mother in Schaerbeek.[citation needed]

Kopp worked for a firm of heating manufacturers (Société Chaurobel) from 1923 until 1932.[3][4] In 1925, he married Germaine Warnotte, the daughter of a prominent socialist and together they raised five children over the next ten years. The onset of the Great Depression resulted in Kopp being laid off from work in 1933. He struggled to make a living as a consultant, running up bills and allegedly having affairs. Germaine, discovering his infidelity, divorced him in 1935. The following year, after an argument with his mother, Kopp left for France to consider his future, overwhelmed with regret and missing his family.[5]

Spanish Civil War

[edit]

In October 1936, Kopp crossed the border from France into Spain and volunteered as an officer[n 1] for the Republicans by joining the POUM militia column.[6] He first saw active service on the Aragon front near Zaragoza,[7] followed by Huesca.[8]

In December, the POUM militia was absorbed into the Catalan Army and later became the 29th Division. George Orwell crossed in to Spain in the same month, joining the 29th Division with Kopp as his brigade commander.[9] Orwell describes how his "comandante" (Kopp) led them to the front in January 1937[10] and the various acts of personal bravery that followed over the next 115 days at the front.[11][12] Orwell and Kopp developed a close working relationship over this period, establishing lasting mutual trust and respect.[13][14] There were inconsistencies in Kopp's account of his background, which Orwell was, uncharacteristically, not aware of at the time. Thus, his book on the Spanish War, Homage to Catalonia, contains false details on Kopp's past as a "Belgian officer' and weapon-smuggler who had 'given enverything up" to save the Spanish Republic.[15]

Kopp and Orwell left the front late in April 1937 for rest and relaxation in Barcelona and became caught up in Barcelona May Days as Government Guards moved against the Anarchists. Kopp risked his life to stop the fighting at the Café Moka,[16] but the ideological war within the republican movement was to end in disaster for Kopp. Orwell had been joined in Barcelona by his wife Eileen, who was working with the ILP Contingent of British volunteers attached to POUM.[17] Some sources reported that Eileen had a relationship with Kopp at this time,[18] and that the Orwells had a "somewhat open marriage".[19] However, Anna Funder, in her 2023 book Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life, reports that although Eileen realised that Kopp was in love with her, his feelings were not reciprocated.[20]

Orwell returned to the trenches and was shot through the throat by a sniper's bullet, ending his participation in the war. Kopp was on hand to help his friend[21] but returned to the front to participate in the Battle of Chimillas.[22]

In June, Kopp decided to leave the POUM, securing a testimonial letter describing him as "a person of confidence" by General Pozas,[23] who was commanding the Army in the East. He travelled to Valencia to register his new position as an engineer, having risen to become captain in the general staff of the 45th Mixed Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army.[24] On 16 June, the POUM was declared illegal, resulting in its members, and former members, being arrested and thrown into jail. Purges against the POUM raged through Barcelona in secret to stop the news getting to the front where the POUM was still holding the line. Kopp had been advised to remain in Valencia to allow the dust to settle,[25] which he ignored, possibly because he had "simply not taken it seriously enough".[26] He was arrested as soon as he arrived at his hotel in Barcelona, his papers confiscated, and imprisoned under appalling conditions. Orwell and Eileen visited Kopp in jail, immediately recognising the importance of the letter. Orwell successfully traced the letter to the chief of police and managed to get it transferred to the military authorities, exposing himself to arrest in the process.[27] The last time Orwell saw Kopp in Spain was on 21 June 1937, two days before he and Eileen slipped across the border into France.[28]

Kopp was one of thousands of volunteers who fought in Spain to oppose fascism and was imprisoned by its own side,[29] under the banner of an ideological purge imposed by the NKVD directed by Stalin. Kopp was interrogated, tortured and moved between prisons, detention camps in and around Barcelona for the next 18 months, largely out of sight.[30]

World War II

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Georges Kopp, French Foreign Legion 1939

Kopp was released in December 1938 a free man but in a severely reduced state, flying to Toulouse before making his way to Brussels to see his daughter.[31] He had survived by building stories around himself,[32] accused by the Communists of being a Trotskyist and dismissed by Trotsky himself as politically "centrist".[33] Whatever his allegiance, Kopp was anti-fascist in a Europe that was on the brink of War against fascism.

Kopp sought refuge in England in March 1939, in part at the invitation of Orwell. He stayed with Eileen's brother, Laurence O'Shaughnessy and sister-in-law Gwen, where he was gradually nursed back to health.[34] In May, he left London for Paris.[35]

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Kopp joined the French Foreign Legion as a corporal and fought in the Battle of France in May–June 1940, barely surviving the Blitzkrieg that many of his comrades did not.[36] Kopp was severely wounded and made prisoner but escaped from a military hospital and was able to rejoin his unit, now a defeated army, just outside of Marseilles in August.[37] The following month, Kopp was transferred to Foreign Legion headquarters in Algeria, where he was invalided out of the army and was awarded an 80% pension.

Spy

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Kopp set out to work as an engineer in Marseilles, in Vichy France early 1941, where he remained for two and a half years working on a method for distilling synthetic oil from lignite, common in that part of France.[38] It is possible that the project was supported by the French admiralty under the control of French Intelligence. Kopp himself remained ambivalent about whether working on this technology would actually help the Nazis but over the next year, he expanded his Vichy network, whilst simultaneously courting British Intelligence. In March 1943, Kopp suspended development of synthetic oil because of the "high risk of the Germans wiping out the Vichy Government". MI5, who had been monitoring his activities, decided to use his network on the recommendations of Major Anthony Blunt, who became Kopp's controller.[39] By June 1943, Kopp had created a new cover role as a consulting engineer for the Vichy Ministry of Industrial Production, allowing him to increase his network of operatives further; in effect, Kopp was a double agent from that moment.[n 2]

In August 1943, the Gestapo arrested one of Kopp’s operatives. The following month, another operative failed to show at a pre-arranged meeting; the noose was tightening. Kopp was given the order to cease operations and a week later, he arrived in London for demobilisation.[40]

Personal life

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Kopp initially moved back in with the O’Shaughnessys,[41] where he met Gwen’s sister, Doreen Hunton. MI5 held out some hope for retaining Kopp’s services and helped him to settle, securing work for him as an engineer, arranging his papers and finding him somewhere to live.[42] In February 1944, Kopp moved to a flat in Canonbury Square and the following month, he married Doreen,[43] witnessed by his friend George Orwell.[44] A few months later, Orwell and Eileen also moved in to a flat in Canonbury Square a few doors down from the Kopps with their newly adopted son, Richard.[45] Doreen had their first child in February 1945. A few weeks later Eileen, who had taken Richard to stay at the Hunton family home in County Durham, died. After the funeral, Orwell brought his son back to Canonbury Square to stay with the Kopps until he could arrange for a fulltime nurse, and returned to Europe.[46]

Sample of "Baby Buggy" design by Georges Kopp, 1949

Kopp moved his family to Toftcombs House in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, at the end of 1945, a radical change from town life to that of a "gentleman farmer" living in grand style, with a small holding of animals on the estate. He worked as an engineer for a small factory in Edinburgh, but the income was never enough to sustain life at Toftcombs. This was the time when Kopp turned once again to innovation, creating designs and filing patents for a string of innovative creations.[47] His capacity to invent devices for modern living convenience was not matched by his ability to commercialise them, which led to financial difficulty. Over the next few years, Kopp’s family expanded, but he was forced to sell Toftcombs and move to a series of temporary homes, haunted by the promise of contracts for his inventions that never materialised, which were taking a toll on his health.[48]

Orwell died in January 1950. Two months later, Kopp moved his family to France, bolstered by continued promises from potential investors in his designs. Kopp died suddenly on 15 July 1951 in Marseille, possibly of cardiac arrest; he had suffered from phlebitis in both legs, which may have created a blood clot that induced a pulmonary embolism. Doreen reported that Kopp was repairing a clock when he died. There remains no trace of his grave.[49]

Notes

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  1. ^ In 1936, the POUM militia operated under a structureless flat hierarchy, with no obvious distinction between officer and private soldier. It would have been easy for a skilled linguist like Kopp to assume a position of authority translating commands down the line in an international fighting force with no common language
  2. ^ Arguably, Kopp could not back away from French intelligence without drawing attention to his enrolment with British intelligence.

References

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  1. ^ Kopp and Wildemeersch. "The Enigma of George Kopp". George Talks. The Orwell Society. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  2. ^ Wildemeersch, Marc (2013). George Orwell's Commander in Spain: The Enigma of Georges Kopp. London: Thames River Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780857281982.
  3. ^ MI 5, 17 Sept 1943, Document reference HS9/858/8, National Archives London.
  4. ^ National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file.
  5. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. pp. 2–5.
  6. ^ Beevor, Antony (June 2006). The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Penguin. p. 277. ISBN 9780143037651.
  7. ^ Kopp, Georges (15 January 1939). "Un escape de geoles staliniennes, George Kopp". No. Yr III, No. 61. L'Espagne Nouvelles. L'Espagne Nouvelles.
  8. ^ Durgan, A. (1992). "Revolutionary History: The Spanish Civil War: The view from the left". No. 291. Socialist Platform. London: Socialist Platform.
  9. ^ Orwell, George (1938). Homage to Catalonia (Penguin - 1989 ed.). London: Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd. ISBN 9780141183053.
  10. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. pp. 17–18.
  11. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. - Chapters III to VII.
  12. ^ Edwards, Robert (13 August 1937). "Soldier of Socialism". New Leader. New Leader. p. 2.
  13. ^ ibid
  14. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. - Chapter II.
  15. ^ Davison, Peter (2013). "Epilogue". In Wildemeersch, Marc (ed.). George Orwell's Commander in Spain: The Enigma of Georges Kopp. pp. 133–116.
  16. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. p. 115.
  17. ^ Letter to Eileen Blair April 1937 in The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1 – An Age Like This 1945–1950, p. 296 (Penguin).
  18. ^ Bowker, Gordon (2003). Orwell. London: St. Martin's Press. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-0-349-11551-1.
  19. ^ Wilson, Frances. "The sacrifices of George Orwell's first wife". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  20. ^ Funder, A. (2023). Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life. Penguin Books Limited. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-0-241-48272-8. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  21. ^ Bowker, 2003, Op. Cit. p. 221.
  22. ^ Davison, Peter, ed. (2001). Orwell in Spain. London: Penguin. pp. 123–125. ISBN 9780141185163.
  23. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. p. 161.
  24. ^ Salas Larrazábal, Ramón. Historia del Ejército popular de la República, Madrid, Editora Nacional, 1973, p. 3440.
  25. ^ Murray, David (13 August 1937). "Article". New Leader. New Leader. p. 2.
  26. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. p. 171.
  27. ^ Bowker, 2003, Op. Cit. p. 224.
  28. ^ Orwell, 1938, Op. Cit. pp. 182–186.
  29. ^ Anon, Anon (13 August 1937). "To the Militant Revolutionaries of all Countries". Lutte Ouvrière. Lutte Ouvrière. p. 2.
  30. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. – Chapter 4 "The Revolution Eats its Children", p. 46.
  31. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. p. 66.
  32. ^ Stradling, Rob (October 2010). "The Spies Who Loved Them". Intelligence and National Security. 25 (5): 638–655. doi:10.1080/02684527.2010.537120. S2CID 154062539.
  33. ^ Letter from Leon Trotsky to Harry Milton about Kopp, dated 14 February 1939
  34. ^ Orwell, Sonia (1968). The Collected Essays, Journalism And Letters of George Orwell Volume 1: An Age Like This 1920-1940. London: Penguin. p. 263. ISBN 9780140187113.
  35. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. p. 69.
  36. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. – Chapter 7 "I Want to Live Grand and Gloriously" pp. 71–76.
  37. ^ National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file, Letter from Kopp to O'Shaughnessy, 17 December 1941.
  38. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. p. 78.
  39. ^ National Archives Kew, HS9/858/8, Kopp's personal SOE file.
  40. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. p. 89.
  41. ^ Gwen O’Shaughnessy was Eileen’s sister-in-law in Greenwich – her husband had died at Dunkirk
  42. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. pp. 992–93.
  43. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  44. ^ General Register Office, Marriage Certificate, District of Greenwich 10th March, 1944.
  45. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. p. 89.
  46. ^ Meyers, Jeffrey (2000). Orwell - Wintry Conscience of a Generation. New York: Norton. p. 238. ISBN 9780393322637.
  47. ^ Kopp, Quentin (October 2012). "My Father George Kopp, George Orwell's Commander in Spain". The Orwell Society Newsletter. 2: 5–8.
  48. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit. pp. 95–97.
  49. ^ Wildemeersch, 2013, Op. Cit., pp. 106–112.

Sources

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Further reading

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