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HENRY HOLDSHIP WARE: A U.S. MILITARY INTERPRETER, A SOVIET SPY, AND AN ECONOMIST

Vol.10, Issue 1, 2024, pp. 157-174 Full text

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.24.1.9
Web of Science: 001261762100010

Author:
Boris Naimushin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9264-2961

Affiliation: New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria 002qhr126

Abstract
This article looks at the life of Henry Holdship Ware (1908-1999), the grandson of the founder of Atlanta University. Captain Henry H. Ware was an aide and interpreter to Major General John Deane, Chief of the U.S. Military Mission to the Soviet Union during World War 2. In this capacity, he was an interpreter with the U.S. Army assigned to the Tripartite Conference in Moscow (1943) and Conferences at Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945), and a liaison officer and interpreter during Operation Frantic, a joint American-Soviet campaign of shuttle bombing missions in Poltava, Ukraine, in June-September 1944. He was also present at the official surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany at Karlshorst on May 8, 1945, and interpreted toasts at the banquet of celebration after the ceremony. Henry Ware learnt Russian during his five-year stay as a student at Plekhanov Institute in Moscow, where he studied economics and was recruited by the NKVD to report on the American community in Moscow. Back in the USA, he was independently recruited by the Golos-Bentley Soviet espionage network under the codename 'Vick'. In 1975, probably inspired by his study of the Soviet economy, he founded the Useful Services Exchange (USE), a community-based organization in Reston, Virginia, enabling neighbors to help each other through the exchange of services. The discussion draws on available visuals, memoirs, newspaper sources, and declassified documents.

Keywords: translation studies, history of interpreting, military interpreter, Tehran, Yalta, Henry H. Ware

Article history:
Submitted: 10 March 2024
Reviewed: 29 March 2024
Accepted: 02 May 2024
Published: 22 June 2024

Citation (APA):
Naimushin, B. (2024). Henry Holdship Ware: a U.S. Military Interpreter, a Soviet Spy, and an Economist. English Studies at NBU, 10(1), 157-174. https://doi.org/10.33919/esnbu.24.1.9

Copyright © 2024 Boris Naimushin

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Note:
The photos in this article are used under the provision of fair use of properly credited, publicly available copyrighted material for non-profit academic research. The author and publisher may have not properly traced the copyright holders for the photographs before publication and apologize for this apparent negligence. If notified, the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.

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Review:

1. Reviewer's name: Name Undisclosed, Independent Researcher, UK
Review Content: Undisclosed
Review Verified on Publons

2. Reviewer's name: Name Undisclosed
Review Content: Undisclosed
Review Verified on Publons

Handling Editor: Stan Bogdanov, New Bulgarian University
Verified Editor Record on Publons


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