Charles Flato
Encyclopedia
Charles S. Flato (May 27, 1908–January 1, 1984) was an American writer
, American Communist Party member and a Soviet agent.
Flato was employed by the United States government and spied for the Soviet intelligence during World War II
. Flato suffered from polio as a child which left him with a hunchback
and caused him to walk with a cane. He married Lucy Burman
, also a Communist Party member.
From 1937 to 1941 Flato worked as an investigator and report writer for the civil liberties subcommittee of the Senate Labor Committee. He also served under Nelson Rockefeller in the Latin American division of the Board of Economic Warfare during World War II.
Flato worked in the Blockade and Supply Branch of the Board of Economic Warfare
, the Civil Liberties Subcommittee
, Senate Committee on Education and Labor chaired by Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr.
, and the Foreign Economic Administration
.
He resigned from the government and moved to San Francisco about mid-July 1945. He is mentioned in Venona project
transcript #588 of April 29, 1944. Flato's complicity in espionage was corroborated by information exhumed from the NKVD archives in the 1990s. He was also a member of the "Sound" and "Myrna" groups. His codename in the Gorsky memo is "Bob". In another Venona transcript, he is believed to be codename "Char".
Sometime in the 1950s he and his wife divorced. By 1957, Flato had a cottage designed and built by the architect Serge Chermayeff
. He lived alone in this cottage near a beach on Cape Cod
and worked as a freelance writer throughout the 60's and 70's. In 1957 he was the editor of the Complete Home Improvement Handbook. He is known to have used at least one ghost writer in the form of a friend for an article printed in The Saturday Evening Post
in the early 1960s. The Golden Book of the Civil War
was a children's book written by Flato and published in 1961.
After Peking
resumed diplomatic relations with the United States, Flato wrote a six-part report on health care in China. The Chinese Medical Association invited him to travel through the country as their guest.
Flato was one of the co-founders of the Medical Pharmaceutical Information Bureau, and wrote and edited for the publication Hospital Practice. He was known to have also written scripts for medical documentaries.
Suze Rotolo
kept close ties with Flato visiting him at his home on Cape Cod. He gave Suze his car before he died of kidney failure in Hyannis, Massachusetts
, on January 1, 1984.
Only after the fall of the Soviet Union
when the files of the KGB became open to researchers was it discovered that he was spying for the Soviets in the 1940s.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, American Communist Party member and a Soviet agent.
Flato was employed by the United States government and spied for the Soviet intelligence during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Flato suffered from polio as a child which left him with a hunchback
Kyphosis
Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...
and caused him to walk with a cane. He married Lucy Burman
Lucy Burman
Lucille Burman Flato was a writer, American Communist Party member and union activist.Flato was born in Oakland, California to Daisy Whitney and Frank Burman. She moved to New York City as a young woman where she became a communist party member and met her future husband Charles Flato, the writer...
, also a Communist Party member.
From 1937 to 1941 Flato worked as an investigator and report writer for the civil liberties subcommittee of the Senate Labor Committee. He also served under Nelson Rockefeller in the Latin American division of the Board of Economic Warfare during World War II.
Flato worked in the Blockade and Supply Branch of the Board of Economic Warfare
Board of Economic Warfare
The Office of Administrator of Export Control was established in the United States by Presidential Proclamation 2413, July 2, 1940, to administer export licensing provisions of the act of July 2, 1940 . Brigadier General Russell Lamont Maxwell, United States Army, headed up this military entity...
, the Civil Liberties Subcommittee
LaFollette Committee
The LaFollette Civil Liberties Committee, or more formally, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee Investigating Violations of Free Speech and the Rights of Labor , began as an inquiry into a National Labor Relations Board investigation of methods used by employers in certain industries to...
, Senate Committee on Education and Labor chaired by Senator Robert M. La Follette, Jr.
Robert M. La Follette, Jr.
Robert Marion "Young Bob" La Follette, Jr. was an American senator from Wisconsin from 1925 to 1947, the son of Robert M. La Follette, Sr., the brother of Philip La Follette, and Fola La Follette, whose husband was the playwright George Middleton.- Early life:La Follette was born in Madison,...
, and the Foreign Economic Administration
Foreign Economic Administration
In the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Foreign Economic Administration was formed to relieve friction between US agencies operating abroad. As described by the biographer of the FEA's chief, Leo Crowley, the agency was designed and run by "The Nation's #1 Pinch-hitter".S. L...
.
He resigned from the government and moved to San Francisco about mid-July 1945. He is mentioned in Venona project
Venona project
The VENONA project was a long-running secret collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom intelligence agencies involving cryptanalysis of messages sent by intelligence agencies of the Soviet Union, the majority during World War II...
transcript #588 of April 29, 1944. Flato's complicity in espionage was corroborated by information exhumed from the NKVD archives in the 1990s. He was also a member of the "Sound" and "Myrna" groups. His codename in the Gorsky memo is "Bob". In another Venona transcript, he is believed to be codename "Char".
Sometime in the 1950s he and his wife divorced. By 1957, Flato had a cottage designed and built by the architect Serge Chermayeff
Serge Chermayeff
Serge Ivan Chermayeff was a Russian born, British architect, industrial designer, writer, and co-founder of several architectural societies, including the American Society of Planners and Architects....
. He lived alone in this cottage near a beach on Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
and worked as a freelance writer throughout the 60's and 70's. In 1957 he was the editor of the Complete Home Improvement Handbook. He is known to have used at least one ghost writer in the form of a friend for an article printed in The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
in the early 1960s. The Golden Book of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
was a children's book written by Flato and published in 1961.
After Peking
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
resumed diplomatic relations with the United States, Flato wrote a six-part report on health care in China. The Chinese Medical Association invited him to travel through the country as their guest.
Flato was one of the co-founders of the Medical Pharmaceutical Information Bureau, and wrote and edited for the publication Hospital Practice. He was known to have also written scripts for medical documentaries.
Suze Rotolo
Suze Rotolo
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo , known as Suze Rotolo , was an American artist, but is perhaps best known as Bob Dylan's girlfriend between 1961 and 1964 and a strong influence on his music...
kept close ties with Flato visiting him at his home on Cape Cod. He gave Suze his car before he died of kidney failure in Hyannis, Massachusetts
Hyannis, Massachusetts
Hyannis is the largest of seven villages in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Also it is the commercial and transportation hub of Cape Cod and was designated an urban area as a result of the 1990 census. Because of this, many refer to Hyannis as the "Capital of the Cape"...
, on January 1, 1984.
Only after the fall of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
when the files of the KGB became open to researchers was it discovered that he was spying for the Soviets in the 1940s.
Sources
- Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Yale University Press (1999)
- Vladimir Pozniakov, NKVD/NKGB Report to Stalin: A Glimpse into Soviet Intelligence in the United States in the 1940s
- The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America - the Stalin Era, Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev, Random House, New York, 1999.
- Alexander Vassiliev's original Russian hand-written notes titled "A.Gorsky's Report to S.R. Savchenko, 23 December 1949".
- Washington Post, January 2, 1984.
- Chicago Tribune, January 4, 1984.
- United States Social Security Death Index.
- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2006. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2006. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC
External links
- Visit the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) for the full text of Alexander Vassiliev's Notebooks containing more evidence on Flato's involvement in Soviet espionage