Trinity College Great Court. The Cambridge Apostles were for decades centered around Trinity and King's.

The Cambridge Apostles, also known as the Cambridge Conversazione Society, is an elite intellectual secret society at Cambridge University, founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who went on to become the Bishop of Gibraltar. Download high resolution version (1181x768, 371 KB)The Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. ... Download high resolution version (1181x768, 371 KB)The Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. ... Full name The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity Motto Virtus vera nobilitas Virtue is true Nobility Named after The Holy Trinity Previous names Kings Hall and Michaelhouse (until merged in 1546) Established 1546 Sister College Christ Church Master Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Location Trinity Street... A secret society is a social organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation or club ceremonies—from outsiders. ... The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with one of the most selective sets of entry requirements in the United Kingdom. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Bishop of Gibraltar is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe in the Province of Canterbury The office has been in existence since the union in 1980 of the see of Gibraltar (founded 1842) with the Jurisdiction of North and Central Europe (Fulham). ...

The society takes its name from the fact that its membership is restricted to 12 members of the university. The active membership consists largely of young research fellows and graduate students. The society traditionally centered around King's College and Trinity College, though this is no longer the case. Full name The Kings College of Our Lady and St Nicholas Motto Veritas Et Utilitas Truth and usefulness Named after Henry VI Previous names - Established 1441 Sister College New College Acting Provost Dr Tess Adkins Location Kings Parade Undergraduates 397 Graduates 239 Homepage Boatclub Kings College, Cambridge... Full name The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity Motto Virtus vera nobilitas Virtue is true Nobility Named after The Holy Trinity Previous names Kings Hall and Michaelhouse (until merged in 1546) Established 1546 Sister College Christ Church Master Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow Location Trinity Street...

Activities and membership

The society is essentially a debating club. Meetings are held once a week, during which one member gives a prepared talk on a topic, which is later thrown open for discussion. There are no constraints regarding which topic may be raised and how it is approached: members may raise any idea they can mount an argument for, no matter how controversial or politically incorrect.

The Apostles retain a leather diary of their membership stretching back to its founder, which includes handwritten notes about the topics each member has spoken on. The diary is retained by the secretary of the society. The members referred to as the "Apostles" are the active members; former apostles are called "angels", the only difference in membership being that angels are relieved from the obligation of attending the weekly meeting. Every few years, amid great secrecy, all the angels are invited to an Apostles' dinner at a Cambridge college. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Those being considered for membership are called "embryos" and are vetted in secret by Apostles to judge whether the embryo should be invited to join. Becoming an Apostle involves listening to the reading of a curse, originally written by Apostle Fenton Hort, the theologian, in or around 1851 -- the curse being inflicted upon the only member to leave the Society rather than become an angel. Embryos (and one tadpole) of the wrinkled frog (Rana rugosa). ...

King's College, Cambridge

Critics say the society's secretive nature, combined with the significant percentage of angels who have acquired fellowships at Cambridge, and positions in the media, government and the church, places the Apostles at odds with the meritocratic ideals that both it and the university espouses. Former members have spoken of the life-long bond they feel toward one another. Henry Sidgwick, the philosopher, wrote of the Apostles in his memoirs that "the tie of attachment to this society is much the strongest corporate bond which I have known in my life." Download high resolution version (1016x719, 188 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1016x719, 188 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Full name The Kings College of Our Lady and St Nicholas Motto Veritas Et Utilitas Truth and usefulness Named after Henry VI Previous names - Established 1441 Sister College New College Acting Provost Dr Tess Adkins Location Kings Parade Undergraduates 397 Graduates 239 Homepage Boatclub Kings College, Cambridge... Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (May 31, 1838–August 28, 1900) was an English philosopher. ...

Bloomsbury

The Apostles first became well-known outside Cambridge in the years before the First World War with the rise to eminence of the group of intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group. Maynard Keynes, Lytton Strachey and his brother and G.E. Moore were all Apostles and subsequently prominent as members of Bloomsbury. Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set or just Bloomsbury, as its adherents (members is probably too formal a designation) would generally refer to it, was an English group of artists and scholars that existed from around 1905 until around World War II. // History The group began as an informal social... John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes [ˈkeɪns], 1st Baron Keynes of Tilton (June 5, 1883 - April 21, 1946) was an English economist, whose radical ideas had a major impact on modern economic and political thought. ... Giles Lytton Strachey (March 1, 1880–January 21, 1932) was a British writer and critic. ... George Edward Moore George Edward Moore, also known as G.E. Moore, (November 4, 1873 - October 24, 1958) was a distinguished and hugely influential English philosopher who was educated and taught at the University of Cambridge. ...

The Cambridge spy ring

The Apostles were once again thrust into prominence following the exposure of Cambridge spy ring. At least four men with access to the top levels of government in Britain — two of them former Apostles — were found to have passed information to the KGB. The four known agents were Guy Burgess, an MI6 officer and secretary to the deputy foreign minister; Anthony Blunt, MI5 officer, director of the Courtauld Institute, and art adviser to the Queen; Donald MacLean, foreign office secretary; and Kim Philby, MI6 officer and journalist. The Cambridge Five (also sometimes known as the Cambridge Four) was a ring of British spies who passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and into the early 1950s. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield For other meanings, see KGB (disambiguation). ... Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess (1911-1963) was a flamboyant, homosexual, British-born intelligence officer and double agent who worked for the Soviet Union, was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring within the MI5. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service or simply Six, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... Anthony Frederick Blunt (September 26, 1907 - March 26, 1983) was an English art historian and the Fourth Man of the Cambridge Five, a group of spies working for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5, officially called the Security Service, is one of the British secret service agencies. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926) is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda... Donald Duart Maclean Donald Duart Maclean (1913- 6 March 1983) was one of the Cambridge Five, members of MI5 and MI6 who acted as spies for Russia in the Second World War. ... Harold Adrian Russell Kim Philby also H. A. R. Philby (January 1, 1912 – May 11, 1988) was a high ranking member of British intelligence who led a lifelong career as a spy for the Soviet Union. ...

Guy Burgess, who made the Apostles famous by working for MI6 and spying for the KGB, drank himself to death in Moscow in 1963.

Although only four men were identified, there were rumors of a fifth man, a senior British intelligence officer, who was never found. Many stories linked this rumor to Victor Rothschild, another Apostle, who had supplied an apartment in London for some of the Cambridge spies to meet in, though there is no evidence that he knew about their spying activities. In 1963, American writer Michael Straight, also an Apostle, and later publisher of his family's The New Republic magazine, admitted to spying. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess (1911-1963) was a flamboyant, homosexual, British-born intelligence officer and double agent who worked for the Soviet Union, was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring within the MI5. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield For other meanings, see KGB (disambiguation). ... Moscow (Russian: Москва́, Moskva, IPA:   listen?) is the capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, CBE, GM, FRS (October 31, 1910 – March 20, 1990) was a biologist by training and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. ... Michael Straight Michael Whitney Straight, (September 1, 1916 – January 4, 2004) was an American magazine publisher, novelist, patron of the arts, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. ... Cover from the August 30th, 2004 issue. ...

Of the four named spies, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, both homosexual, had been members of the Apostles at a time when homosexuality seemed to be an attribute of many of the undergraduates chosen for membership, and stories persisted that the membership was mainly homosexual and Marxist. Anthony Blunt, a communist, was the first to be recruited by the KGB, during a visit to Russia in 1933. When he returned to Britain, he in turn recruited other Cambridge students, at the instruction of his KGB handlers, including Straight, though Blunt was not the person who recruited Burgess, Philby, and MacLean, according to writer Russell Aiuto. [1] Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century German philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... Communism refers to a theoretical system of social organization and a political movement based on common ownership of the means of production. ... 1933 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

As the Queen's art advisor, Blunt was knighted in 1956, but was stripped of his knighthood in 1979 after Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher publicly named him as a spy. A statue of an armoured knight of the Middle Ages For the chess piece, see knight (chess). ... A prime minister may be either: chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of... The Right Honourable Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925), is a British stateswoman. ...

Former members

Members of the Cambridge Apostles have included (with the year they joined in brackets, where it is known):

• George Tomlinson, Bishop of Gibraltar (1820)
• J.F.D. "Frederick" Maurice, Christian socialist writer
• John Sterling, writer and poet
• Charles Buller, barrister and MP
• Arthur Buller, judge of the Supreme Court, Calcutta
• Richard Trench, Christian writer, Archbishop of Dublin
• John Mitchell Kemble, historian
• Erasmus Alvey Darwin, brother of Charles Darwin (1823)
• Arthur Hallam, poet (1829)
• Alfred Tennyson, English poet, member of the House of Lords (1829)
• Fenton Hort (1851), theologian
• Brooke Foss Westcott, theologian, Bishop of Durham
• James Clerk Maxwell, physicist (1852)
• Henry Sidgwick, philosopher (1857)
• Edward Fitzgerald, poet and translator of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
• G. H. Hardy, mathematician.
• C. P. Snow, writer and physicist
• A.N. Whitehead, mathematician, logician and philosopher (1884)
• Roger Eliot Fry, art historian (1887)
• Bertrand Russell, philosopher, member of the House of Lords (1892)
• Leslie Stephen, philosopher
• Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, historian and philosopher
• J. M. E. McTaggart, philosopher
• G.E. Moore, philosopher (1894)
• E. M. Forster, writer (1901)
• Desmond McCarthy, newspaper critic
• Lytton Strachey, writer and critic (1902)
• Arthur Waley, Chinese and Japanese translator and historian
• Robert Trevelyan, poet and translator
• Saxon Sidney Turner, writer
• Francis Birrell, critic and journalist
• John Maynard Keynes, economist, member of the House of Lords (1903)
• Rupert Brooke, poet (1908)
• Raymond Mortimer, art critic, journalist, editor of the New Statesman
• Stephen Tomlin, sculptor
• Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (1912)
• Aldous Huxley, writer
• Gerald Shove, economist
• Guy Burgess, MI6 officer, KGB spy
• Anthony Blunt, art adviser to the Queen, MI5 officer, KGB spy (1927)
• G.M. Trevelyan, historian
• Julian Bell, poet
• John Tressider "Jack" Sheppard, classicist, provost of King's College
• Victor Rothschild, financier, member of the House of Lords
• Michael Whitney Straight, American magazine publisher, member of the Whitney family, Presidential speechwriter, KGB spy
• Noel Annan, intelligence officer, provost of King's College, Cambridge, provost of University College, London, vice-chancellor of the University of London, member of the House of Lords
• Eric Hobsbawm, historian
• Geoffrey Lloyd, emeritus professor of classics at Cambridge; Master of Darwin College, Cambridge
• Paul Levy, food critic for The Observer

1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... John Frederick Denison Maurice (August 29, 1805 - April 1, 1872) was an English theologian. ... John Sterling (July 20, 1806 - September 18, 1844), was a British author. ... Charles Buller (August 6, 1806 - November 28, 1848), English politician, son of Charles Buller (d. ... John Mitchell Kemble (1807 - March 26, 1857), English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor. ... Erasmus Darwin Stone-cast bust of Erasmus Darwin, by William John Coffee, c 1795, (Crown Derby Modeller and world renown artist) Erasmus Darwin ( December 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on medicine and botany, as well as poetry. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Arthur Henry Hallam (February 1, 1811 - September 15, 1833) was an English poet, best known as the subject of In Memoriam A.H.H., a major work by his best friend, Alfred Tennyson. ... 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (August 6, 1809 - October 6, 1892) is generally regarded as one of the greatest English poets. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... 1851 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Brooke Foss Westcott (January 12, 1825–July 27, 1901) was an English churchman and theologian, Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death. ... James Clerk Maxwell (June 13, 1831–November 5, 1879) was a Scottish mathematical physicist, born in Edinburgh. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (May 31, 1838–August 28, 1900) was an English philosopher. ... 1857 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Edward Marlborough FitzGerald (March 31, 1809–June 14, 1883) was an English writer, best known as the poet of the English translation of Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. ... G. H. Hardy Professor Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS (February 7, 1877 – December 1, 1947) was a prominent British mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. ... C. P. Snow, born Charles Percy Snow, (1905-1980) was a scientist and novelist. ... Alfred North Whitehead Alfred North Whitehead (February 15, 1861 _ December 30, 1947) was a British philosopher and mathematician who worked in logic, mathematics, philosophy of science and metaphysics. ... 1884 is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar). ... Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 - 9 September 1934) was an English artist and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury group. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... Bertrand Russell The Right Honourable Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872—2 February 1970), was an influential British mathematician, philosopher, and logician, working mostly in the 20th century. ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Sir Leslie Stephen (November 28, 1832 – February 22, 1904) was an English author and critic, the father of two famous daughters, Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. ... Goldworthy Lowes Dickinson (1862-1932) was an English historian and political activist. ... John McTaggart Ellis McTaggart (1866-1925) was the leading Hegel scholar in England at the beginning of the 20th Century, and friend and teacher of Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore. ... George Edward Moore George Edward Moore, also known as G.E. Moore, (November 4, 1873 - October 24, 1958) was a distinguished and hugely influential English philosopher who was educated and taught at the University of Cambridge. ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (January 1, 1879 - June 7, 1970) was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Giles Lytton Strachey (March 1, 1880–January 21, 1932) was a British writer and critic. ... 1902 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Arthur David Waley (August 19, 1889 – June 27, 1966) was a noted English Orientalist and Sinologist. ... John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes of Tilton (pronounced kānz / kAnze), ) (June 5, 1883 – April 21, 1946) was an English economist, whose ideas had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well as on Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal. ... 1903 has the latest occurring solstices and equinoxes for 400 years, because the Gregorian calendar hasnt had a leap year for seven years or a century leap year since 1600. ... A statue of Rupert Brooke in Rugby Rupert Brooke (August 3, 1887 – April 23, 1915) was an English poet best known for his idealistic War Sonnets written during the First World War. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Charles Raymond Mortimer Bell (April 25, 1895-January 9, 1980), who wrote under the name Raymond Mortimer, was a British writer, known mostly as a critic and literary editor. ... Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein (IPA: ) (April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who contributed several ground-breaking works to modern philosophy, primarily on the foundations of logic and the philosophy of language. ... 1912 was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (July 26, 1894 – November 22, 1963) was a British writer who emigrated to the United States. ... Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess (1911-1963) was a flamboyant, homosexual, British-born intelligence officer and double agent who worked for the Soviet Union, was part of the Cambridge Five spy ring within the MI5. ... Anthony Frederick Blunt (September 26, 1907 - March 26, 1983) was an English art historian and the Fourth Man of the Cambridge Five, a group of spies working for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... George Macaulay Trevelyan (February 16, 1876 – 1962) was an English historian, son of Sir George Otto Trevelyan and great-nephew of Thomas Macaulay. ... Julian Heward Bell (1908 - 1937) was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell. ... Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild, CBE, GM, FRS (October 31, 1910 – March 20, 1990) was a biologist by training and a member of the prominent Rothschild family. ... Michael Straight Michael Whitney Straight, (September 1, 1916 – January 4, 2004) was an American magazine publisher, novelist, patron of the arts, and a member of the prominent Whitney family. ... Beginning with William Collins Whitney, an extremely wealthy businessman who was the breeder of twenty-six stakes winners, the Whitney name became synonymous with thoroughbred horse racing in the United States. ... Noel Gilroy Annan (December 25, 1916 – March 2000) was a British military intelligence officer, author, and academic. ... Eric Hobsbawm (born June 9, 1917) is a British historian and author, once the leading theoretician of the now defunct Communist Party of Great Britain. ... Full name Darwin College Motto - Named after The Darwin Family Previous names - Established 1964 Sister College Wolfson College Master Prof. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

References

• Deacon, R., The Cambridge Apostles: A History of Cambridge University's Elite Intellectual Secret Society

External links

• "All About the Cambridge Spies" by Russell Aiuto
• "Michael Straight: Cambridge spy whose testimony was crucial in exposing Anthony Blunt", obituary, by Richard Norton-Taylor, The Guardian, January 9, 2004