Ruth Wilson

Ruth Beverly Wilson was married to Soviet spy Jacob Epstein. Epstein had been wounded in the Spanish Civil War after he volunteered for the International Brigades. Ruth, who was a nurse, met him while he was recuperating from his injuries. They two embarked on a joint career with Soviet intelligence that took them to Mexico City during World War II. They were involved in the efforts to break Leon Trotsky's killer, Ramon Mercador, out of a Mexican prison. Wilson's code name in Soviet intelligence and decyphered in the Venona transcripts is "Nona".

Venona traffic

Ruth Wilson is referenced in the following Venona decrypt; the decryption cites that the KGB suspected "courier A" had come under surveillance. Courier A is believed by researchers to be Anna Colloms.

• 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.1
• 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.2
• 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.3
• 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.4
• 193–194 Mexico City to Moscow, 14 March 1944. pg.5

References

• John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, Yale University Press (1999), pgs. 280–281, 282.