Laurence Duggan

Laurence Hayden Duggan (May 28, 1905 – December 20, 1948) was a 20th-century American economist who headed the South American desk at the United States Department of State during World War II, best known for falling to his death from the window of his office in New York, 10 days after questioning by the FBI about whether he had had contacts with Soviet intelligence.

Despite public accusations by Whittaker Chambers and others, Duggan's loyalty was attested to by such prominent people as Attorney General Tom C. Clark, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Duggan's close associate journalist Edward R. Murrow, among others. However, in the 1990s, evidence from decrypted Soviet telegrams revealed that he was an active Soviet spy for the KGB in the 1930s and 1940s.

Background

Laurence Hayden Duggan was born on May 28, 1905, in New York City. His father, Stephen P. Duggan, was a professor of Political Science at the City College of New York before founding the Institute of International Education (IIE). His mother Sarah Alice Elsesser was a director of the Negro Welfare League of White Plains, New York.

In the mid-1930s, Duggan was recruited by Hede Massing as a Soviet spy. Duggan told the FBI that Henry Collins of the Ware group had also tried unsuccessfully to recruit him to the NKVD.

Peter Gutzeit, the Soviet Consul in New York City, was also an officer in the NKVD. In 1934, he identified Laurence Duggan as a potential recruit. Boris Bazarov told Hede Massing that they wanted her to help recruit Duggan and Noel Field. The plan, suggested by Gutzeit, was to use Duggan to draw Field into the network. Gutzeit wrote on 3 October 1934 that Duggan "is interesting us because through him one will be able to find a way toward Noel Field... of the State Department's European Department with whom Duggan is friendly."

Duggan provided Soviet intelligence with confidential diplomatic cables, including from American Ambassador William Bullitt. He was a source for the Soviets until he resigned from the State Department in 1944.

According to Whittaker Chambers in his 1952 memoir, Egmont Gaines proposed covert group, "insisting" the group approach Duggan, "whom he called 'very sympathetic'." Duggan was then in the State Department, and became chief of its Latin-American Division.

Personal life

In 1932, Duggan married Helen Boyd, a Vassar College graduate. They had four children.

Death On December 20, 1948, Duggan fell to his death from his office at the IIE, located on the 16th floor at 2 West 45th Street in Midtown Manhattan. His body was discovered around 7p.m. that evening. He is referenced in the following Venona decryptions, which provided information to the Soviets about Anglo-American plans for invading Italy during World War II:

1025, 1035–1936, KGB New York to Moscow, June 30, 1943 380 KGB New York to Moscow, March 20, 1944 744, 746 KGB New York to Moscow, May 24, 1944 916 KGB New York to Moscow, June 17, 1944 1015 KGB New York to Moscow, to Victor [Fitin], July 22, 1944 1114 KGB New York to Moscow, August 4, 1944 1251 KGB New York to Moscow, September 2, 1944 1613 KGB New York to Moscow, November 18, 1944 1636 KGB New York to Moscow, November 21, 1944