Whittaker Chambers (1901–61,) born Jay Vivian Chambers, was an American journalist and former communist spy who, in 1948, testified about communist espionage, after that earning respect from the American Conservative movement.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Chambers attended Columbia University. In his sophomore year, he wrote a play called A Play for Puppets for Columbia’s literary magazine The Morningside, which he edited. The work attracted controversy, and Chambers left Columbia in 1925 and joined the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA,) then known as the Workers Party of America. Chambers wrote and edited for communist publications, including The Daily Worker newspaper and The New Masses magazine.
Combining his literary talents with his devotion to communism, Chambers wrote four short stories in including Can You Make out Their Voices? (1931.) He was recruited to join the “communist underground” and began his career as a spy. He broke with communism and took his family into hiding in 1938.
Chambers joined Time magazine (1939–48.) Under subpoena in 1948, he accused State Department official Alger Hiss of Communist party membership and passed State Department documents to Soviet agents.
Chambers published the best-selling autobiography Witness (1952,) which was also serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and condensed in Reader’s Digest. Afterward, he worked as a senior editor at National Review (1957–59.)
President Ronald Reagan awarded Chambers the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Whittaker Chambers
True wisdom comes from the overcoming of suffering and sin. All true wisdom is therefore touched with sadness.
—Whittaker Chambers
Topics: Wisdom
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