Peter Wright

Peter Maurice Wright (9 August 1916 – 27 April 1995) was the principal scientific officer for MI5, the British counter-intelligence agency, noted for writing the controversial book Spycatcher, which became an international bestseller with sales of over two million copies. Spycatcher was part memoir, part exposé of what Wright claimed were serious institutional failings in MI5 and his subsequent investigations into those. He is said to have been influenced in his counterespionage activity by James Jesus Angleton, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) counterintelligence chief from 1954 to 1975.

Father's footsteps

Peter Wright was born in 26 Cromwell Road, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the son of (George) Maurice Wright, who was the Marconi Company's director of research, and one of the founders of signals intelligence during World War I.

During the Second World War, Wright worked at the Admiralty's Research Laboratory. In 1946, he began work as a Principal Scientific Officer at the Services Electronics Research Laboratory.

Peter Wright (sport wrestler)

Peter W. Wright was a British wrestler who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

In 1920 he won the bronze medal in the freestyle wrestling lightweight class after winning the bronze medal match against Auguste Thijs.

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Peter Wright (dancer)

Sir Peter Wright, CBE, (born 1926) is a British ballet teacher, choreographer, director and former professional dancer. He worked as a choreographer and as the Artistic Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, a classical ballet company based in Birmingham, England. On retiring from the company in July 1999, he was bestowed the honorary title of Director Laureate of the company.

Life

As a child, Wright was educated at Leighton Park School and then went onto Bedales, an independent boarding school based in the village of Steep in Hampshire. At the age of 16, his mother took him to a performance of Les Sylphides by the International Ballet and it was this experience that led him to pursue dance as a career. His father was an accountant and, being a Quaker, was also very religious. He did not approve of his only son wanting to pursue a career in dance, which led to Wright leaving both home and school at the age of 17.

After leaving home, Wright auditioned for Ninette de Valois, to join what is now the Royal Ballet School, but was rejected. He subsequently decided to accept an offer from the German choreographer Kurt Jooss to become an apprentice with his company "Ballets Jooss". He trained with the company for two years, dancing in many expressionist and modern dance works. Eventually, Wright decided he needed to train in classical ballet, so returned to London to study with Vera Volkova, a leading teacher of the Vaganova method. He then re-auditioned for Ninette de Valois, who offered him a contract to dance with the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the predecessor of today's London Royal Ballet.

Peter Wright (disambiguation)

Peter Wright (1916–1995) is a former MI5 counter-intelligence officer.

Peter Wright can also refer to:

Entertainers

Sportspeople

Peter Wright (swimmer)

Peter Matthew Wright (born December 3, 1972) is an American former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Wright competed in the preliminary heats of the men's 1,500-meter freestyle, and finished twelfth overall with a time of 15:25.43.

Wright has been a resident of Delran Township, New Jersey.

References

Peter Wright (journalist)

Peter Wright (born 13 Aug 1953) is a British newspaper editor.

Wright attended Clare College, Cambridge, then took a graduate trainee position with Thomson Regional Newspapers, working as a reporter on the Hemel Hempstead Evening Post-Echo. In 1979, he moved to the Daily Mail, working on various desks before becoming Femail Editor, then Features Editor and Deputy Editor.

In 1998, he became editor of the Mail on Sunday. While at the Mail on Sunday, Wright initiated the giveaway of promotional CDs and DVDs, including the global first release of Prince's Planet Earth album. He also served on the Press Complaints Commission. In March 2012, Wright moved to become Editor Emeritus for all Associated Newspapers titles. In that role he was one of the group of four newspaper industry representatives who negotiated with the Government over Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin's proposal for regulation of the British press to be overseen by a Royal Charter, and was the author of the industry's rival Royal Charter proposal .

Peter Wright (American football)

Peter Wright was an early professional football player. In 1893 he was under contract by the Allegheny Athletic Association to be paid $50 per game for the entire season. That season Peter, Ollie Rafferty and James Van Cleve were all under contract.

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