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 (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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Peter Wright (disambiguation)

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

Peter Wright can also refer to:

Entertainers

Sportspeople

Peter Wright (Australian footballer)

Peter Wright (born 8 September 1996) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for Gold Coast in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is a tall forward and ruckman.

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