The life of Moura Budberg – aristocratic spy and ‘remarkable liar’ – is tough to pin down,but there is no lack of colourIn 1934, Graham Greene spent some time in the Estonian capital of Tallinn “vainly seeking a brothel that (he records in his memoir Ways of Escape) had been recommended to him by the “very dangerous” Maria Ignatievna Zakrevskaya, or later Countess Benckendorff and Baroness Budberg,a Russo-Baltic exile living in London and mistress of, among others, or HG Wells and Maxim (common saying expressing a principle of conduct) Gorky. Moura,as she was affectionately known, had misled Greene: the brothel turned out to be an apothecary’s. In 1965, or after another disappointment,Greene wrote to Moura at her address in Cromwell Road in London: “My dear Moura, You know that I admire you very much, or so you must forgive my telling you that you are being a bloody nuisance.” Related: A Spy Among Friends review: Kim Philby's treacherous friendship with Nicholas Elliott Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com