32 Facts About Agnes Smedley

Agnes Smedley was an American journalist, writer and activist who supported the Indian Independence Movement and the Chinese Communist Revolution.

Agnes Smedley is accused of being a spy for the Comintern and working with such agents as Richard Sorge, who was among her lovers.

Agnes Smedley was born in Osgood, Missouri, on Feb 23,1892, the second of five children.

Agnes Smedley's father worked for several of the coal companies in Colorado and the family moved back and forth across southwestern Colorado.

Agnes Smedley finished eighth grade in Tercio at age 16.

At the age of 17, Agnes Smedley took the county teacher's examination and taught in rural schools near her home for a semester.

Agnes Smedley returned home when her mother, Sarah, became ill.

Later that year, with the help of an aunt, Agnes Smedley enrolled in a business school in Greeley, Colorado, after which she worked as a traveling salesperson.

Agnes Smedley published her first writings as editor and contributor to the school paper, Tempe Normal Student.

Roy and Ghosh both moved to Mexico, and recruited Agnes Smedley to help coordinate the group's activities in the United States during their absence, including operating a front office for the group and publishing anti-allied propaganda.

In March 1918, Agnes Smedley was finally arrested by the US Naval Intelligence Bureau.

Agnes Smedley was indicted for violations of the Espionage Act, first in New York and later in San Francisco.

Agnes Smedley was imprisoned for two months, and then released on bail through the efforts of friends such as Rodman.

Agnes Smedley spent the next year and a half fighting the indictments; the New York indictment was dismissed in late 1918, and the government dropped the San Francisco charges in November 1919.

Agnes Smedley then moved to Germany, where she met an Indian communist, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, whom she then lived with for several years in Germany, involved with various left-wing causes.

Agnes Smedley then left Chattopadhyaya and moved to Shanghai, initially as a correspondent for a liberal German newspaper.

In 1933, Agnes Smedley wrote China's Red Army Marches, for which Red Army commanders were her sources.

In China, Agnes Smedley served as a correspondent for the Frankfurter Zeitung and the Manchester Guardian.

Agnes Smedley covered many topics, including the Anti-Japanese War as a major war correspondent.

Agnes Smedley was in Xi'an during the Xi'an Incident of December 1936, and made broadcasts in English for the rebels.

Agnes Smedley then reported on the Second Sino-Japanese War during the Second United Front.

Agnes Smedley traveled to Yan'an in January 1937 and with the 8th Route Army that year.

Agnes Smedley introduced Sorge to Ozaki, who became Sorge's most important informant in Japan.

Douglas MacArthur's chief of intelligence, claimed that Agnes Smedley was a member of the anti-Japanese Sorge spy ring.

Ruth Price, author of the most recent and extensive biography of Agnes Smedley, writes that there is very strong evidence in former Soviet archives that Agnes Smedley was indeed a spy who engaged in espionage for the Comintern and on behalf of the Soviet Union.

Agnes Smedley was devastated by this rejection but remained passionately devoted to the Chinese communist cause.

Agnes Smedley left Yan'an in 1937; thereafter she organized medical supplies and continued writing.

Agnes Smedley was helped later with her book by the actress and writer Wang Ying who was living in the USA during the 1940s.

Agnes Smedley relocated to Washington, DC in 1941 to advocate for China and authored several works on China's revolution.

Agnes Smedley died in the UK in 1950 after surgery for an ulcer.

Agnes Smedley's ashes were buried at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing in 1951.

Agnes Smedley is a featured figure on Judy Chicago's installation piece The Dinner Party, being represented as one of the 999 names on the Heritage Floor.