BMMHS Zoom Talk: They Shoot Spies

They Shoot Spies - the untold story of a remarkable female agent

Speaker: Vivien Newman

This Zoom Talk will be scheduled to start at 7:30pm

Tuesday 6th June 2023; 7:30pm

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In late November 1917, a telegram was delivered to the presiding judge of Marseille’s Military Tribunal. The President of the French Republic had finally reached his decision about a former resident of Geneva, Régina Diana. But who was Régina, what was she doing in Marseille and why, in the middle of the darkest days of World War One, had Raymond Poincaré been called upon to decide her fate?

This talk, full of murk, mystery and intrigue, weaves its way across Switzerland and France demonstrating how seeds sown in the early years of the 20th century grew into a mighty espionage tree. Yet both France and Switzerland seemed determined to keep Régina hidden for 99 years until the past was finally forced to give up its secrets.

About the speaker - Vivien Newman

Viv Newman gained her PhD from the University of Essex for her thesis “Songs of Wartime Lives: Women’s Poetry of the First World War.” A member of the Royal Historical Society, she was selected by the BBC as an ‘Expert Women’ and speaks widely about women in WW1 on radio, national and international conferences as well as for specialist and general interest audiences. Known for disturbing myths and challenging received wisdom about women in the Great War. She is published by Pen and Sword.

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