The first woman in the world to head an intelligence service has died in Great Britain

Legendary Stella Rimington has passed away — the first woman to lead British counterintelligence MI5

Stella Rimington, who headed the British security service MI5 from 1992 to 1996, has died at the age of 90. This was reported by Sky News.

Rimington made history as the first head of the legendary intelligence agency whose name was officially revealed to the public, and as the first woman to reach the top of the MI5 hierarchy.

The future head of counterintelligence was born in London in 1935. Her path to intelligence began almost by accident — in 1967, after moving to New Delhi with her diplomat husband John Rimington, she took a job in the secretariat of the British High Commission in India. Her immediate superior turned out to be an MI5 representative, which opened the door to the world of intelligence services for her. In 1969, Rimington officially joined MI5, where she was involved in counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and countering sabotage. Her career developed rapidly: in 1990 she became deputy director, and soon headed the entire service.

After retiring in 1996, Rimington revealed her literary talents. She published a memoir titled "Open Secret" and created a series of eight spy novels about a fictional intelligence officer Liz Carlyle, released from 2004 to 2014. As Sky News notes, the famous "M" character from the James Bond films was inspired by Stella Rimington's image.