Robert Lamphere

FBI AgentWashington, DC

Manhattan, NY

Government Official

Listen to Robert Lamphere’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Robert Lamphere (1918-2002) supervised many investigations of Soviet spies during the Cold War. He served as the FBI’s liaison to the top-secret Venona Project, which worked to break Soviet codes and revealed the extent of Soviet espionage in the United States.

His early espionage cases focused on those who attempted to infiltrate the Manhattan Project. In 1950, his interrogation of Klaus Fuchs in London led to the identification and arrest of Harry Gold, David Greenglass, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Robert Lamphere’s Timeline

1918 Feb 14th Born in Wardner, Idaho.

1941 Sep Joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

1947 Transferred to FBI headquarters as a Supervisory Special Agent and placed in charge of counterintelligence on satellite countries of the USSR.

1948 Began work on top-secret Venona project to decode Soviet intelligence cables.

1950 May Interrogated Klaus Fuchs in London.

1955 Left the FBI.

2002 Jan 7th Died of prostate cancer in Tucson, Arizona.

Related Profiles

Russell McNutt

Manhattan, NY

Russell McNutt (1914-2008) was a civil engineer for the Kellex Corporation and Soviet atomic spy. Both studying engineering in New York, McNutt befriended Julius Rosenberg, one of the most well-known Soviet spies and recruiters.

Francis L. Friedman

Chicago, IL

Francis L. Friedman was a theoretical physicist and group leader at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory (“Met Lab”) during the Manhattan Project.

Tom Forkner

Oak Ridge, TN

Tom Forkner was a US Army lieutenant and logistics officer who worked at Oak Ridge, TN and New York, NY during the Manhattan Project.

Bernard T. Feld

Chicago, IL

Bernard T. Feld was a research associate at the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory (“Met Lab”) during the Manhattan Project.