Poyntz, Juliet Stuart (1886–c. 1937)

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Poyntz, Juliet Stuart (1886–c. 1937)

American spy for Soviet secret police. Name variations: Juliet Poyntz; Juliet Stuart Points. Born Juliet Stuart Points (changed name to Poyntz, c. 1913), Nov 25, 1886, in Omaha, Nebraska; disappeared early June 1937; valedictorian at Barnard College, 1907; m. Friedrich Franz Ludwig Glaser (attaché at German consulate in NY), 1913.

Socialist, feminist, and trade unionist, married a Communist (1913) and became a founding member of American Communist Party (1919); listed as 1 of 10 principal Communist leaders of the US in NY Police files, went to work for Soviet secret police (OGPU) as spy (c. 1934); after she witnessed Stalin's purges on a trip to Moscow (1936), broke ties with Communism and was unwilling to continue work for OGPU; left her room at the American Woman's Association Clubhouse in NY one evening in early June 1937 and was never seen again; thought to have been murdered by OGPU.