Obituary: Graduate Dame Stella Rimington, former MI5 director general, dies at 90
The University of Liverpool is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dame Stella Rimington, a distinguished alumna and pioneering intelligence officer who went on to become the first female director general of MI5. Dame Stella passed away peacefully on Sunday night surrounded by her family and dogs at the age of 90.
Born in London in 1935, Dame Stella lived in Merseyside during two key periods in her life. The first was during the Second World War when, aged just five, she was evacuated from London to Wallasey and watched Liverpool burn from inside her grandmother’s Anderson Shelter throughout the Blitz.
The second time Dame Stella lived in the region was as a postgraduate, studying for her Diploma in Record and Archives administration at the University of Liverpool. She lived on Canning Street during her time at the University and, although she said her student digs were shared with too many cats, the order and mystery she found in the world of archives provided an unlikely but helpful stepping stone towards her future career in intelligence. Later in life, as the Head of MI5, she would observe that one major difference between the British Secret Service and the Russian KGB was that while the latter had much more information, the former was far better organised.
Following early archival work in Worcester and at the Indian Office Library, Dame Stella accompanied her husband on a diplomatic posting to Delhi. It was there, in a chance conversation, that she was invited to become a part-time typist for the British High Commission – a modest start to what would become a trailblazing career.
On her return to the UK in 1969, she joined MI5 full-time. Dame Stella went on to work in counter-subversion, counter-espionage and counter-terrorism, becoming the Director of each of these operational branches before becoming MI5’s first female director general in 1992. Dame Stella guided the Service through the post-Cold War period and into an era increasingly focused on counterterrorism and balancing the State’s need to protect against the invasion of citizen’s civil liberties. Dame Stella worked as director general until 1996 and was widely credited as being the inspiration for Dame Judi Dench’s M in the James Bond films.
After leaving M15, Dame Stella was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath, wrote her autobiography, Open Secret, and went on to publish a successful series of spy novels.
The University was proud to award Dame Stella an honorary Doctor of Laws in 2005 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to national security and public life. She will be remembered with deep respect and admiration.
Our thoughts are with her family, friends and former colleagues.
Dame Stella’s education and career highlights:
- Nottingham Girls’ High School
- Edinburgh University, Masters in English Language and Literature
- University of Liverpool, Diploma in Archives and Record Management 1959
- Archivist in Worcestershire Country Archives
- Archivist India Office Library in London
- Clerk typist, MI5 office in the British High Commission in New Delhi
- Joined the MI5 back in the UK in 1969 until 1996. She became Director of each of the operational branches of the service before becoming Director General in 1992
- Published her autobiography, Open Secret in 2001
- Took part in the First Women Exhibition at St George’s Hall in 2019
- Received an Honorary Doctor of Laws (Hon LLD) 2005 from the University of Liverpool
- Published 10 books in the Liz Carlyle series and a fiction book in 2022 following CIA officer Manon Tyler