Lona Cohen

Lona Cohen (, Leontina Vladislavovna Koen; January 11, 1913 – December 23, 1992), born Leontine Theresa Petka, also known as Helen Kroger, was an American who spied for the Soviet Union. She is known for her role in smuggling atomic bomb diagrams out of Los Alamos. She was a communist activist before marrying Morris Cohen. The couple became spies because of their communist beliefs. They were both arrested in Britain in 1961, and convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union the following year. After serving part of a prison sentence, Lona Cohen and her husband were exchanged by the British in 1969. They lived the remainder of their lives in Moscow, teaching spy skills. Early life Lona Cohen was born Leontine Theresa Petka in Adams, Massachusetts, the daughter of Polish Catholic immigrants. At the age of 15, Lona left her parents' home in Taftsville, Connecticut and moved to New York City. By 1928, she had joined the Socialist Party. While in Greenwich Village, Lona had left her parents' Catholic faith and had become an atheist. She also separated from the Socialist Party at this time, becoming a member of the Communist Party. George Blake, a British mole for the Soviet Union, claimed in an interview that Lona was a "very, very resolute woman, very determined." Espionage