Stella Rimington, the first female director of the British intelligence service MI5, passed away on Sunday at the age of ninety. That was announced on Monday. Rimington served as the inspiration for the female character ‘M’ in several James Bond films.
“She died surrounded by her beloved family and dogs,” several British media quote from a family statement.
As the first female head of an intelligence service in the world, Rimington broke barriers “and was a visible example of the importance of diversity at the top,” according to the current Director-General of MI5, Ken McCallum, in a statement.
Rimington led the security service as director-general between 1992 and 1996. She ensured greater transparency within the service and was the first director whose name was announced.
‘Secrecy is not an end in itself’
“We are of course obliged to keep information secret in order to be effective, but that does not mean that we necessarily have to be a completely secret organization,” Rimington said in a lecture in 1994. “Secrecy is not an end in itself,” she emphasized.
Rimington is generally regarded as the inspiration for the character ‘M’ that actress Judi Dench played in various James Bond films. In the film Skyfall (2012), Ralph Fiennes took over as the ‘new’ M.
Rimington joined MI5 in 1969 and held various positions, including in the field of counter-espionage and counter-terrorism.
Rimington was knighted by the British Queen Elizabeth in 1996. That is one of the highest honors of the British state. After her time as boss at M15, Rimington published her memoirs Open Secret about her career with the previously secret organization. She also wrote a series of spy novels.