Agnes Smedley

Agnes Smedley (1892–1950) was an American journalist and writer, well-known for her semi-autobiographical novel Daughter of Earth as well as for her sympathetic chronicling of the Communist forces in the Chinese Civil War. During World War I, she worked in the United States for the independence of India from the United Kingdom, receiving financial support from the German government. Subsequently, she went to China, where she was suspected of acting as a spy for the Comintern. As the lover of Soviet super spy Richard Sorge in Shanghai during the early 1930s, Smedley helped get him established for his final and greatest work as spymaster in Tokyo. She also worked on behalf of various causes including women's rights, birth control, and children's welfare. Smedley wrote six books, including a novel, reportage, and a biography of the Chinese general Zhu De; reported for newspapers such as New York Call, Frankfurter Zeitung, and Manchester Guardian; and contributed to periodicals such as the Modern Review, New Masses, Asia, New Republic, and The Nation.