Dame Stella Rimington, the first female Director General of MI5, died on Sunday at the age of 90. Rimington, who was also the first head of the agency to be publicly identified, died surrounded by her family and her dogs.
Rimington was born in London in 1935 and began her career as an archivist. She was recruited by MI5 in the mid-1960s as a part-time clerk and typist while living in New Delhi with her husband. She joined the agency full-time in 1969 and worked in counter-espionage, counter-subversion, and counter-terrorism before becoming Director General in 1992.
Rimington's time as Director General, which lasted until 1996, saw the organization become more open to the public. She was the first Director General to be publicly named upon appointment, and her tenure is credited with inspiring the casting of Judi Dench as the character "M" in the James Bond films. After leaving MI5, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath.
Following her retirement from MI5, Rimington became a successful author of spy thrillers. She published her autobiography, *Open Secret*, in 2001 and went on to write a series of novels featuring the fictional MI5 officer Liz Carlyle. Her books also included a series with a new heroine, CIA officer Manon Tyler, with the latest book in that series, *The Hidden Hand*, being published in 2025.
