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Ric Throssell
Ric Prichard Throssell (10 May 1922 – 20 April 1999) was an Australian diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts, and memoirs. For most of his professional life as a diplomat his career was dogged by unproven allegations that he either leaked classified information to his mother, the writer and communist Katharine Susannah Prichard, or was himself a spy for the Soviet Union.
Ric Prichard Throssell was born on 10 May 1922 in Western Australia, in the Perth suburb of Greenmount. His father was Hugo Throssell, a winner of the Victoria Cross at Gallipoli in 1915, and son of a former Premier of Western Australia, George Throssell. His mother was the writer Katharine Susannah Prichard. Ric was their only child. He was nicknamed after his father's late brother Frank Erick "Ric" Cottrell Throssell, who was killed at the 2nd Battle of Gaza in 1917. Prichard was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia in 1919, and remained a member for the rest of her life.
Ric Throssell attended Wesley College, Perth.
On 19 November 1933, while his mother was on a six-month visit to the Soviet Union, his father Hugo committed suicide. His business ventures had failed in the Great Depression, and he entertained the hope that his wife would now qualify for a war widow's pension.
Although Ric had hoped to be a film director, with the approach of World War II commencing he began work as a school monitor, while attending lectures at the University of Western Australia. He then trained as a primary school teacher at Claremont Teachers College.
On 19 September 1941 Throssell enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces of the Australian Army. He transferred to the Australian Imperial Force on 11 July 1942, and served in New Guinea with the Milne Force Signals from 21 August. After being selected for the diplomatic cadet program with the Department of External Affairs, he was discharged with the rank of lance corporal in June 1943.
In 1943, he joined the diplomatic service, his first posting being to Moscow in 1945, as Third Secretary. His first wife, Bea, died suddenly of polio in 1946 while they were in Moscow, and he returned to Canberra. In the late 1940s Throssell was an adviser to H. V. Evatt in the latter's capacity as President of the United Nations General Assembly.[citation needed]
From 1949 to 1951 he was posted at the Australian Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Ric Throssell
Ric Prichard Throssell (10 May 1922 – 20 April 1999) was an Australian diplomat and author whose writings included novels, plays, film and television scripts, and memoirs. For most of his professional life as a diplomat his career was dogged by unproven allegations that he either leaked classified information to his mother, the writer and communist Katharine Susannah Prichard, or was himself a spy for the Soviet Union.
Ric Prichard Throssell was born on 10 May 1922 in Western Australia, in the Perth suburb of Greenmount. His father was Hugo Throssell, a winner of the Victoria Cross at Gallipoli in 1915, and son of a former Premier of Western Australia, George Throssell. His mother was the writer Katharine Susannah Prichard. Ric was their only child. He was nicknamed after his father's late brother Frank Erick "Ric" Cottrell Throssell, who was killed at the 2nd Battle of Gaza in 1917. Prichard was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia in 1919, and remained a member for the rest of her life.
Ric Throssell attended Wesley College, Perth.
On 19 November 1933, while his mother was on a six-month visit to the Soviet Union, his father Hugo committed suicide. His business ventures had failed in the Great Depression, and he entertained the hope that his wife would now qualify for a war widow's pension.
Although Ric had hoped to be a film director, with the approach of World War II commencing he began work as a school monitor, while attending lectures at the University of Western Australia. He then trained as a primary school teacher at Claremont Teachers College.
On 19 September 1941 Throssell enlisted in the Citizen Military Forces of the Australian Army. He transferred to the Australian Imperial Force on 11 July 1942, and served in New Guinea with the Milne Force Signals from 21 August. After being selected for the diplomatic cadet program with the Department of External Affairs, he was discharged with the rank of lance corporal in June 1943.
In 1943, he joined the diplomatic service, his first posting being to Moscow in 1945, as Third Secretary. His first wife, Bea, died suddenly of polio in 1946 while they were in Moscow, and he returned to Canberra. In the late 1940s Throssell was an adviser to H. V. Evatt in the latter's capacity as President of the United Nations General Assembly.[citation needed]
From 1949 to 1951 he was posted at the Australian Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.