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Charles Milne Skepper MBE (26 February 1905 – on or after 4 April 1944), was an economist and socialist intellectual who joined the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) to operate in occupied France during the Second World War carrying out sabotage and spying missions until he was taken prisoner. He was tortured for information and subsequently murdered by the ''Gestapo''. ==Pre-war life== Skepper was born in Richmond, London, the son of Henry and Mary Skepper. He and his younger sister (Mabel Mary known as Mary) spent much of their early lives in France particularly in Paris,〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 although Skepper studied at Queen Elizabeth’s School in Cranbrook from September 1914 to July 1920. He was a highly intelligent student with a deep interest in social justice and a gifted linguist from an early age, he learned to speak perfect French and then German and Spanish. In later life he learned some Russian and good Chinese.〔(LSE Website – Charles Milne Skepper )〕〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 Skepper had deeply held political views from a relatively early age being a serious socialist and after deep consideration over a long period he decided that he was an atheist. He was attracted to theoretical communism and became a member of the "Friends of the Soviet Union" a factor recorded by MI5 in London〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 and in the late 1920s travelling by train he made two visits to the Soviet Union. These visits changed his earlier positive views of Soviet Communism and turned him away from that path.〔(LSE Website – Charles Milne Skepper )〕 His father later stated that after his visits he came to regard communism as fascism under a different guise.〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 Skepper was a student at the London School of Economics (LSE) from 1926 to 1929, earning a Bachelor of Science degree First in Economics his specialist subject was Sociology. Some older sources state that he gained a BA, however they were apparently based on one single source which has since been corrected since digitalised.〔(Commonwealth War Graves Commission- Brookwood Memorial Register )〕 before a brief period as a graduate student during which time he lived in an apartment on Great Ormond Street, in central London.〔Ancestry. London. Electoral Registry 1832-1965. Holborn, 1929.1930〕 with his sister Mabel Mary Skepper who was also a student at the LSE. He did not complete his doctorate but worked as an assistant teacher of Sociology from 1930 to 1932 when he moved home to 27 Gordon Square also in central London.〔Ancestry. London. Electoral Registry 1832-1965. St.Pancras 1932.1933〕 In 1931 Skepper was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship.〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 Throughout the remainder of the 1930s he was in a partnership operating from near Paris, trading in antiques and travelling in the trade between France and Beijing where he lived for sometime.〔(LSE Website – Charles Milne Skepper )〕 He became deeply interested in modern art and purchased paintings by Da Silva, Max Ernst and Edouard Cortes, his collection was stolen from the family home at Rueil-Malmaison near Paris during the Second World War.〔Binney (2005), p.270〕 On 9 September 1932 he applied for a Visa to visit the USA from his home in Paris and sailed on 24 September 1932 from Le Havre aboard the British ocean liner "Samaria" returning some weeks later. On 14 April 1936 he sailed to New York from England aboard the ocean liner ''Aquitania'' declaring himself to be a "Dealer"〔FindMyPast- Passenger List- Chas M Skepper〕 on a visit to Japan from which he returned sailing from Yokohama for the USA on 26 July 1936 aboard the US liner "President Jackson" with his 61-year-old mother.〔Ancestry, US Immingration Records, 1936〕 Travelling to China he sailed from Southampton for New York again on 2 February 1937 aboard the French steamer ''Champlain'' describing himself as a tourist,〔Ancestry. Passenger Lists. 1937. Charles Milne Skepper]〕 arriving in New York on 9 February 1937 he crossed the US by railway before journeying onward from San Francisco on 20 March 1937 aboard the US ocean liner "President Taft" bound for Honolulu. On the final leg of his journey Skepper sailed from Honolulu on 8 April 1937 aboard the US ocean liner "President Hoover" to disembark at Shanghai.〔Ancestry, Passenger records - Charles Skepper, various〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles Skepper」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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