Ian Fleming
1908 – 1964 British author, naval intelligence officer
Creator of James Bond, whose 007 code number descends from John Dee's private cipher for Elizabeth I.
- Religion
- Church of England background; not notably devout.
- Affiliations
- British Naval Intelligence Division in the Second World War, the experience behind James Bond.
Ian Fleming worked in British naval intelligence during the Second World War, then turned his knowledge of spycraft into the James Bond novels, beginning with Casino Royale in 1953. The films that followed made 007 the most famous spy in the world.
The number itself reaches back to John Dee. As Elizabeth I's intelligencer, Dee signed his secret reports to the Queen with two small circles, for his own eyes, followed by an elongated seven, a glyph read as 'for your eyes only'. Fleming, steeped in the history of British espionage, took the 00 'licence to kill' prefix and Dee's seven and gave them to Bond, so the most modern of spies carries the mark of the first.
Connections
- influenced John Dee — Bond's 007 descends from Dee's cipher to Elizabeth I: two circles 'for your own eyes' and an elongated seven meaning 'for your eyes only'.