First Lady of Intelligence: Roberta Wohlstetter, 1912-2007

The Weekly Standard will publish "First Lady of Intelligence,"* my appreciation piece of the late Roberta Wohlstetter in its January 22nd issue. The text of the article, however, is now available on the magazine's website.

* N.B. In the article I mistakenly referred to Paul Baran as "Hungarian-born." Baran was actually born in town that was once part of Poland, but is today part of Belarus.

Update (January 20, 2007 @ 12:37 PM CT): The Weekly Standard has kindly published a correction that draws on my recent e-mail corresonpdence with Paul Baran:

CORRECTION

IN ROBERT ZARATE's article on the late Roberta Wohlstetter, we referred in passing to a RAND colleague of Wohlstetter's, Paul Baran, as a "Hungarian-born" engineer ("First Lady of Intelligence," Jan. 22). Baran, one of the inventors of the packet-switched network, was in fact born in what is now Belarus. He emails to clarify that "it was Poland" at the time of his birth. "My brother, my sister, and I were all born in the same house, but in three different countries: Germany, Russia, and Poland. Now it is Belarus." He adds: "I am flattered to be thought to have come from Hungary. I was 2 years old at the time I decided to come to America. Best damn decision I ever made."

My apologies to Paul Baran, whose birthplace I had confused in my mind with that of Paul Weidlinger.

Posted by Robert at January 13, 2007 9:27 AM