Virginia Hall MBE DSC (April 6, 1906 - July 14, 1982) was an American spy during World War II. She was also known by many aliases: "Marie Monin", "Germaine", "Diane", and "Camille."[1] The Germans gave her the nickname Artemis. The Gestapo considered her "the most dangerous of all allied spies."[2]

She was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended prestigious Radcliffe College and Barnard College (Columbia University)[3], but wanted to finish her studies in Europe. With help from her parents, she traveled the Continent and studied in France, Germany, and Austria, finally landing an appointment as a Consular Service clerk at the American Embassy in Warsaw, Poland in 1931. Hall hoped to join the Foreign Service, but suffered a terrible setback around 1932 when she accidentally shot herself in the left leg while hunting in Turkey. It was later amputated from the knee down, and replaced with a wooden appendage she named "Cuthbert."[4] The injury foreclosed whatever chance she might have had for a diplomatic career, and she resigned from the Department of State in 1939.