Klebb

Lore & Background

In the novel, Klebb is a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, where she served as an infiltrator in the ranks of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). She was rumoured to be both the mistress of Andreu Nin i Perez and the assassin who killed him. In the present of the novel, she is in her late 40s when tasked by her superior to get revenge on James Bond for his involvement in the deaths of three SMERSH operatives. After questioning one of her allies, Bond confronts Klebb in Paris. She successfully poisons Bond with a toxin-laced blade, but she is captured by Bond's friend René Mathis. The following novel depicts Bond's recovery from the toxin, but mentions that Klebb died in the intervening time between the novels. The circumstances of her death are not explained. Klebb and Pussy Galore have been described as the 'two memorable lesbians' from Ian Fleming's Bond novels, but Klebb is depicted as a typical butch.

In Their Own Story

The air in the Severnaya control room was cold, but Rosa Klebb's voice was colder. 'You are too late, Bond,' she said, her fingers hovering over the console. 'The satellite will fire, and your precious London will burn.' Bond stepped from the shadows, his PP7 trained on her. 'You talk too much, Klebb.' She smiled, a thin, cruel line. 'And you are too predictable.' In a flash, she lunged, a knife appearing in her hand. The fight was swift, brutal — a clash of wills in the dim light of the control panels. Bond disarmed her with a sharp blow, sending the knife skittering across the floor. As she crumpled, he keyed the abort sequence. 'Game over, Rosa.'

Reader's Guide

In the film, Rosa Klebb is depicted as the former SMERSH head who has defected to become a member of SPECTRE (Ernst Stavro Blofeld refers to her as 'No. 3'). She uses Tov Kronsteen's plans to obtain the Lektor, a decoding device, and kill James Bond. She manipulates Tatiana Romanova into helping Bond steal the Lektor, and then sends Red Grant to kill Bond and recover it. After Bond kills Grant and escapes to Venice with the Lektor, Blofeld confronts both Klebb and Kronsteen; Kronsteen is executed, whilst Klebb is given one last chance. Posing as a hotel maid, Klebb attempts to take the Lektor; when caught, she points a .25 Beretta 418 pistol at Bond. Tatiana distracts her, causing her to drop the Beretta, and Bond and Klebb fight. Klebb attempts to kick Bond with a poison-tipped shoe, but Bond blocks the attack with a chair. Tatiana then shoots Klebb with her own Beretta, killing her.

Did You Know?

• Klebb's name is sometimes thought to be a pun on the Soviet phrase 'khleb i rozy' (bread and roses), but this is speculative and not confirmed by Ian Fleming or official sources.
• In the novel, Klebb is a high-ranking member of SMERSH, serving as supervisor of Department II (operations and executions).
• Ian Fleming intended to end the Bond series with Bond's death at the end of From Russia, with Love.
• Rosa Klebb's shoe blade has been featured in other films such as Kingsman: The Secret Service, but not in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.