Rosa Klebb

Lore & Background

Klebb's name is a pun on the Soviet phrase for women's rights, khleb i rozy (Cyrillic: хлеб и розы), a translation of the labour union slogan 'bread and roses'. In the novel, she is a veteran of the Spanish Civil War, where she served as an infiltrator in 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 rain had not stopped for three days. Klebb sat in the corner of the hotel restaurant, a glass of water untouched before her, watching the man at table nine through the scarred half of her face. He was eating. Laughing, even, at something his companion whispered. She set her purse on the table and withdrew the stiletto with the slow, unhurried grace of a woman reaching for a napkin. The blade caught the overhead light for a fraction of a second. By the time the man's laughter faltered into a wet cough, she was already standing, already walking toward the door, already gone. The companion would later tell the police she had been a waitress. No one believed him. No one ever did.

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 Stavo 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, 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, she 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. For the screen, Klebb's sexuality was made less obvious; a few hints remain, such as her reaction to when SPECTRE henchman Morzeny touches her arm, and when she appraises Romanova's figure and touches her leg.

Did You Know?

• Klebb's name is a pun on the Soviet phrase 'khleb i rozy' (bread and roses).
• Her signature weapon is a poison-laced blade hidden in her shoe.
• She was rumoured to be both the mistress and the assassin of Andreu Nin i Perez.
• In the film, she is killed by Tatiana Romanova with a gunshot, but not explicitly with her own Beretta.