Odette Sansom (Odette Hallowes) was a heroine of World War II who worked as a spy for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), an organization assigned to support resistance movements in occupied Europe. Born on April …
Noor Inayat Khan was a British secret agent during the Second World War. Of Indian and American descent, she was also a writer and a musician. Born on January 1, 1914, in Moscow, Russia, she …
Leopold Trepper was an accomplished Soviet spy, born on February 23, 1904, in Nowy Targ, Poland. He is most famous for his role as the head of the Soviet espionage network known as the Red …
Ramon Mercader, also known as Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio, was a Spanish-born Soviet secret agent famously recognized for assassinating Leon Trotsky. He was born on February 7, 1913, and was introduced to the Soviet …
Who Was Ramon Mercader (Jaime Ramon Mercader del Rio)? Read More »
Vasili Mitrokhin was a high-ranking KGB archivist and defector who played a substantial role in unveiling Soviet intelligence activities during the Cold War. Born in Central Russia in 1922, he joined the Soviet intelligence agency …
Jonathan Pollard was an American intelligence analyst who became one of the most notorious spies of his generation. Born in 1954, Pollard was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy when he began spying …
Konon Molody, better known by his Anglicized name, Gordon Lonsdale, was a famous Soviet intelligence operative in the United Kingdom during the height of the Cold War. Born in Moscow in 1922, Molody eventually made …
Anthony Blunt was a prominent British art historian who served as the director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, as well as the Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures, a role he held from 1945 to …
Donald Maclean was a British diplomat and member of the infamous “Cambridge Five” spy ring. Born in 1913 in London, Maclean studied at Cambridge University, where he was recruited to spy for the Soviet Union. …
Guy Burgess was an English diplomat and radio producer who was also a member of the Cambridge Spy Ring. Born in Devon, England, in 1911, Burgess attended both Eton and Cambridge before joining the Secret …
Ana Montes was a senior intelligence analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in the United States, known for her role as a spy for the Cuban Intelligence Directorate over a period of sixteen years. …
James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved African American who became a spy for the American Colonists during the Revolutionary War. Born into slavery in Virginia, he was given permission by his owner to enlist with …
Eli Cohen was an extraordinary spy for Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, during the early 1960s. Born in 1924 in Egypt to a Syrian-Jewish family, Cohen emigrated to Israel in 1957, where he was later recruited …
Dusan Popov, also known as Tricycle, was a prominent World War II double agent. Born in Serbia in 1912, he quickly developed a refined sense of adventure and charisma, which later proved pivotal in his …
Christopher Andrew Boyce was an American defense industry employee who was convicted of selling U.S. spy satellite secrets to the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He studied at California State University and later managed to …
Oleg Penkovsky was a Colonel in the Soviet Military Intelligence (GRU) who later became a spy for the West during the Cold War era. Born in 1919 in Vladikavkaz, Russian SFSR, he served in various …
Markus Wolf was a prominent figure in the world of international espionage during the Cold War era. Rising to prominence as the head of East Germany’s foreign intelligence division (the Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung, or HVA) under …
Dmitri Bystrolyotov was a significant figure in Soviet intelligence during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Russia in 1901, he was energetic, engaging, and highly intelligent. He joined the Soviet secret police, known as OGPU …
Carl Lody, better known by his alias Charles A. Inglis, was a German spy active during the early stages of World War I. Originally serving in the German Navy, Lody was picked for intelligence duties …
Josephine Baker was a revered American-born French entertainer, civil rights activist, and World War II spy. Known for her energetic performances and brazen style, she took the French entertainment industry by storm during the roaring …
George Blake was a former British intelligence officer who became one of the most successful double agents for the Soviets during the Cold War. He was born in 1922 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to a Dutch …
Elyesa Bazna, better known by his code name Cicero, was born in Pristina, Albania in 1904. However, he grew to prominence right in the middle of World War II while working as a valet for …
Allen Dulles was a prominent figure in the realm of international espionage and U.S. politics. He served as the fifth director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1953 to 1961, making him the longest-serving …
Richard Sorge is known as one of the most illustrious spies in history. Born in 1895 in Baku, Russia, Sorge became renowned for his involvement in high-risk espionage that allowed him to provide vital information …
