Top 05 Best Spies In History
Cropped 1918 passport photo of famous spy agent Sidney Reilly. This passport was issued under his pseudonym George Bergman
Cropped 1918 passport photo of famous spy agent Sidney Reilly. This passport was issued under his pseudonym George Bergman
Sidney Reilly, one of the main models for the James Bond character, was a master spy who worked for a number of governments in the early 20th century. Known as the "Ace of Spies," Reilly was an expert at deception and self-promotion, so many accounts of his life are unreliable. We know he was a master of disguise and often crossed national borders under assumed identities to steal military secrets, construction plans, and prototype aircraft. He was also known for his promiscuous personality and often used his charm to seduce the wives of politicians and military men in order to obtain information from them.
In his most famous exploit, Reilly served as the leader of a British intelligence team involved in an attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik government in Russia in 1917. He helped organize a failed coup and led an assassination attempt against Vladimir Lenin, but his group eventually found out and he escaped imprisonment by fleeing to Finland, admitting only that he was a German citizen. He was sentenced to death in absentia by the Russian government and lured back to the Soviet Union in 1925 as part of hostilities and captured. Although he never confessed to being a spy, he was eventually shot and executed.
4. Fritz Joubert Duquesne
Fritz Joubert Duquesne was a larger-than-life writer, soldier, and adventurer who rose to fame as a spy for the Germans during World Wars I and II. As a young man, he fought against England in his native South Africa during the First and Second Boer Wars, at one point enlisting in the British army to sabotage missions and report on troop movements. This experience helped foster a lifelong hatred of all things British, and when World War I began, Duquesne began working as a spy for the Germans, eventually planting bombs on several British ships that sank at sea.
He was captured in 1917 and extradited to New York, but after two years in prison he made a daring escape by cutting the bars of his cell and scaling the prison walls. He disappeared for a while, worked as a freelance journalist and even wrote his autobiography, then resurfaced with the outbreak of World War II and resumed spying for the Germans. His espionage days ended in 1942 when Duquesne and 33 other German spies were arrested in what became known as the largest espionage crime in American history.
3. Nathan Hale
Considered by many to be America's first spy, Nathan Hale was a soldier in the Continental Army who volunteered to go on a dangerous intelligence-gathering mission behind enemy lines in 1776. Hale, then only 21 years old, entered New York in disguise to report on British troop movements, but after the city fell to the British, he was discovered and captured by a British officer. Although espionage was not widely practiced at the time, Hale was accused of being an illegal fighter and hanged a few days after his capture. This speech and his espionage activities cemented Hale's reputation as one of the heroes of the Revolutionary War, and to this day his statue stands outside CIA headquarters.
2. Kim Philby
Perhaps the most famous Cold War double agent, Kim Philby, was a globe-trotting British spy who was de facto socialist under the control of the Soviet KGB. In a career that took him to Spain, Africa, the United States, Istanbul and Moscow, Philby earned a reputation as one of Britain's most accomplished spies, but all the while secretly sending information to the Soviet embassy in Paris. In the late forties, he was assigned to act as an intermediary between the British and US intelligence agencies in Washington. During this time, he passed on important information about US weapons and stockpiles of atomic weapons, and many believe that these reports influenced Joseph Stalin's political activities. making decisions and helping lead to the Korean War. Throughout his career, Philby was suspected by British intelligence as a possible Soviet spy, but they were unable to prove anything. He continued to work for Soviet intelligence. Until his death in 1988, he was awarded numerous posthumous awards by the Russian government.
1. Mata Hari
Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, AKA Mata Hari, now known as the prototype femme fatale, was a famous exotic dancer and performer executed in 1917 for spying for the Germans during World War I. He gained fame in Paris for his risque dances and performances. , and when the war broke out, she was the mistress and escort of many high-profile businessmen and military personnel.
When questioned by British intelligence, he claimed to be a secret spy for the French, but their government denied this. The French soon intercepted a German radio station detailing the activities of one of their most successful spies. Evidence pointed to Mata Hari as the culprit, and she was quickly arrested and charged with contributing to the deaths of 50,000 people. He was found guilty at trial and executed by firing squad in October 1917. Although it has never been established whether she was actually working for the Germans or the French, Mata Hari continues to be remembered as one of the most famous spies of all time.
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