FAMOUS SPIES

MATA HARI

One of the most famous spies was Mata Hari. She was born in The Netherlands in 1876 and her real name was Gertrud Zelle. She decided to become an exotic dancer and change her name to Mata Hari.  It is Javanese name and means child of the dawn.

When she first appeared in 1905 where men like ambassadors, politicians and police chiefs fought for her attention. There is evidence of her spying activities and nothing is known for certain. However, it was said that she kept asking for military secrets and she passed it on to the Germans.  This allegation came from the French authorities when they arrested her in January 1917.

Mata Hari denied it and insisted that she was spying for France. The court did not accept it and contempt her to death by firing squad.

Gary Powers US pilot was shot down over Soviet Union’s territory in 1960. It was at the height of the cold war and the whole world held its breath. He stood trial in Russian court for spying. Of course the details will never be revealed but President John F Kennedy got him freed by denying it and stating Gary Powers lost course and straight into Soviet territory. After a lot of diplomatic rope pulling they got him free by exchanging him with a Russian spy. Afterwards the USA admitted that Gary Powers was spying with his U-2 spy plane. Today air crafts and satellites are used to gather information about weapons and troop movements.

Usually the spies do not disguise themselves. They assume different identities or live a normal live but under cover. In the 18^th century one spy made an exception. His name, believe it or not, was Charles Genevieve Louis Auguste Andre Timothee d’Eton de Beaumont. He was known as Chevalier d’Eton and was born in Paris 1728. He was one of the finest swordsmen in France. His other talent was a great female impersonator. These two abilities made King Louis XV decide to send him to the court of the Russian Empress Elizabeth as a spy.  Elizabeth was delighted with ‘Lia de Beaumont’ and made her a maid-in-waiting.  D’Eton gain great confidence in the Empress Elizabeth. Even when he decided to drop his disguise Elizabeth enjoyed the deception and made him an officer in the Imperial Russian Army.

He later fled to London and lived in exile till he died in 1810 at the age of 82.

Kim Philby work for the MI6 and was thought to be the head in the near future. When he was tipped off in 1963 he fled to Moscow. He was a undercover agent and worked for the KGB for 25 years

AUTHOR OF 
'SPYCATCHER' --
 PETER WRIGHT

An ex-officer for the MI5, Peter Wright, wrote a book ‘Spycatcher’ in which he alleged that the one-time head of the service, Sir Roger Hollis, had been a Soviet Agent. The government tried to stop the book being printed and distributed but they failed.