Rudolf Abel: biography, activity, photo

A famous scout was born in 1903 in the UK. His parents were Russian revolutionaries, sent to Europe for their activities. At birth, the child will be called William Fisher (after Shakespeare). The name of Rudolf Abel will entrench him after his arrest, when he will be a spy in the United States.

Childhood

Father Henry Fisher was from a family of Russian Germans who lived in the Yaroslavl province. He was a convinced Marxist and met Lenin in the 90s of the XIX century. An activist and propagandist, he was arrested and deported abroad. My mother was a native of Saratov and also engaged in revolutionary activities. Together with her husband, she distributed a newspaper "Iskra" among workers.

It is interesting that Abel's father constantly changed his names to confuse the tsarist secret police, which persecuted the revolutionaries. Therefore, the family has preserved the tradition of calling Henry differently. So, the younger Fisher in letters addressed him as Andrei.

The child from the earliest childhood was distinguished by a multitude of talents. He was able in the natural sciences, liked to draw and play musical instruments. His artistic talent helped him in the United States, when one of his portraits was donated to then-President John Kennedy.

As a child, Rudolph Abel was distinguished by the character of a fool. With a friend, he hijacked the boats of English fishermen, even though he could not swim and was terribly afraid of water.

Homecoming

The future Abel Rudolf Ivanovich never had time to finish his studies in England, because a revolution took place in Russia. The Bolsheviks came to power, and his family, as the oldest members of the organization, returned to Moscow and even lived in the Kremlin. Mother made friends with her sister Mary. However, life in Russia almost immediately was overshadowed by tragedy. One day the family went to bathe on the river, and the older brother of the young man, Harry, drowned in it.

In the twenties, Rudolph Abel often changed jobs. At first he was an interpreter in the Executive Committee of the Communist International. Later he entered one of the recently opened Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops.

It was 1925, and Abel Rudolf Ivanovich was in the army. He became a radio operator in the radio telegraph regiment. In the service he was carried away by technique, which helped him in his future career. On the same line later I got to the Military Air Force Research Institute. There he was a brilliant radio technician. Then he married Elena Lebedeva, a musician who played the harp. The couple had a single daughter.

Finally, in 1927, knowledge of foreign languages and family ties lead Abel to the OGPU, or more precisely, to the Foreign Intelligence Department. Here he was able to apply all his talents. At first he was a full-time translator, later he was again a radio operator.

Work on foreign intelligence

A capable young man was sent to the UK. He was helped by the fact that he himself was born in this country and lived there part of his childhood. Throughout almost the entire 30-ies, Abel performed illegal orders for intelligence. In particular, he was the radio operator of European residences in Norway and the UK.

One of his most delicate assignments of the time was the order to persuade the famous physicist Petr Kapitsa to return to his homeland. He lived and taught in Oxford, only on vacation, returning to the USSR. However, Stalin personally wanted the scientist to leave in the country in any way, as at that time there was a feeling of outflow of qualified personnel.

Therefore very soon a new friend and guest Rudolf Abel appeared in the family of the scientist. The biography of the scout allowed him to easily enter into the credibility of Kapitza, if only because he himself was well versed in physics. In addition, the illegal immigrant had an excellent language - he convinced the scientist that in the country of the Soviets there are all conditions for life and work.

He assured that Peter Leonidovich could always return to England. However, when he was in the USSR, the border for him was closed, and he remained at home.

In the late 1930s, the NKVD carried out mass purges, which Rudolf Abel did not escape. Photos of that time could be found in the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, where he settled after his dismissal. However, he was lucky: he was not shot or even arrested.

In addition, the war began, and the former scout was returned to service. Now he trained radio operators who were to go to the rear to the Germans. It was in those years that his friend became another scout Rudolf Abel. The pseudonym of William Fisher is taken from here.

Service in the USA

True, this was not his only fake name. When after the war Abel was sent to the United States, the scout lived with different passports, also called a Lithuanian and a German artist. His place of residence was New York, where he started his own photo studio, which played the role of an effective cover. It was from here that he directed the vast Soviet intelligence network in America.

His official nickname was Mark. In the late 1940s, he worked with the famous scouts spouses Cohen. Abel's activities were effective - the country received specific documents and information.

Arrest

However, in 1957, the scout was handed over to the CIA. In his entourage, a traitor began. It was the radio operator Vic, who gave the American authorities information about the agent network.

When the arrest occurred, Fischer introduced himself as Rudolf Abel. It was under this name that he went down in history. Despite the fact that he did not admit his guilt, the court sentenced him to 32 years' imprisonment. Abel was in solitary confinement in Atlanta and so would have stayed there until the end of the term, had it not been for Soviet intelligence to return his resident.

Release

When the American pilot Francis Powers was shot down in Sverdlovsk in 1960, he was also sentenced to 10 years in the Vladimir central. However, the diplomacy of the two countries agreed to exchange prisoners.

The operation was carried out in Berlin on the Glinicki Bridge on February 10, 1962. This was the boundary between the Western and Eastern worlds, where two political systems came into contact. Soon the bridge was called "spyware", since there were at least three more cases of exchanging discovered spies. In addition to Powers, a student, Frédéric Pryor, who was arrested on suspicion of espionage, returned to the United States.

Rudolf Abel returned to service in government after a little treatment. He began teaching and teaching young scouts. In 1968, he became known throughout the country thanks to the detective "The Dead Season". The film was based on the facts of his biography, and the scout himself became an adviser to the picture.

William Fisher died after a fight with lung cancer in 1971. He is buried in the New Don Cemetery. The story of his life inspired writer Vadim Kozhevnikov to create a popular novel "Shield and Sword", which was later screened.