Rudolf Ivanovich Abel(1903-1971)
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel is a Soviet intelligence officer, colonel. Since childhood, he showed a special interest in natural sciences. He also played the piano, mandolin and guitar. He drew a lot, made sketches of acquaintances, painted still lifes. At the age of 15, he got a job as a draftsman's apprentice at a shipyard. At the age of 16, he successfully passed the exam at the University of London.
In 1920, the Fisher family returned to Soviet Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship, without renouncing their English citizenship, and together with the families of other prominent revolutionaries, lived for a time on the territory of the Kremlin.
Fisher served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He later served in an instructional role before taking part in intelligence operations against the Germans during World War II. After the war, he began working for the KGB, which sent him to the United States where he worked as part of a spy ring based in New York City.
In 1957, Fisher was convicted in US federal court on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Georgia. He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American pilot Francis Gary Powers and Yale University doctoral student Frederic L. Pryor. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. His real identity and country of birth were only revealed after his death.
In 1920, the Fisher family returned to Soviet Russia and accepted Soviet citizenship, without renouncing their English citizenship, and together with the families of other prominent revolutionaries, lived for a time on the territory of the Kremlin.
Fisher served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He later served in an instructional role before taking part in intelligence operations against the Germans during World War II. After the war, he began working for the KGB, which sent him to the United States where he worked as part of a spy ring based in New York City.
In 1957, Fisher was convicted in US federal court on three counts of conspiracy as a Soviet spy for his involvement in what became known as the Hollow Nickel Case and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary in Georgia. He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American pilot Francis Gary Powers and Yale University doctoral student Frederic L. Pryor. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. His real identity and country of birth were only revealed after his death.
