10 most beautiful scouts and spies in history

In January 1862, Rose O’Neill Greenhow was arrested in Washington and charged with spying for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. She informed the southerners about the plans of the northerners and the deployment of their troops.

But they did not collect hard evidence against Greenhow – Rose managed to destroy the documents that directly compromised her, and stubbornly left the investigators’ questions unanswered.

And in May, she had to be released without trial (more precisely, exchanged, along with other prisoners of war, southerners for captured northerners).

When Greenhow returned South to Richmond, Confederate President Davis Jefferson presented her with a $2,5 award. By the way, he claimed that it was the intelligence received from the Rebellious Rose that helped the southerners win some victories in the Manasas campaign.

And this case, of course, is not the only one in history. In fact, female spies sometimes achieved much more success than men, thanks not only to intelligence and cunning, but also to their attractive appearance.

Here are the 10 most beautiful scouts.

10 Olga Knipper-Chekhova (1897-1980)

Olga Konstantinovna Knipper played at the Moscow Art Theater from the age of 16. There she fell in love with the rising star of the theater Mikhail Chekhov. Their marriage lasted less than 4 years, but the actress left her husband’s surname until the end of her life.

In 1920, Olga left for Germany, and soon made her debut in German cinema. By the early 1930s, the actress was already a star (and starred until the collapse of the Third Reich).

In 1936, Knipper-Chekhova was even awarded the title of State Actress.

Joseph Goebbels could not stand her (since she rejected his courtship), but Adolf Hitler himself favored the actress.

In April 1945, Knipper-Chekhova was arrested by Soviet intelligence, but after only 2 months she was returned to Berlin. After that, naturally, persistent rumors spread that in fact the actress had been a Soviet spy all this time. Allegedly, she was preparing an assassination attempt on the Fuhrer.

Since 1949, Knipper-Chekhova lived first in West Berlin, and then in Munich, she played in the theater. Until the end of her life, she did not admit her connection with intelligence (and so far no documents confirming this have been found, only circumstantial evidence).

9. Margarita Konenkova (1895-1980)

The young beauty Margarita Ivanovna Vorontsova graduated from legal courses in Moscow in the early 1920s.

A very smart and sociable girl was familiar with many celebrities Chaliapin, Yesenin, Rachmaninov, Meyerhold, etc.

In 1922, she became the wife of the famous sculptor S.T. Konenkova and went with him to America. As it turned out later, until 1945 (when she was nevertheless forced to return to the USSR by order of the government), she was a spy under the code name Lucas.

In the USA, Margarita Ivanovna managed to charm Albert Einstein (to such an extent that he introduced her to many participants in the Manhattan Project, including Robert Oppenheimer himself).

Thanks to Konenkova, Soviet intelligence was aware of many important details of American atomic research, including the stages of creating an atomic bomb.

By the way, apparently, Einstein was really not indifferent to Margarita Ivanovna.

8. Amy Elizabeth Thorpe (Betty Pack) (1910-1963)

The daughter of an American naval officer, Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, almost perfectly combined intelligence, beauty and low moral principles.

From childhood, she was problematic, and at the age of 19 she became pregnant (and did not even know from whom). Parents, Betty, in order to avoid shame, quickly pushed her to marry the British diplomat Arthur Pack, who was twice his wife’s age and knew perfectly well that she was constantly cheating on him. This suited Peck, because he turned out to be an English agent, and his wife skillfully extracted very valuable information from lovers.

Soon Betty herself became a spy (under the name of Cynthia), which seemed to be an interesting adventure for her.

Betty Pack did not disappoint her superiors either in Spain during the Civil War, or in Poland (in 1938), or in Prague (in 1939), etc.

She easily climbed into bed with high-ranking military and ministers and obtained the most secret information.

Her most impudent trick was the opening of a safe with ciphers in the embassy of the French (pro-German) Vichy government in Washington. These ciphers later made life much easier for the allies in naval battles in the Mediterranean, including during the landing in North Africa in 1942 (By the way, Betty Pack also obtained Italian ciphers).

7. Violetta Shabo (1921-1945)

Violetta lived a short but colorful life. The daughter of an Englishman and a Frenchwoman, she spoke both languages ​​equally well.

Before the start of World War II, Violetta lived in Brixton (England), and in 1940 she married Etienne Chabot, an officer in the Foreign Legion. In 1942, they had a daughter, but Etienne did not have time to see her even once – he died in the battle of El Alamein.

And then 23-year-old Violetta Chabot became an agent of the British secret organization SEO. In 1944, she was sent on a secret mission to France, where she searched for the missing members of the Resistance, transmitted to the headquarters information about the location of the enemy’s military factories, their manpower, etc.

Her sabotage group, among other things, disabled roads and undermined bridges. But already the second mission of Shabo (in the same 1944) ended in failure: Violetta was detained at the checkpoint and, after she ran out of cartridges in a shootout, was seized and sent to Ravensbrück.

She did not live to see the end of the war for only a few months – Shabot was shot (along with other SEO agents) on February 5, 1945. She was only 24…

6. Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (1912-2011)

New Zealander Nancy Wake was the youngest in the family (out of 6 children). At the age of 16 (then her family was already living in Australia), young Nancy ran away from home and became a nurse. And soon she went to New York, and then to London (where she became a journalist on her own).

Working in Paris in the 1930s as a reporter for the international newspaper chain W.R. Hirst, she saw the formation of German fascism.

In 1939, Nancy married the French industrialist Henri Focco, with whom she lived in Marseille before the Nazis invaded France. Here in 1940 she became a member of the Resistance.

Wake-Fokko was engaged in recruiting new members, organizing the supply of ammunition to the Resistance from Britain, transporting Jews and Allied soldiers who had escaped from captivity across the border (to Spain and Britain), etc.

Nancy so skillfully slipped out of all the traps set by the Nazis that they called her the White Mouse. A reward of 5 million francs was placed on her head.

In 1943, Nancy Wake still fell under suspicion, but managed to escape through Gibraltar to Britain. And her husband died under torture, without betraying his wife.

In 1944, Wake returned to France to prepare for the D-Day landings in Normandy. She died at the age of 98, in an elite nursing home in Richmond.

5. Irina (Bibi-Iran) Alimova (1920-2011)

A Tatar by her father, young Bibi-Iran (Irina) was born and raised in Turkmenistan, where she graduated from the veterinary institute.

Because of her bright appearance, she was once invited to play in one of the first Turkmen films, Umbar. Irina became an actress. Having studied acting in Leningrad, she worked in Uzbekistan, where the war found her.

Since Alimova already knew 4 languages ​​at that time, she became a translator in the military censorship unit, where she served until the end of the war.

In 1953 (when Irina spoke Uighur, Turkish, Japanese, Persian, German and English to varying degrees), she was recruited by intelligence.

Paired with scout Shamil Khamzin, Alimova was sent to Japan. According to legend, she (the daughter of a wealthy Uighur, Mrs. Khatycha) had just registered a marriage in China with her fiancé Enver Sadyk, and they fled to Japan from the persecution of the Chinese Communists.

In Japan, a couple (who got married a little later) for 13 years obtained a lot of valuable information, including the development of Japanese-American relations, the creation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the actions of US troops in Korea, etc. (as well as aerial photographs of Japanese airfields and US bases).

They were among the first to learn about the development of nuclear weapons in Israel.

4. Mata Harry (Margaret Getrude Celle) (1876-1917)

Margaret Gertrude Celle is perhaps the most famous spy in our top ten, but by no means because of the value of the secret information she obtained. She is much better known as the exotic oriental dancer Mata Hari.

A young girl from a wealthy Dutch family from childhood was distinguished by a craving for adventure. In a private school for the children of the nobility, she clearly lacked freedom. Therefore, at the age of 16, she found herself a husband through an advertisement in the Dutch East Indies and went to him.

Of course, family life with an unfamiliar (also drinking) man did not work out. And at the age of 21, having divorced, Margaret left to conquer Paris. Having settled in the Mollier circus, she came up with a new biography and a bright image for herself, becoming Mata Hari.

In a very short time she has found huge success dancing on the most prestigious stages in Europe. Her erotic numbers drove men crazy. Such a woman is a godsend for the intelligence services!

In 1915 she was recruited by the Germans, and in 1916 she was recruited by the French. Mata Hari willingly took money from both sides.

But in 1917, the French, having learned that the famous courtesan, who is easily included in the closest circle of high-ranking officers and politicians (and obviously knows a lot of superfluous things) is a double agent, arrested Mata Hari. She was quickly shot on October 15, 1917.

3. Nadezhda Troyan (1921-2011)

Nadezhda Viktorovna Troyan became a Hero of the Soviet Union at the age of 22. She was considered his personal enemy by Adolf Hitler himself.

Even at school, a diligent student Nadya learned German almost perfectly. And when during the war the girl ended up in the occupied territory, this knowledge was very useful to her.

Nadya joined the underground organization of the city of Smolevichi, Minsk region. Together with other Komsomol members, she collected intelligence about the enemy, posted leaflets, etc.

Having a medical education, Troyan became a nurse in the Storm detachment, and later in the partisan brigade of Uncle Kolya (P.G. Lopatina).

Nadya has repeatedly participated in operations to blow up bridges, attack carts, etc.

But her most famous feat (together with Elena Mazanik and Maria Osipova) is the elimination of Wilhelm von Kube, the Gauleiter of Belarus. The girls managed to plant a mine right under his bed. By the way, the 1959 film The clock stopped at midnight tells about this event.

After the war, Nadezhda Troyan worked at the Research Institute of Health Education and the 1st Moscow Medical Institute.

2. Anna Morozova (1921-1944)

The war found 20-year-old Anna Morozova in her native village of Sescha (Bryansk region), where the girl worked as an accountant at a large military airfield. During the offensive, the Nazis, of course, equipped their aviation units at this airfield (including up to 300 bombers).

Soviet intelligence was in dire need of accurate information about this enemy strategic object. Then Anna Morozova entered the case, who was already gathering an underground group of her friends and acquaintances in Sesche.

Having successfully got a job as a laundress at a German military base, Anna managed to involve not only Soviet citizens, but also Poles, Czechs and one Romanian who served with the Germans in underground work.

In addition to the fact that the Morozova group constantly transmitted the most important intelligence to the center, it carried out daring sabotage, mined and blew up aircraft and ammunition depots, derailed trains, etc.

In the summer of 1942, it was on a tip from the underground that the partisans practically destroyed an entire air garrison (more than 200 people and 38 vehicles).

In 1965, the premiere of the film We call fire on ourselves took place, which tells about the actions of the Morozova group. Anna died on December 31, 1944, having been surrounded in Poland with a Soviet-Polish reconnaissance group.

1. Christine Keeler (1942-2017)

In 1963 Britain was rocked by a national scandal known as the Profumo Affair. His main figures were the country’s Minister of War John Profumo and a former topless cabaret dancer and escort Christine Keeler.

It turned out that Keeler was simultaneously having an affair with Profumo, who willingly and often used her services, and with Evgeny Ivanov, the Soviet naval attache in the UK. At the same time, she fished out secret information from Profumo and sold it to Ivanov for considerable sums.

Naturally, Profumo (with a hopelessly tarnished reputation) resigned, and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan had to leave his post after him.

And only Christine Keeler herself benefited from this story, she profitably sold it to reporters (in all details), and soon, so to speak, on the wave, she became a well-known model that had considerable popularity.