Markus Wolf
| Markus Wolf | |
|---|---|
| Mischa | |
Markus Wolf
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| Allegiance | East Germany |
| Service | General Intelligence Administration (Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung) |
| Active | 1953–1986 |
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| Birth name | Markus Johannes Wolf |
| Born |
19 January 1923 Hechingen |
| Died | 9 November 2006 (aged 83) Berlin |
| Nationality | German |
Markus Johannes "Mischa" Wolf (19 January 1923 – 9 November 2006) was head of the Main Directorate for Reconnaissance (Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung), the foreign intelligence division of East Germany's Ministry for State Security (MfS, commonly known as the Stasi). He was the MfS's number two for 34 years, which spanned most of the Cold War. He is often regarded as one of the greatest spymasters of all time.
Wolf was born in Hechingen, Province of Hohenzollern (now Baden-Württemberg), to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. His father was the writer and physician Friedrich Wolf and his brother was the film director Konrad Wolf. His father was a member of the Communist Party of Germany, and after Adolf Hitler gained power, Wolf emigrated to Moscow with his father, via Switzerland and France, because of their Communist convictions and because Wolf's father was Jewish.
During his exile, Wolf first attended the German Karl Liebknecht Schule and later a Russian school. Afterwards, he entered the Moscow Institute of Airplane Engineering (Moscow Aviation Institute), which was evacuated to Alma Ata after Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. There he was told to join the Comintern, where he among others was prepared for undercover work behind enemy lines.
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