POLITICIAN

Oleg Penkovsky

1919 - 1963

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Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (Russian: Оле́г Влади́мирович Пенько́вский; 23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed Hero (by the CIA) and Yoga (by MI6) was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Kennedy, during the Cuban Missile Crisis that followed, valuable information about Soviet weakness that allowed him to face down Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and resolve the crisis without a nuclear war. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Oleg Penkovsky is the 3,817th most popular politician (down from 2,991st in 2019), the 322nd most popular biography from Russia (down from 282nd in 2019) and the 103rd most popular Russian Politician.

Oleg Penkovsky was a Soviet military intelligence officer who spied for the United States and Britain. He passed information to the CIA and MI6 from 1961 to 1963. His information helped the West understand Soviet military capabilities.

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Among POLITICIANS

Among politicians, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 3,817 out of 19,576. Before him are Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din, Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Bagrat III of Georgia, Conrad I of Burgundy, Emperor Kaika, and Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk. After him are Charles II, Duke of Parma, Gaius Flaminius, Pekahiah, Kilij Arslan II, Agnes of Merania, and Gjon Kastrioti.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1919, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 41. Before him are Andreas Papandreou, Leon Festinger, Hans-Joachim Marseille, James M. Buchanan, Jennifer Jones, and Gerhard Barkhorn. After him are César Manrique, Mordechai Anielewicz, Martin Balsam, Boris Shcherbina, Lex Barker, and Jackie Robinson. Among people deceased in 1963, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 36. Before him are Richard Baer, Richard Barthelmess, Rajendra Prasad, Theodore von Kármán, Kurt Zeitzler, and Karl Bühler. After him are Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Piero Manzoni, Michael Rockefeller, Sabu Dastagir, and Pedro Armendáriz.

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In Russia

Among people born in Russia, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 322 out of 3,761. Before him are Gerhard Barkhorn (1919), Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (1586), Alfred Schnittke (1934), Viktor Shklovsky (1893), Vasily Perov (1834), and Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia (1860). After him are Sergius of Radonezh (1314), George Balanchine (1904), Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874), Vasily Zhukovsky (1783), Pavlik Morozov (1918), and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860).

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Among POLITICIANS In Russia

Among politicians born in Russia, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 103. Before him are Simeon of Moscow (1316), Andrey Bogolyubsky (1111), Pyotr Krasnov (1869), Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia (1895), Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia (1784), and Duchess Magdalene Sibylle of Prussia (1586). After him are Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (1860), Yury of Moscow (1281), Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich of Russia (1779), Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (1783), Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (1832), and Oleg Gordievsky (1938).

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