In January 1862, Rose O’Neil Greenhaw was arrested in Washington, who was charged with espionage in favor of the Confederation (at that time the United States was in the Civil War). She informed the southerners about the plans of the northerners and about the deployment of their troops.
But no solid evidence was collected against Greenhaw - Rose managed to destroy documents directly compromising her, and stubbornly left unanswered questions of investigators.
And in May she had to be released without trial (more precisely - to exchange with other prisoners of war southerners for captured northerners).
When Greenhaw returned to the South, to Richmond, the President of the Confederates Davis Jefferson handed her a prize - 2.5 thousand dollars. By the way, he argued that it was precisely the intelligence received from the Rebellious Rose that helped the southerners gain some victories in the Manasas campaign.
And this case, of course, is not the only one in history. In fact, women spies sometimes achieved much greater successes than men, thanks not only to intelligence and cunning, but also to their attractive appearance.
Here are 10 of the most beautiful scouts.
10. Olga Knipper-Chekhova (1897-1980)
Olga Konstantinovna Knipper from the age of 16 played at the Moscow Art Theater. There she fell in love with the rising star of the Mikhail Chekhov Theater. Their marriage lasted less than 4 years, but the actress left the name of her husband until the end of her life.
In 1920, Olga left for Germany, and her debut in German cinema soon took place. By the early 1930s, the actress was already a star (and starred until the collapse of the Third Reich).
In 1936, Knipper-Chekhov 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, Soviet intelligence arrested Knipper-Chekhov, 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 attempt on the Fuhrer.
Since 1949, Knipper-Chekhova lived first in West Berlin and then in Munich, and 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 indirect evidence).
9. Margarita Konenkova (1895-1980)
The young beauty Margarita Ivanovna Vorontsova graduated from law 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 still 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 the point 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 partial to Margarita Ivanovna.
8. Amy Elizabeth Thorpe (Betty Pack) (1910-1963)
The daughter of the American naval officer Amy Elizabeth Thorpe almost perfectly combined mind, 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, to avoid shame, quickly shoved her into marriage with British diplomat Arthur Pack, who was twice his wife and knew perfectly well that she was constantly cheating on him. This suited Pek because he turned out to be an English agent, and his wife skillfully pulled very valuable information from her lovers.
Soon, Betty herself became a spy (under the name Cynthia) - it seems that for her it was an entertaining adventure.
Betty Peck did not disappoint her superiors either in Spain during the Civil War, nor in Poland (in 1938), nor in Prague (in 1939), etc.
She easily climbed into bed with senior military and ministers and obtained the most secret information.
Her most impudent trick was opening a safe with ciphers at the embassy of the French (pro-German) Vichy government in Washington. These ciphers later greatly facilitated the life of the Allies in naval battles in the Mediterranean, including during the landing in North Africa in 1942 (Betty Peck also obtained Italian ciphers).
7. Violetta Shabo (1921-1945)
Violetta lived a short but vibrant life. The daughter of an Englishman and a Frenchwoman, she spoke equally well in both languages.
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, their daughter was born, but Etienne did not have time to see her even once - he died in the battle of El Alamein.
And then 23-year-old Violet Shabo became an agent of the British secret organization SEO. In 1944, she was sent with a secret mission to France, where she searched for the missing members of the Resistance, passed to the headquarters information on the whereabouts of the enemy's military factories, their manpower, etc.
Her sabotage group, including, 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 her cartridges had ended in a shootout, were seized and sent to Ravensbrück.
She did not live to see the end of the war for only a few months, - Shabo was shot (along with other SEO agents) on February 5, 1945. She was only 24 ...
6. Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (1912-2011)
New Zealand Nancy Wake was the youngest in the family (out of 6 children). At 16 years old (then her family was already living in Australia), young Nancy fled home and became a nurse. And soon she went to New York, and then to London (where she independently became a journalist).
Working in the 1930s in Paris as a reporter for the international newspaper network U.R. Hearst, she saw the formation of German fascism.
In 1939, Nancy married the French industrialist Henri Focco, with whom she lived in Marseille before the capture of France by the Nazis. Here in 1940 she became a member of the Resistance.
Wake-Focco was engaged in the recruitment of new members, the organization of supplies to the Resistance of ammunition from Britain, the transfer across the border (to Spain and Britain) of Jews and Allied soldiers who had fled from captivity, 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 awarded for her head.
In 1943, Nancy Wake still came under suspicion, but managed to escape through Gibraltar to Britain. And her husband died under torture, and never betraying his spouse.
In 1944, Wake returned to France to prepare for a landing on D-Day in Normandy. She died at 98, in an elite retirement home in Richmond.
5. Irina (Bibi-Iran) Alimova (1920-2011)
A paternal Tatar, a young Bibi-Iran (Irina) was born and raised in Turkmenistan, where she graduated from the Veterinary Institute.
Due to her striking 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, and here she was caught by the war.
Since Alimova already knew 4 languages, she became a translator in the military censorship division, where she served until the end of the war.
In 1953 (when Irina was fluent in Uyghur, Turkish, Japanese, Persian, German, and English to varying degrees), she was recruited by intelligence.
Along with the scout, Shamil Khamzin, Alimov was sent to Japan. According to legend, she (the daughter of a wealthy Uighur, Mrs. Khatycha) has 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 (a bit later truly married) for 13 years gained a lot of valuable information, including about the development of Japanese-American relations, the creation of Japanese 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 Hari (Margaret Getruda 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 her secret information. She is much better known as the exotic oriental dancer Mata Hari.
A young girl from a wealthy Dutch family from childhood had 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 by an ad in the Dutch East Indies and left for him.
Of course, family life with a man unfamiliar (also drinking) did not ask. And at 21, divorced, Margaret went to conquer Paris. Settling in the circus of Mollieu, she came up with a new biography and a vivid image, becoming Mata Hari.
In a very short time, she gained great success, dancing at the most prestigious stages in Europe. Her erotic numbers drove men crazy. Such a woman is a godsend for intelligence!
In 1915, the Germans recruited her, and in 1916 the French recruited. Mata Hari willingly took money from both sides.
But in 1917, the French, having learned that the famous courtesan, easily entering the closest circle of high-ranking officers and politicians (and obviously knowing a lot of superfluous) - a double agent, arrested Mata Hari. She was quickly shot on October 15, 1917.
3. Nadezhda Troyan (1921-2011)
Nadezhda Viktorovna Troyan became the Hero of the Soviet Union at 22. She was considered by Adolf Hitler himself to be his personal enemy.
Even at school, a diligent student Nadia almost perfectly learned German. And when during the war the girl was in the occupied territory, this knowledge was very useful to her.
Nadia joined the organization of underground workers in the city of Smolevichy, Minsk Region. Together with other Komsomol members, she collected intelligence about the enemy, pasted leaflets, etc.
Having a medical education, Troyan became a nurse of the Storm detachment, and later of Uncle Kolya’s partisan brigade (P.G. Lopatin).
Nadia has repeatedly participated in operations to blow up bridges, attack convoys, etc.
But the most famous feat of her (together with Elena Mazanik and Maria Osipova) is the elimination of Wilhelm von Kube - Gauleiter of Belarus. The girls managed to set a mine right under his bed. By the way, the 1959 film tells about this event. The clock stopped at midnight.
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 the 20-year-old Anna Morozova in her native village Seshcha (Bryansk region), where the girl worked as an accountant at a large military airfield. During the offensive, the Nazis, naturally, equipped their aviation units (including up to 300 bombers) at this airfield.
Soviet intelligence urgently needed 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 Sescha.
Having successfully settled as a laundress at a German military base, Anna managed to attract not only Soviet citizens to underground work, but also Poles, Czechs and one Romanian who served with the Germans.
In addition to the fact that Morozova’s group constantly transferred the most important intelligence to the center, she carried out daring sabotage, mined and detonated planes and ammunition depots, derailed trains, etc.
In the summer of 1942, it was precisely 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, telling about the actions of the Morozova group, took place. Anna died on December 31, 1944, having been surrounded by a Polish-Soviet intelligence group in Poland.
1. Christine Keeler (1942-2017)
In 1963, Britain was shocked by a national scandal, remembered as the Case of Profumo. His main defendants were Minister of War John Profumo and former topless dancer in a cabaret and escort girl Christine Keeler.
It turned out that Keeler was simultaneously spinning 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 sought out secret information from Profumo and sold it to Ivanov for considerable sums.
Naturally, Profumo (with a hopelessly tarnished reputation) resigned, followed by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.
And only to Christine Keeler herself this story brought considerable benefit, 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.