Story Highlights
- historical event: Sidney Reilly was a British spy whose life was an interesting model used by the writer Ian Fleming, who used it as an inspiration for his James Bond character. One of his most famous operations was the attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik government in Russia in 1918.
On this day the Soviet secret service assassinated British spy Sidney Reilly. His life was an interesting model for the writer Ian Fleming, who used it as an inspiration for his James Bond character. He was born probably in Odessa, Ukraine as Georgi Rosenblum, and was of Jewish descent. He used various pseudonyms during life. He was in the service of Scotland Yard, then the British secret service and finally the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). It is believed that he spied for at least four countries.
One of his most famous operations was the attempt to overthrow the Bolshevik government in Russia in 1918. This plan allegedly included the murder of Lenin, but it failed. The Soviets assassinated Reilly by luring him in the USSR with the story about the existence of underground anti-communist organization. When he crossed the Finnish border he was arrested and taken to the infamous Lubyanka Prison in Moscow. After questioning and possible torture, he was killed in a forest near Moscow.
