List of Famous Spys

Maria Krystyna Janina Skarbek,, also known as Christine Granville, was a Polish agent of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during the Second World War. She became celebrated for her daring exploits in intelligence and irregular-warfare missions in Nazi-occupied Poland and France. Journalist Alistair Horne, who described himself in 2012 as one of the few people still alive who had known Skarbek, described her as the "bravest of the brave." Spymaster Vera Atkins of the SOE described Skarbek as "very brave, very attractive, but a loner and a law unto herself."

Sarah Aaronsohn was a member of Nili, a ring of Jewish spies working for the British in World War I, and a sister of notable agronomist Aaron Aaronsohn. She is often referred to as the "heroine of Nili."

Shabtai Kalmanovich, alternatively spelled Shabtai Kalmanovic, was a KGB spy, who later became known in Russia as a successful businessman, concert promoter and basketball sponsor.

Sir William Samuel Stephenson, was a Canadian soldier, airman, businessman, inventor, spymaster, and the senior representative of British Security Coordination (BSC) for the entire western hemisphere during World War II. He is best known by his wartime intelligence codename Intrepid. Many people consider him to be one of the real-life inspirations for James Bond. Ian Fleming himself once wrote, "James Bond is a highly romanticized version of a true spy. The real thing is ... William Stephenson."

Elsbeth Schragmüller, also known as Fräulein Doktor and Mademoiselle Docteur, as well as Fair Lady, La Baronne and Mlle. Schwartz, was a German spy during World War I. For many years, she was invariably known as Mademoiselle Docteur or Fräulein Doktor, her actual name being revealed only in 1945 from German intelligence documents captured by the Allies after World War II, when she had already died of miliary tuberculosis in 1940. Her nickname acknowledges the fact that she had a doctoral degree in political science, not psychology as some fictional portrayals have claimed, from the University of Freiburg. She was one of the first generation of German women to gain an academic degree.

Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia is a Cuban American former Central Intelligence Agency Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Special Activities Division, known for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the execution of communist revolutionary Che Guevara as well as his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran–Contra affair.

Jean Lafitte was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". This has become the common spelling in the United States, including places named after him.

Elyesa Bazna, sometimed known as Iliaz and Ilyaz Bazna, was a secret agent for Nazi Germany during World War II, operating under the code name Cicero.

Artur Khristyanovich Artuzov (Russian: Артур Христианович Артузов, was a leading figure in the Soviet international intelligence and counter-intelligence and security officer and spymaster of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s.

Marthe Hoffnung Cohn is a French author, nurse, former spy and Holocaust survivor. She wrote about her experiences as a spy during the Holocaust in the book Behind Enemy Lines.