Elyesa Bazna

Elyesa Bazna, born on July 28, 1904, was a notable secret agent for Nazi Germany during World War II, famously operating under the code name Cicero. His espionage activities began in 1943 when he was employed as a valet by Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British ambassador in Ankara, Turkey. In this role, Bazna skillfully photographed sensitive British documents and sold the intelligence to the Germans through their attaché, Ludwig Carl Moyzisch, leading to what is now known as the Cicero affair.

As Cicero, Bazna provided crucial information regarding several high-profile Allied conferences, including those held in Moscow, Tehran, and Cairo. His intelligence on the Tehran Conference was particularly significant, as it pertained to Operation Long Jump, an unsuccessful plot aimed at assassinating Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill. Additionally, he conveyed a document with the highest security clearance, known as the BIGOT list, which detailed plans for Operation Overlord, the code name for the Normandy Invasion.

The intelligence Bazna leaked is considered among the most damaging disclosures made by any agent during the war. Despite the volume of documents transmitted, the German Foreign Office questioned their reliability, leading to little action being taken based on his reports. It is believed that Bazna may have received intelligence training from the Italian secret intelligence service, SIM, which could explain his adeptness in espionage.

After the war, Bazna settled in Ankara with his family, where he struggled financially, as much of the money he received from the Germans was later discovered to be counterfeit. In 1960, he relocated to Munich, where he worked as a night watchman until his death from kidney disease in 1970. In 1962, he published a memoir detailing his experiences in the Cicero affair, shedding light on his complex life as a spy.