![Nikolái Leonov](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Nikol%C3%A1i_Leonov.png)
Nikolai Sergeyevich Leonov (russian: Николай Сергеевич Леонов; 22 August 1928 – 27 April 2022) was a Russian politician, senior
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
officer, and
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
expert in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
Biography
He studied Spanish language at
MGIMO
Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (russian: Московский государственный институт международных отношений (МГИМО), also known as MGIMO University) is an institute of ...
.
ЛИДИЯ ПОЛЯКОВА
К 80-летию Н. С. Леонова
/ref>
In 1953, at the age of 25, Leonov was posted to Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
, where he learned Spanish at the Autonomous University
An autonomous university typically refers to a university that exercises independent control over its day-to-day operations and curriculum, as opposed to a university in which the government or a government agency controls the academic programs.
...
. In the course of the sea voyage, he met Raúl Castro, who was returning from a European youth festival. On arrival in Mexico he took up a junior post in the Soviet embassy.
In 1955, Leonov met in Mexico City through Raúl Castro. Leonov violated embassy rules by visiting Guevara, who was fascinated with Soviet life. After answering some of Guevara's questions, Leonov gave him Soviet literature. When Guevara went to the embassy to pick up the books the two men talked again, the last time they talked in Mexico. Recalled to Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
in November 1956, Leonov was discharged from the foreign service and deciding to pursue a career as a historian of Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, went to work as a translator for the official Soviet Spanish-language publishing house, Editorial Progreso. In the late summer of 1958, he was invited to join the KGB. On 1 September, he began a two-year intelligence training course, which was interrupted, according to him, by the Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
. In October 1959 his superiors ordered him to leave his studies and accompany Anastas Mikoyan to Mexico.
In February 1960, he accompanied Soviet Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan on his visit to Havana, where he renewed his contact with Guevara to whom he gave a precision marksman's pistol "on behalf of the Soviet people." During the 1960s, he served as a senior KGB officer stationed in Mexico. During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, he received regular reports from agents in Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
with respect to American military preparations. He felt sure at the time that a nuclear confrontation would not be the result of the crisis. He served as interpreter on Fidel Castro's visit to the Soviet Union in 1963. In 1968, Leonov was recalled to Moscow, where he became a senior analyst.
A report compiled by his office in 1975 recognized the growing peril to the power of the Soviet Union in geopolitical terms, arguing that in keeping with the policy of the British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
before it, the Soviet Union should limit the commitment of its resources to a few key areas from which its power could operate in a more selective fashion. The report suggested establishing a Soviet foothold on the Arabian Peninsula in "the most Marxist country" in the region, South Yemen. The report was returned to Leonov's office, without Andropov's signature of approval.
In the late 1970s and the early 1980s he traveled frequently to Poland to assess the situation and reportedly told the head of the KGB Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the p ...
, in a heated discussion, that the prospects of Polish socialism looked bleak.
Between 1983 and January 1991, Leonov was Deputy Chief of the First Chief Directorate of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, the second post within the KGB structure. Previously he was Sub-Director of the KGB’s Analysis and Information Department (1973-1982) and Sub-Director of its Latin American Department (1968-1972). Leonov received a doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
in Latin American History, from the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union
The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...
, and wrote the book '' Essays on Contemporary Central American History'' (Moscow: Academy of Sciences, 1973). In 1985, he published his memoirs under the title '' Difficult Times''. As of 1998, he was a professor at the Institute of International Relations in Moscow.
In December 2003, Leonov was elected to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament
The Federal Assembly ( rus, Федера́льное Собра́ние, r=Federalnoye Sobraniye, p=fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnəjə sɐˈbranʲɪjə) is the national legislature of the Russian Federation, according to the Constitution of the Russian F ...
, as a member of the nationalist Rodina party.
He died on 27 April 2022 in Moscow, aged 93. He was buried at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery.
Awards
* Order of the October Revolution
The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...
* Two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour
* Order of the Red Star
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonov, Nikolai
1928 births
2022 deaths
People from Skopinsky District
Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)
Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni
Academic staff of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star
Cuba–Soviet Union relations
Mexico–Russia relations
KGB officers
Russian–Spanish translators
Translators from Spanish
Russian historians of espionage
Russian lieutenant generals
Soviet diplomats
Soviet expatriates in Mexico
Soviet historians
Soviet lieutenant generals
Soviet spies
Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery