ROSENBLUM, SIGMUND GEORGIEVICH

ROSENBLUM, SIGMUND GEORGIEVICH (known as Sidney Reilly and often referred to as "Reilly, Ace of Spies "; 1874–1925?), British spy. Born in Bedzin, Russian Poland, as Shlomo ben Hirsh Rozenblum (and a descendant of the Vilna Gaon), Rosenblum came to London around 1895, and from 1899 was known as Sidney George Reilly. His first exploit occurred in 1895, while serving as cook for a party of three British officers, who were exploring the Amazon in Brazil. The officers were attacked by their bearers and guides, and Rosenblum came to their defense. Rosenblum returned with them to London, where he worked for the British Secret Service, especially in the Far East. He also earned a fortune as an armaments contractor. Before World War i, he played an important role in uncovering the secrets of the German armaments program. During the war (in which he received several medals), he was parachuted many times by the Allies into Germany, enlisted in the German Army, deserted when an assignment was completed, and reenlisted under another name. On one occasion, he murdered a German staff colonel for whom he served as a driver, dressed in the former's uniform, and took his place at a meeting where Kaiser William ii and Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg discussed war plans. Rosenblum was involved in an abortive plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks after the Russian Revolution. He also found time for philandering and in 1918 eight Russian women claimed him as their legal husband. His last mission to Russia took place in 1925. Rosenblum made contact with what he believed to be an anticommunist society, fell into a trap set by gpu (Russia's secret police), and was never heard of again. Reacting to a British television series, the Russians said he was executed in 1925. R. Bruce Lockhart, however, a noted British agent, thought he was still alive in 1932 and cooperating with the Russians. The balance of evidence, however, suggests that he was executed by the Soviets in Moscow in November 1925. In the 1970s, a popular British television series, Reilly, Ace of Spies, was made about his life.

bibliography:

R.B. Lockhart, Ace of Spies (1967). add. bibliography: odnb online; M. Kettle, Sidney Reilly (1983).

[Morton Mayer Berman]