List of spymasters

List of spymasters

A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency.

List of spymasters

List of spymasters

<table><thead><tr><th>Name</th><th>When</th><th>Allegiance</th><th>Agency/Organization/Service</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Motojiro Akashi</td><td>1904</td><td> Japan</td><td>Akashi Kikan</td></tr><tr><td>Vera Atkins</td><td>1944</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Special Operations Executive</td></tr><tr><td>Lavrentiy Beria</td><td>1938</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>NKVD</td></tr><tr><td>Arturo Bocchini</td><td>1927–1940</td><td>Fascist Italy</td><td>OVRA</td></tr><tr><td>Wilhelm Canaris</td><td>1935</td><td>Nazi Germany</td><td>Abwehr</td></tr><tr><td>Thomas Cromwell</td><td>1533</td><td>Kingdom of England</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>William J. Donovan</td><td>1941</td><td>United States</td><td>Office of Strategic Services</td></tr><tr><td>Armand Jean du Plessis (Cardinal Richelieu)</td><td>1616</td><td>Kingdom of France</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Allen Dulles</td><td>1953</td><td>United States</td><td>Central Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>L.B. Moerdani</td><td>1952–1988</td><td>Indonesia</td><td>State Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>Ali Murtopo</td><td>1945–1978</td><td>Indonesia</td><td>State Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>Yoga Sugama</td><td>1942–1989</td><td>Indonesia</td><td>State Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>Zhou Enlai</td><td>1928–1932</td><td>Chinese Communist Party</td><td>Special Service section of the Central Committee Urban Work Committee of the Central Committee</td></tr><tr><td>Rafaat Gebril</td><td>1973</td><td>Egypt</td><td>General Intelligence Directorate (Egypt)</td></tr><tr><td>Ali Mamlouk</td><td>2005–2024</td><td>Ba'athist Syria</td><td>National Security Bureau General Intelligence Directorate (Syria)</td></tr><tr><td>Sándor Goldberger (alias J. Peters)</td><td>1930–1948</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>Communist Party USA</td></tr><tr><td>Sidney Gottlieb</td><td>1951–1973</td><td>United States</td><td>Central Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>Hamid Gul</td><td>1987–1989</td><td>Pakistan</td><td>Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence</td></tr><tr><td>Javed Nasir</td><td>1992-1993</td><td>Pakistan</td><td>Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence</td></tr><tr><td>Faiz Hameed</td><td>2019</td><td>Pakistan</td><td>Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence</td></tr><tr><td>Isser Harel</td><td>1952–1963</td><td>Israel</td><td>Mossad</td></tr><tr><td>R. N. Kao</td><td>1968–1977</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Ronnie Kasrils</td><td>1983–1989 2004–2008</td><td>South Africa</td><td>Umkhonto we Sizwe Minister of Intelligence Services</td></tr><tr><td>David Kimche</td><td>1953–1980</td><td>Israel</td><td>Mossad</td></tr><tr><td>Ivone Kirkpatrick</td><td>1918–1918</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>British Army, Belgian resistance</td></tr><tr><td>Maxwell Knight</td><td>1924–1930</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>MI5</td></tr><tr><td>Chee Woh, Leong</td><td>1971–1984</td><td>Malaysia</td><td>Special Branch</td></tr><tr><td>Dai Li</td><td>1928–1946</td><td>Republic of China</td><td>National Revolutionary Army</td></tr><tr><td>Colin Hercules Mackenzie</td><td>1940–1946</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Special Operations Executive – Force 136</td></tr><tr><td>Tengku Mahmood Mahyideen</td><td>1942–1945</td><td>British Malaya</td><td>Special Operations Executive – Force 136 (Malayan region)</td></tr><tr><td>Yuri Modin</td><td>1948–1951</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>NKVD</td></tr><tr><td>Hugh Montgomery</td><td>1953–1981 (CIA) 1981–1985 (INR) 1989–2014 (CIA)</td><td>United States</td><td>Central Intelligence Agency Bureau of Intelligence and Research</td></tr><tr><td>Bhola Nath Mullik</td><td>1950–1964</td><td>India</td><td>Intelligence Bureau</td></tr><tr><td>Donald Nichols</td><td>1951</td><td>United States</td><td>6004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron</td></tr><tr><td>Manuel Piñeiro</td><td>1961–1964</td><td>Cuba</td><td>Dirección de Inteligencia</td></tr><tr><td>Allan Pinkerton</td><td>1855–1861</td><td>United States</td><td>Union Intelligence Service</td></tr><tr><td>Wang Puchen</td><td>1948–1949</td><td>Republic of China</td><td>Bureau of Investigation and Statistics</td></tr><tr><td>Pyotr Rachkovsky</td><td>1885–1902</td><td>Russian Empire</td><td>Okhrana</td></tr><tr><td>Alfred Redl</td><td>1903–1913</td><td>Austria-Hungary; Russian Empire</td><td>Evidenzbureau</td></tr><tr><td>Mao Renfeng</td><td>1946–1956</td><td>Republic of China</td><td>Bureau of Investigation and Statistics</td></tr><tr><td>Semyon Semyonov</td><td>1937–1950</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>NKVD</td></tr><tr><td>Kang Sheng</td><td>1940s–1946</td><td>Chinese Communist Party</td><td>Central Social Affairs Department</td></tr><tr><td>Hugh Sinclair</td><td>1919–1939</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Secret Intelligence Service</td></tr><tr><td>Mansfield Smith-Cumming</td><td>1909–1923</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td>Secret Intelligence Service</td></tr><tr><td>Richard Sorge</td><td>1920–1941</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>Main Intelligence Directorate</td></tr><tr><td>Sidney Souers</td><td>1946–1946</td><td>United States</td><td>Director of the Central Intelligence Agency</td></tr><tr><td>Gustav Steinhauer</td><td>1911–1914</td><td>Germany</td><td>Nachrichten-Abteilung</td></tr><tr><td>William Stephenson</td><td>1940–1946</td><td>Canada</td><td>British Security Co-ordination</td></tr><tr><td>Emanuel Sueyro</td><td>c. 1620–1629</td><td>Spain</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Benjamin Tallmadge</td><td>1778–1783</td><td>United States</td><td>Culper Ring</td></tr><tr><td>John Thurloe</td><td>1653</td><td>Commonwealth of England</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Liam Tobin</td><td>1919</td><td>Irish Republic</td><td>Irish Republican Army</td></tr><tr><td>Francis Walsingham</td><td>1573–1590</td><td>Kingdom of England</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>George Washington</td><td>1775</td><td>United States</td><td>Continental Army</td></tr><tr><td>William Wickham</td><td>1795–1801</td><td>United Kingdom</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Markus Wolf</td><td>1951–1986</td><td>East Germany</td><td>Main Directorate for Reconnaissance</td></tr><tr><td>Shen Zui</td><td>1934–1949</td><td>Republic of China</td><td>Bureau of Investigation and Statistics</td></tr><tr><td>Kyrylo Budanov</td><td>2020–present</td><td>Ukraine</td><td>Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine)</td></tr><tr><td>Ajit Doval</td><td>1968–2004 2014-Present</td><td>India</td><td>Intelligence Bureau National Security Advisor of India</td></tr><tr><td>Vikram Sood</td><td>1966-2003</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Zvi Zamir</td><td>1948-1973</td><td>Israel</td><td>Mossad</td></tr><tr><td>R. N. Ravi</td><td>1974-2012 2018-2019</td><td>India</td><td>Intelligence Bureau Deputy National Security Advisor of India</td></tr><tr><td>Rajinder Khanna</td><td>1978–2016 2018-2024 2024-Present</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing Deputy National Security Advisor of India Additional National Security Advisor of India</td></tr><tr><td>Anil Dhasmana</td><td>1981–2019</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Samant Goel</td><td>1984-2023</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Ravi Sinha</td><td>1988–2025</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Tapan Deka</td><td>1988-Present</td><td>India</td><td>Intelligence Bureau</td></tr><tr><td>Parag Jain</td><td>1989–Present</td><td>India</td><td>Research and Analysis Wing</td></tr><tr><td>David Barnea</td><td>1996–present</td><td>Israel</td><td>Mossad</td></tr><tr><td>Sergey Naryshkin</td><td>2016–present</td><td>Russia</td><td>SVR</td></tr><tr><td>Mikhail Lyubimov</td><td>1959–1980</td><td>Soviet Union</td><td>KGB</td></tr></tbody></table>