Igor Gouzenko
Igor Gouzenko was a Soviet spy born on January 13, 1919, in Rogachov, Russia, now part of Belarus. He studied at significant institutions, including the Kuybyshev Military Engineering Academy and the Moscow Architectural Institute, before serving in military intelligence during World War II. In 1943, Gouzenko was assigned to the Soviet legation in Ottawa, Canada, where he began to appreciate the freedoms of Canadian life. This led to his decision to defect in 1945, during which he carried away 109 secret documents revealing an extensive Soviet espionage network aimed at securing atomic secrets.
His defection marked the beginning of the Gouzenko Affair, which prompted a major investigation into Soviet espionage in North America. Gouzenko's revelations implicated numerous individuals, including prominent Canadians, and shifted public perception of the Soviet Union from ally to potential enemy. After being granted political asylum and protective custody, he and his family lived under government protection for the remainder of their lives. Gouzenko authored two books detailing his experiences, including an autobiography published in 1948. He passed away on June 25, 1982, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Mississauga, Ontario, with a headstone erected in 2002 to honor his legacy.
Subject Terms
Igor Gouzenko
Soviet defector
- Born: January 13, 1919
- Birthplace: Rogachov, Russia
- Died: June 25, 1982
- Place of death: Mississagua, Ontario
Contribution: Igor Gouzenko was a Soviet cipher clerk, or code breaker, who worked at the Russian embassy in Canada. His defection in 1945, during which he turned over more than a hundred documents about Soviet espionage, revealed an extensive Soviet spy network operating in Canada and is often considered one of the primary events that set the Cold War in motion. Called the Gouzenko Affair, Gouzenko’s defection shocked Canada and the United States, brought an end to the complacency that characterized the postwar period, and ushered in a new era of spies, sleeper cells, fearmongering, and national security concerns.
Early Life and Education
Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko was born on January 13, 1919, in Rogachov, Russia, now part of Belarus. As a young man, Gouzenko joined the Komsomol, or All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. He studied at the Kuybyshev Military Engineering Academy and continued his education at the Moscow Architectural Institute.
Assigned to the Red Army military intelligence school in Moscow in 1941, Gouzenko later joined a division responsible for gathering foreign military intelligence. After fighting in World War II, he trained as a cipher clerk, or someone who encrypts and decrypts messages. As a member of the Soviet legation, Gouzenko was assigned to Ottawa in 1943.
The Gouzenko Affair
Though Gouzenko’s responsibilities included spying on the Canadians, he came to like the freedom of Canadian life and, when recalled to Moscow in 1944, decided to defect. On September 5, 1945, he left the Russian embassy carrying 109 secret documents detailing the Soviet intelligence networks in Canada, Britain, and the United States. After unsuccessful attempts to pass these documents to the Canadian government and an Ottawa newspaper, Gouzenko was taken into protective custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who finally examined the documents he had removed from the embassy.
Gouzenko revealed the existence of an extensive espionage network, primarily designed to obtain atomic secrets, and exposed many individual Soviet spies, including master spy Colonel Nikolai Zabotin. He helped convince the Canadians and Americans that the Soviet Union, far from being an ally, was a dangerous enemy seeking to become the dominant world power.
Gouzenko and his family were given political asylum and special protection. In February 1946, the Canadian government launched an inquiry into the Gouzenko Affair. A large-scale investigation of his claims led to the arrest and conviction of dozens of suspects. Prominent Canadians, including Egerton Herbert Norman, Fred Rosenberg, and Lester Pearson, the latter of whom was accused of having Communist sympathies, were implicated in the affair.
Gouzenko and his family lived under government protection for the rest of his life. He made several appearances on Canadian television, with his identity concealed by a white hood, and published two books about his experiences. His autobiography, This Was My Choice, was published in 1948; in 1954, he published the novel The Fall of a Titan.
Personal Life
Gouzenko and his wife, Svetlana, had eight children. Gouzenko died on June 25, 1982; his wife died on September 4, 2001. Both were buried in unmarked graves in Mississauga, Ontario. In 2002, their children and friends erected a headstone with their real names to honor their legacy.
Principal Works
This Was My Choice, 1948
The Fall of a Titan, 1954
Bibliography
Bonikowsky, Laura Neilson. “Igor’s Choice.” Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Black. J. L., and Martin Rudner, eds. The Gouzenko Affair: Canada and the Beginnings of Cold War Counter-Espionage. Manotick: Penumbra, 2006. Print.
Craig, Bruce. “A Matter of Espionage: Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter White, and Igor Gouzenko—The Canadian Connection Reassessed.” Intelligence & National Security 15.2 (2000): 211−24. Print.
“A Glimpse inside the Spy Scandal That Rocked Ottawa.” Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia Network, 23 Apr. 2006. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.
Knight, Amy. How the Cold War Began: The Gouzenko Affair and the Hunt for Soviet Spies. Toronto: McClelland, 2005. Print.