In 1962, he was released to the Soviet Union in exchange for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers. The longtime intelligence operative died in Moscow in 1971, his story later revived in the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies. Rudolf Abel was born William August Fisher on July 11, 1903, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
In 1957, Donovan defended the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, after many other lawyers refused. He later brought Thomas M. Debevoise to assist him. Abel was convicted at trial, but Donovan was successful in persuading the court not to impose a death sentence.
Soviet spy William Fisher, a.k.a. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the United States in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers. Who Was Rudolf Abel? Rudolf Abel was born William Fisher in England in 1903.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel ( Russian: Рудольф Иванович Абель ), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 – 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957.
James DonovanJames B. DonovanJames DonovanDiedJanuary 19, 1970 (aged 53) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.Alma materFordham University, B.A. 1937 Harvard Law School, LL.B. 1940OccupationMilitary officer, lawyer, educatorKnown forNegotiating the 1962 exchange of Francis Gary Powers & Frederic Pryor for Rudolf Abel10 more rows
espionageOn June 21, 1957, he was arrested by the FBI, and on October 25, 1957, a federal district court in Brooklyn found him guilty of espionage, relying in part on testimony by Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen, who had defected to the West and who stated that he had been Abel's chief coconspirator in the United ...
As Abel proceeds, he tells Donovan he earlier sent the lawyer a gift � a painting, which turns out to be a portrait of Donovan in the courtroom. So Abel has left no doubt that Donovan will have the painting regardless of what happens on the bridge. (Interestingly, Donovan would later become president of Pratt.)
Abel died in Moscow in 1971, where his remains were interred at the city's Donskoy Monastery. His tombstone bore his birth name of William Fisher - the identity that was never exposed during his captivity as one of the most notorious spies of the Cold War.
He served just over four years of his sentence before he was exchanged for captured American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers. Back in the Soviet Union, he lectured on his experiences. He died in 1971 at the age of 68.
The swap took place at the Berlin bridge connecting communist East Berlin to the West — thus the title. The movie tries to be true to life. But it reconstructs five grim years in two hours and twenty-one minutes. As it often is, the truth was stranger than its fictional portrayal.
Donovan's Coat when he gets to East Berlin? A gang of boys steal it.
Powers returned to the United States and wrote of his view of the incident in Operation Overflight (1970). In 1977 he died in the crash of a helicopter that he flew as a reporter for a Los Angeles television station.
Did Donovan tell his wife he was going to Berlin to negotiate the prisoner exchange? No. He deliberately fooled his wife. Business trips to Europe were an almost yearly occurrence.
Frederic Pryor, an American graduate student who was jailed in East Germany in 1961 on suspicion of espionage but later freed as part of the famous prisoner trade between the United States and Soviet Union dramatized in Steven Spielberg's film “Bridge of Spies,” died on Sept. 2 at his home in Newtown Square, Pa.
Powers had been shot down over central Russia on May 1, 1960, and arrested by Soviet authorities. Two years later, he was released by the Soviets in a spy exchange with the United States.
BerlinThe Bridge of Spies is an actual place with an important role in Berlin history. In 1960, a U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union and the pilot miraculously survived the crash. He was used to trade for a Russian spy in a delicate operation that took place on a lonely bridge in Potsdam.
Early Years and Career. Rudolf Abel was born William August Fisher on July 11, 1903, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His parents Heinrich and Lyubov were Bolshevik supporters from Russia, and young Fisher helped his father by distributing "Hands Off Russia" literature during World War I. Following his family's return to Russia in 1921, ...
Fisher was assigned New York lawyer James B. Donovan, and the two developed a strong rapport. Donovan successfully argued against the death penalty for "Colonel Abel" by suggesting he could be used for a future prisoner exchange with the Soviet Union.
A member of the OGPU's "illegals" division, Fisher spent several years training operatives in radio work throughout Europe. He was dismissed from the agency during the Great Purge of the late 1930s, but he returned to its service after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Embassy in Paris and revealed his secrets. Thanks to information offered by Häyhänen, Fisher was tracked down and arrested at the Latham Hotel in Manhattan.
Soviet spy William Fisher, a.k.a. Rudolf Abel, was convicted of espionage in the United States in 1957 and later exchanged for imprisoned American Francis Gary Powers.
William Randolph Hearst. William Randolph Hearst is best known for publishing the largest chain of American newspapers in the late 19th century , and particularly for sensational "yellow journalism.". (1863–1951) Person.
Donovan was the presenter of visual evidence at the trial. While he prepared for the trials he also worked as an advisor for the documentary feature The Nazi Plan . In 1950, Donovan became a partner in the New York-based law office of Watters and Donovan, specializing in insurance law.
In 1957, Donovan defended the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in what was known as the Hollow Nickel Case after many other lawyers refused. He later brought in Thomas M. Debevoise to assist him. Abel was convicted at trial, but Donovan was successful in persuading the court not to impose a death sentence.
United States was rejected by a 5–4 vote. Donovan's argument that evidence used against his client had been seized by the FBI in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Chief Justice of the United States Earl Warren praised him and publicly expressed the "gratitude of the entire court" for his taking the case.
He wanted to become a journalist but his father convinced him to study law at Harvard Law School, beginning in autumn of 1937, where he completed his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1940. After graduating from law school, Donovan started work at a private lawyer's office.
In June 1962, Donovan was contacted by Cuban exile Pérez Cisneros, who asked him to support the negotiations to free the 1,113 prisoners of the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. Donovan offered pro bono legal service for the Cuban Families Committee of prisoners' relatives. A few months later, he traveled to Cuba for the first time. Donovan managed to create confidence with Castro, who was pleased Donovan brought his (Donovan's) teenage son with him to Cuba.
Donovan successfully negotiated for the exchange of Powers, along with American student Frederic Pryor, for the still-imprisoned Rudolf Abel, whom Donovan had defended five years earlier. This negotiation and preceding events were dramatized by the 2015 historical thriller Bridge of Spies, by Steven Spielberg.
Attorney David Rudolf, who appeared in " The Staircase ," was a successful defense attorney prior to his involvement in the documentary series. However, his passion for practicing law, and his relentless defense of Mike Peterson, made a strong impression on viewers and left them wondering what happened to the tenacious attorney after the documentary was released.
On December 9, 2001, Mike Peterson contacted authorities to report he found his wife at the bottom of a staircase in the couple's home. Although Mike insisted his wife fell down the stairs, authorities were convinced Kathleen Peterson was beaten to death. Oxygen reports Mike Peterson was convicted of first degree murder ...
Although the task was arduous, and Peterson was often unable to pay for his services, Rudolf simply refused to give up. In an interview with Super Lawyers, David Rudolf said he never doubted his client's innocence.
Like in the Bridge of Spies movie, the Brooklyn Bar Association selected James B. Donovan (left) to defend Rudolf Abel mainly because of Donovan's experience at Nuremberg. Tom Hanks (right) as Donovan in the movie. Was Donovan's wife upset that he was going to defend a spy?
What led to the capture of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel? The Bridge of Spies true story reveals that it was Abel's assistant, Reino Häyhänen, who alerted U.S. authorities to Abel's espionage.
As depicted in the movie, during Rudolf Abel's trial, Donovan had also argued that the government had violated Abel's Fourth Amendment rights by searching his home and seizing both Abel and all his property without a public search warrant or a criminal warrant of arrest.
The case, which had made international headlines and turned James Donovan into a public pariah, faded into obscurity. It wasn't until May 1960, when the Russians shot down the U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers, that Abel's case, in particular Donovan's talk of spy exchanges, became relevant again.
As stated in the Bridge of Spies movie, despite being a civilian for more than a decade, Donovan had experience from working at the Nuremberg war crime trials as an associate prosecutor on the personal staff of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson.
Much like Hanks' character in the film, the real James Donovan did believe that everyone deserves a defense. "Our principles are engraved in the history and the law of this land," Donovan said in 1962.
The State Department denied espionage, stating that there was no "deliberate attempt to violate Soviet air space and there never has been.". The cover story was exposed when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev eventually revealed that his country had recovered the wreckage of the plane and captured the pilot.
James Britt Donovan (February 29, 1916 – January 19, 1970) was an American lawyer and United States Navy officer in the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS, predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency), ultimately becoming general counsel of the OSS, and an international diplomatic negotiator.
Donovan is widely known for negotiating the 1960–1962 exchange of captured American U-2 pilot Francis …
In 1957, Donovan defended the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in what was known as the Hollow Nickel Case after many other lawyers refused. He later brought in Thomas M. Debevoise to assist him. Abel was convicted at trial, but Donovan was successful in persuading the court not to impose a death sentence. He appealed Abel's case to the Supreme Court, which in Abel v. United States was rejected by a 5–4 vote. Donovan's argument was that evidence used against his client had been …
James Britt Donovan was born on February 29, 1916, in the Bronx to of Harriet (née O'Connor), a piano teacher, and John J. Donovan, a surgeon. His brother was New York state senator John J. Donovan Jr. Both sides of the family were of Irish descent. He attended the Catholic All Hallows Institute. In 1933, he began his studies at Fordham University, where he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1937. He wanted to become a journalist but his father convinced him to …
From 1961 to 1963, Donovan was vice president of the New York Board of Education, and from 1963 until 1965, he was the president of the board. In June 1962, his alma mater Fordham presented Donovan with an honorary degree. In 1962, he was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in New York but lost in November 1962 to Republican incumbent Jacob K. Javits. In 1968, Donovan was appointed president of Pratt Institute. He died of a heart attack on January 19, 197…
In 1941, Donovan married Mary E. McKenna, who was also an Irish American. The couple had a son and three daughters, and lived in Brooklyn, New York, while also maintaining seasonal residences in Spring Lake on the Jersey Shore, New Jersey, and Lake Placid, New York State, where Donovan is buried alongside his wife and daughter. He was a rare book collector, golfer, tennis player and gin rummy player. A collection of his papers is held at Stanford University's Hoover Li…
The story of the Abel trial and defense, followed by the negotiation and prisoner exchange, was the basis for the book Strangers on a Bridge: The Case of Colonel Abel and Francis Gary Powers, written by Donovan and ghost writer Bard Lindeman, which was published in 1964. Several similar works would come later, but Strangers was the definitive work and was widely critically acclaimed. The book was re-released by Simon & Schuster in August 2015. In 1967, Donovan pu…
In October 2016, Fordham University inducted Donovan into its Hall of Honor in conjunction with its Dodransbicentennial, the 175th anniversary of the school, in a mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was also named a founder of the school. Fordham was founded by Archbishop Hughes, who is an ancestor of Donovan. Also in October 2016, Donovan was inducted into the All Hallows School Hall of Fame.