Vladimir Pozner Sr.
Vladimir Pozner Sr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 24 October 1908 |
| Died | 31 July 1975 (aged 66) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Alma mater | University of Paris |
| Occupation(s) | Audio engineer, spy |
| Relatives | Vladimir Pozner Jr. (son) Vladimir Pozner (writer) (cousin) Victoria Mercanton (younger sister) |
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Pozner (Russian: Владимир Александрович Познер; 24 October 1908 – 31 July 1975) was a Russian-Jewish émigré to the United States. During World War II he spied for Soviet intelligence while he was employed by the US government.[1]
Pozner was born in St. Petersburg. His family fled Soviet Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, and Vladimir Pozner became a Communist sympathizer while living in Europe.[2] Vladimir Pozner and his family moved to East Berlin and later to Moscow in the early 1950s. There he worked as a senior audio engineer for the Soviet film industry.
His sister, Victoria Mercanton, was an in-demand film editor based in France. He retired in 1968, and in 1969 suffered a heart attack. Pozner died on 31 July 1975 during a flight from Paris to Moscow.[1]
Vladimir Pozner's cover name as identified in the Venona project by NSA/FBI analysts was "Platon" or Plato in Russian. Pozner's son, Vladimir Pozner Jr., born in 1934, worked as a journalist and interpreter in the United States, Soviet Union and later in Russia.
References[edit]
- ^ a b Pavel Pozner (12 October 2014) Владимир Познер-старший. Medved magazine
- ^ Taubman, Philip (30 December 1985). "Soviet Spokesman on American TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
Venona[edit]
Pozner is referenced in the following Venona project decrypts:
- 1131–1133 KGB New York to Moscow, 13 July 1943 [1]
- 1930 KGB New York to Moscow, 21 November 1943 [2]
External links[edit]
- John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, New Haven: Yale University Press, c1999, ISBN 0-300-07771-8. p. 233; 2000 (c1999), ISBN 9780300084627, with preview via Google books, p. 362.
- Website of son Vladimir Pozner (in Russian)