Do we encounter many real scouts in our lives? Their work is invisible, not advertised, and often even relatives do not know what they are doing. Fortunately, there are people who write books about their profession. One of them is the Russian writer Mikhail Lyubimov.
His life can be called an adventure novel, and he ironically calls himself a "joke of intelligence." He became a writer, a candidate of historical sciences, lived a long life, however, he still treats everything lightly and with humor.
Biography
Mikhail Petrovich Lyubimov was born in 1934 in Dnepropetrovsk. His parents were not ordinary people: his father worked at the OGPU and was a member of the SMERSH group (death to spies), and his mother was a professor's daughter.
The childhood of the writer was during the war. She and her mother wound around Ukraine, then moved to Tashkent. We drove across the country in smoky cars, afraid of losing each other. They returned from Tashkent to Moscow, then traveled with his father on his business trips.
Mikhail graduated from school in Kuibyshev (now Samara), and went to higher education to Moscow, at MGIMO. A capable student earned himself high authority already during his studies, and after high school he was sent to Helsinki, to the USSR Embassy. Lyubimov’s career began in 1958 with the post of secretary of the consul, and a year later his fate changed dramatically: he was transferred to intelligence under the First Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR.
Intelligence service
Soon, Mikhail and his wife Ekaterina Vishnevskaya were sent to London for intelligence work. Of course, no one will tell all the subtleties and techniques of the intelligence work, but they say about Lyubimov that he was very good at portraying a man sympathetic to the West. She and Catherine often went to various receptions, visited London salons, and everyone seemed to like that kind of life. At all these meetings, Lyubimov struck up relationships with the people he needed, through which he later received information.
He was an unusually charming scout, whose smile never left his face, which is why they called him “smiling Mike” in London. At the same time, the intelligence officer obtained important information for his country and for a long time was beyond suspicion. They say that with all the external softness, he was one of the most purposeful scouts.
In 1965, Lyubimov was exposed and expelled from England, declaring "persona non grata".
However, such valuable specialists do not remain idle for long - he was soon appointed to the Danish Embassy as first secretary and then adviser.
In 1980, Lyubimov ends his career as a scout, and he is appointed to the post of head of the KGB department.
Literature
After retiring, Mikhail Petrovich declares himself as a writer, journalist and screenwriter. Several plays were staged based on his plays, as a journalist he collaborated with the magazines Ogonyok, Detective and Politics, and Top Secret.
Having trained in "small genres", Lyubimov switched to prose. In 1990, his first book, The Life and Adventures of Alex Wilkie, was published, which immediately made him famous. He dedicated this novel to his third wife, Tatyana, who inspired, helped, and in every possible way helped the book to be born.
The fact is that Mikhail began to write poetry and short stories from his childhood. He sent his creations to various publications, including Pioneer Truth, and nothing was printed. And when he worked in intelligence, there was no time for literature.
Later, becoming a free man, Lyubimov gladly surrendered to his favorite pastime and began to write book after book.
He writes in the style of “spy romance parody”, and once seriously worried State Duma deputies with his article “Operation Calvary.” In it, he described the development scheme of our society after perestroika. The purpose of this period was supposedly to bring the country to wild capitalism in order to show people how bad it is, and then return to socialism again.Some deputies took this description at face value and turned to the special services to restrain the author.
In 1995, the memoir-novel Notes of a Good-for-Resident was released. As written in the introduction to the book, this is a look at the life of a scout "from the height of a low-flying aircraft." Or a description of the life of the author himself from birth and the period of service in intelligence. The language of the novel is peppy, ironic and fairly simple. At first, he somehow does not fit in with such a serious topic as the work of a scout, but as you read, you get drawn in and the novel is read with great interest.
Another interesting novel by Lyubimov is called "Shot", he was released in 2012. The novel is also autobiographical, but the topic is somewhat different: here the author spoke about contact with the “double spy” - a man who worked for British intelligence, and was listed in the Soviet. This man was Lyubimov’s deputy, so the book is written on factual material.
Of the large works, one can also note the novel "The Decameron of Spies" (1998) and the book "Walking with the Cheshire Cat". Lyubimov also has a collection of short stories, short stories, and articles.
