7 of the Greatest Spies Who Ever Lived: List of Famous Spies of All Time

2. Sidney Reilly

Started working as a spy in 1896.

The is the spy that served as the key role in the creation of the character of James Bond, and that is why we had to put him on our 7 of the Greatest Spies Who Ever Lived list. Sidney Reilly was a spy working in the early twentieth century, and he was working for several countries. He got his spy name, the “ace of spies”, thanks to his expertise in personal promotion, fraud, and he was also a master of disguise, which allowed him to cross  the state borders under many false names. He gathered military secrets, which included plans and prototypes of military aircrafts. Just like 007, when needed, he used his charm to seduce women who were important in politics. One of his best missions was in 1917. when he was at the head of the British intelligence group that was in charge of overthrowing the Russian Bolshevik government. He led the attempted murder of Lenin, but, they were compromised, and he barely escaped, took a German identity and fled to Finland. During a secret operation in 1925, he was lured to the Soviet Union, and got captured and got sentenced to death by a firing squad.