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Igor GuzenkoHead of the encryption department of the USSR Embassy in Canada
Date of Birth: 13.01.1919
Country:  Canada |
Content:
Biography of Igor Gouzenko
Igor Gouzenko was the Chief of the Cipher Department at the Soviet Embassy in Canada, known as the "man in the hat". On September 5, 1945, the 26-year-old cryptographer defected to Canada in Ottawa. The details of his escape are still debated. He seized 109 secret documents from the Soviet Embassy and successfully made his way to a Canadian police station, where he handed them over to the Canadian government. The documents he passed on were the correspondence between GRU resident Colonel Nikolai Zabotin and foreign agents who had infiltrated the atomic industry. These materials led to the arrest and conviction of at least ten agents who were hunting for US atomic secrets in the West.
Arrival in Canada
Gouzenko arrived in Canada with his wife in the summer of 1943. After their escape, they settled in Toronto.
Later Life
Igor Gouzenko passed away in 1982. He left behind eight children and 16 grandchildren, who currently reside in Canada and the United States.
