Stirlitz: wiki: Facts about Russia. Stirlitz What was the title of Stirlitz

Source: literary works of Yulian Semyonov, TV movie "Seventeen Moments of Spring".

Role played by: Vyacheslav Tikhonov

All-Union fame for the image of Stirlitz was brought by Tatyana Lioznova's serial television film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" based on the novel of the same name, where Vyacheslav Tikhonov played his role. This character has become the most famous image of a spy in Soviet and post-Soviet culture, comparable to James Bond in Western culture.

Biography

Contrary to popular belief, Stirlitz's real name is not Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, as can be assumed from Seventeen Moments of Spring, but Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov. The surname Isaev is presented by Yulian Semyonov as the operational pseudonym of Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov already in the first novel about him - “Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat”.

Maxim Maksimovich Isaev - Stirlitz - Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov - was born on October 8, 1900 ("Expansion-2") in Transbaikalia, where his parents were in political exile.

Parents:
Father - Russian, Vladimir Alexandrovich Vladimirov, "professor of law at St. Petersburg University, fired for free thinking and proximity to social democracy circles." Attracted to the revolutionary movement by Georgy Plekhanov.

Mother - Ukrainian, Olesya Prokopchuk, died of consumption when her son was five years old.

The parents met and got married in exile. At the end of the exile, father and son returned to St. Petersburg, and then spent some time in exile, in Switzerland, in the cities of Zurich and Bern. Here, Vsevolod Vladimirovich showed a love for literary work. In Bern, he worked for a newspaper. Father and son returned to their homeland in 1917. It is known that in 1911 Vladimirov Sr. and the Bolsheviks parted ways. Already after the revolution, in 1921 - while his son was in Estonia - Vladimir Vladimirov was sent on a business trip to Eastern Siberia and tragically died there at the hands of white bandits.

Maternal relatives:

Grandfather - Ostap Nikitich Prokopchuk, Ukrainian revolutionary democrat, also exiled to the Trans-Baikal exile with his children Olesya and Taras. After the exile, he returned to Ukraine, and from there to Krakow. He died in 1915.

Uncle - Taras Ostapovich Prokopchuk. In Krakow he married Wanda Krushanskaya. In 1918 he was shot.

Cousin - Ganna Tarasovna Prokopchuk. Two children. Professional activity: architect. In 1941, her entire family died in fascist concentration camps ("The Third Map"). She died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In 1920, Vsevolod Vladimirov worked under the name of Captain Maxim Maksimovich Isaev in the press service of the Kolchak government.

In May 1921, the gangs of Baron Ungern, having seized power in Mongolia, tried to strike at Soviet Russia. Vsevolod Vladimirov, under the guise of a White Guard captain, penetrated Ungern's headquarters and handed over to his command the enemy's military-strategic plans.

In 1921, he was already in Moscow, “working for Dzerzhinsky” as an assistant to the head of the foreign department of the Cheka, Gleb Bokiy. From here, Vsevolod Vladimirov is sent to Estonia (“Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat”).

In 1922, the young Chekist underground Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov, on behalf of the leadership, was evacuated with white troops from Vladivostok to Japan, and from there he moved to Harbin (“No Password Needed”, “Tenderness”). Over the next 30 years, he is constantly in foreign work.

Meanwhile, in his homeland, he remains his only love for life and his son, who was born in 1923. The son's name was Alexander (operational pseudonym in the intelligence of the Red Army - Kolya Grishanchikov), his mother - Alexandra Nikolaevna Gavrilina ("Major Whirlwind"). Stirlitz first learns about his son in 1941 from an employee of the Soviet trade mission in Tokyo, where he leaves to meet with Richard Sorge. In the fall of 1944, SS Standartenführer von Stirlitz accidentally meets his son in Krakow - he is here as part of a reconnaissance and sabotage group ("Major Whirlwind").

From 1924 to 1927 Vsevolod Vladimirov lived in Shanghai.

In connection with the strengthening of the National Socialist German Workers' Party and the aggravation of the danger of Adolf Hitler's coming to power in Germany in 1927, it was decided to send Maxim Maksimovich Isaev from the Far East to Europe. For this, a legend was created about Max Otto von Stirlitz, a German aristocrat robbed in Shanghai, seeking protection in the German consulate in Sydney. In Australia, Stirlitz worked for some time in a hotel with a German owner associated with the NSDAP, after which he was transferred to New York.

From the party characteristics of a member of the NSDAP since 1933 von Stirlitz, SS Standartenführer (VI department of the RSHA): “A true Aryan. Character - Nordic, seasoned. Maintains good relations with co-workers. Fulfills his duty without fail. Merciless to the enemies of the Reich. Excellent athlete: Berlin tennis champion. Single; he was not noticed in connections discrediting him. Marked with awards from the Fuhrer and thanks from the Reichsfuehrer SS ... "

During the Second World War, Stirlitz was an employee of the VI department of the RSHA, which was in charge of SS Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg. In operational work in the RSHA, he used the pseudonyms "Brunn" and "Bolsen". In 1938 he worked in Spain ("Spanish Variant"), in March-April 1941 - as part of the Edmund Weesenmeier group in Yugoslavia ("Alternative"), and in June - in Poland and in the occupied territory of Ukraine, where he communicated with Theodor Oberlender, Stepan Bandera and Andrey Melnik ("Third Map").

In 1943 he visited Stalingrad, where he demonstrated exceptional courage under Soviet shelling.

At the end of the war, Joseph Stalin entrusted Stirlitz with a responsible task: to disrupt separate negotiations between the Germans and the West. Beginning in the summer of 1943, SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, through his proxies, began to make contacts with representatives of Western intelligence agencies in order to conclude a separate peace. Thanks to the courage and intellect of Stirlitz, these negotiations were thwarted (“Seventeen Moments of Spring”).

Of the Americans who negotiated behind the scenes with the leaders of the Third Reich, Yulian Semyonov points to Allen Dulles, who headed the American headquarters in Bern, the capital of Switzerland.

The head of the IV department of the RSHA was SS Gruppenführer Heinrich Müller, who exposed Stirlitz in April 1945, but the combination of circumstances and the chaos that happened during the storming of Berlin thwarted Müller's plans to use Stirlitz in the game against the command of the Red Army ("Ordered to Survive").

Stirlitz's favorite drink is Armenian cognac, his favorite cigarettes are Karo. He drives a Horch car. Unlike James Bond, Stirlitz treats women in cold blood. To the calls of prostitutes, he usually answers: "No, coffee is better." A speech characteristic that is repeated from work to work: phrases often end with the question “No?” or "Isn't it?".

Before the end of the war, Stirlitz was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After the end of World War II, an unconscious Stirlitz, wounded by a Soviet soldier, was taken by the Germans to Spain, from where he ended up in South America. There, he uncovers a conspiratorial network of fascists who have fled Germany.

During and after the Second World War, he worked under several pseudonyms: Bolsen, Brunn and others. As a name, he usually used variations of the name "Maxim": Max, Massimo ("Expansion").

In Argentina and Brazil, Stirlitz works with the American Paul Roman. Here they identify the secret Nazi organization "ODESSA", which is led by Muller, and then carry out the identification of the agent network and the capture of Muller. Realizing that after Winston Churchill's speech in Fulton and the "witch hunt" hosted by Hoover, Muller can escape punishment for his crimes, they decide to extradite him to the Soviet government. Stirlitz goes to the Soviet embassy, ​​where he tells who he is, as well as information about Muller's whereabouts. Employees of the MGB carry out the arrest of Stirlitz and transport him to the USSR on a ship. Isaev goes to prison ("Despair"). There he meets Raoul Wallenberg and plays his own game. Meanwhile, his son and wife are being shot on Stalin's orders. After the death of Beria, Stirlitz is released.

A month after being awarded the Golden Star, he begins working at the Institute of History on the topic “National Socialism, Neo-Fascism; modifications of totalitarianism. After reviewing the text of the dissertation, Mikhail Suslov, Secretary of the Central Committee, recommended that Comrade Vladimirov be awarded the academic degree of Doctor of Science without defense, and that the manuscript be withdrawn and transferred to a special depository ...

One more time he would meet his old RSHA acquaintances, former Nazis, in West Berlin in 1967 ("Bomb for the Chairman"). This time, Isaev, aged but not losing his grip, managed to prevent the theft of nuclear technology by a private corporation and faced a radical sect from Southeast Asia...

jokes

Stirlitz is a character in one of the largest cycles of Soviet jokes, usually they parody the voice of the narrator, constantly commenting on Stirlitz's thoughts or the events of the film. In the series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" it was the voice of BDT actor Efim Kopelyan.

Interesting Facts

In fact, the German surname Sti(e)rlitz does not exist; the closest similar one is Stieglitz (Stieglitz - "goldfinch" (Carduelis carduelis)), also known in Russia. Also during the Second World War in the Third Reich was Vice Admiral Ernst Schirlitz (Schirlitz) - the commander of the German fleet in the Atlantic.

Being an impostor, Stirlitz actually could not have served in the SS in such a high position, since the Nazi security services checked the identity of each candidate for several generations. To pass such a test, Stirlitz had to not only have genuine identification documents, but replace the real German Max Stirlitz, who really lived in Germany and looked like him in appearance. Although such substitutions are practiced by the special services when introducing illegal immigrants, in reality, all sources of Soviet intelligence in the upper echelons of the Reich, which are now known, were recruited by Germans or anti-fascist Germans.

Stirlitz graduated from the university, specialized in quantum mechanics. This was also easy to verify. Quantum mechanics was at that time a relatively young science. The scientists involved in it were well known.

Stirlitz is the tennis champion of Berlin. This fact is also easy to verify. This untruth would have been immediately revealed, but Stirlitz-Isaev certainly became the champion, without deception. He had time for this.

Stirlitz is addressed as "Stirlitz", not "von Stirlitz". In principle, such treatment is allowed, especially in cases where the bearer of the surname does not have a noble title (count, baron, and others). But in those years there was less such “democratism” in Germany, all the more strange to hear an appeal without a “background” from subordinate persons.

Stirlitz smokes, which is contrary to the anti-smoking policy in the Third Reich. In 1939, the NSDAP introduced a smoking ban in all its institutions, and Heinrich Himmler banned SS and police officers from smoking during working hours.

Favorite beer Shtirlitsa - "Rough Gottlieb". In it, he dined with Pastor Schlag, rested with a glass of beer, after breaking away from the "tail" of Mueller's agents. The well-known Berlin restaurant "Zur letzten Instanz" (Last instance) was filmed in the "role" of this pub.

Prototypes

It is traditionally believed that the Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge became one of the prototypes of Stirlitz, but there are no facts of biographical coincidences between Stirlitz and Sorge.

Another possible prototype of Stirlitz is Willy Lehman, an SS Hauptsturmführer, an employee of the IV department of the RSHA (Gestapo). The German, a passionate horse race player, was recruited in 1936 by Soviet intelligence, whose employee lent him money after losing, and then offered to supply secret information for a good fee (according to another version, Willy Lehman independently went to Soviet intelligence, guided by ideological considerations). He bore the operational pseudonym "Breitenbach". In the RSHA he was engaged in countering Soviet industrial espionage.

Willy Lehman failed in 1942, under circumstances close to those described by Yulian Semyonov: his radio operator Bart, an anti-fascist, during a surgical operation, under anesthesia, began to talk about ciphers and communications with Moscow, and the doctors signaled to the Gestapo. In December 1942, Willy Lehman was arrested and shot a few months later. The fact of the betrayal of such a high-ranking SS officer was hidden - even the wife of Willy Lehman was informed that her husband had died after falling under a train. The story of Willy Lehmann is told in the memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, from which Yulian Semyonov apparently borrowed it.

According to the Vesti newspaper, the prototype of Stirlitz was the Soviet intelligence officer Isai Isaevich Borovoy, who lived in Germany from the late 1920s, and later worked in Himmler's department. In 1944 he was arrested, after the death of Stalin he was the main witness for the prosecution at the trial in the Beria case.

A very likely prototype of Stirlitz could be Sergei Mikhalkov's brother, Mikhail Mikhalkov. Yulian Semyonov was married to Ekaterina, the daughter of Natalia Petrovna Konchalovskaya from her first marriage. Here are the facts of the biography of Mikhail Mikhalkov: at the beginning of World War II, he served in a special department of the South-Western Front. In September 1941, he was captured, escaped and continued to serve behind enemy lines as an illegal agent, supplying the intelligence agencies of the Red Army with important operational information. In 1945, during a battle in a German uniform, he crossed the front line and was detained by the military counterintelligence SMERSH. On charges of collaborating with German intelligence, he served five years in prison, first in the Lefortovo prison, later in one of the camps in the Far East. In 1956 he was rehabilitated. Perhaps (and most likely) Yulian Semyonov learned part of the history of Stirlitz from the family stories of Mikhail Mikhalkov.

Movie incarnations

In addition to Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who, of course, is the main "movie face" of Stirlitz, other actors also played this character. In total, five novels were filmed, where Stirlitz or Maxim Maksimovich Isaev acts. The role of Stirlitz in these films was performed by:

Rodion Nakhapetov ("No Password Needed", 1967)
Vladimir Ivashov (Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, 1975)
Uldis Dumpis ("Spanish Version") (in the film, the hero's name is Walter Schulz)
Vsevolod Safonov (The Life and Death of Ferdinand Luce)
Daniil Strakhov (Isaev, 2009 - television adaptation of the novels Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, No Password Needed, and the story Tenderness).

Quotes from the movie "Seventeen Moments of Spring"

Don't believe anyone who scares you with bad weather in Switzerland. It is very sunny and warm here.

Have I given anyone a thrashing? I am an old, kind man who gives up.

You don't have cognac.
- I have cognac.
- So you don't have salami.
- I have salami.
- So, we eat from the same feeder.

And you, Stirlitz, I will ask you to stay.

In love, I'm Einstein!

Truly: if you smoke American cigarettes, they will say that you have sold your Motherland.

Which products do you prefer - our production, or ...
- Or. It may not be patriotic, but I prefer products made in America or France.

You've got the wrong number, mate. You have the wrong number.

You know too much. You will be buried with honors after a car accident.

If you get shot down (in war, as in war), you will have to destroy the letter before you unfasten the straps of your parachute.
- I won't be able to do this, as I will be dragged along the ground. But the first thing I do when I unfasten my parachute is destroy the letter.

Little lies breed big mistrust.

Are you complaining about your memory?
- I drink iodine.
- And I - vodka.
- Where can I get money for vodka?
- Take bribes.

He'll wake up in exactly twenty minutes.

Now you can't trust anyone. Even to yourself. I can.

A strange property of my physiognomy: it seems to everyone that they saw me somewhere.

Do you have canned fish? I'm going crazy without fish. Phosphorus, you know, is required by nerve cells.
- Which production do you prefer, ours or...
- Or. It may be unpatriotic, but I prefer products made in America or in France.

Do your kidneys hurt?
- No.
- It's a pity.

Heil, Hitler!
- Come on. Ringing in the ears.

A good adjutant is like a hunting dog. It is indispensable for hunting, and if the exterior is good, other hunters envy.

What two people know, the pig knows.

I will play the defense of the Karakan, only you, please do not interfere with me.

I know your testimony! I read them, listened to them on tape. And they suited me - until this morning. And since this morning they have ceased to suit me.

I love silent people. If this is a friend, then a friend. If it's an enemy, then it's an enemy.

I asked for new Swiss blades to be delivered to me. Where? Where... Who did the checking?

I'll come right now, go write me a couple of formulas.
- Swear!
- For me to die.

Clarity is a form of complete fog.

The name Stirlitz is on everyone's lips. Who is he? Is this a fictional character or a real person? When did he live? Why are they talking about him now? You will find answers to these questions in the article.

So who is Stirlitz? This is the most famous. Any representative of the older generation in the CIS will answer without hesitation that this is a famous character in Yulian Semenov's novels. An experienced and inveterate spy from "17 Moments of Spring", talentedly played in the movie by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Expressions from this legendary film have long become winged and are known to almost everyone. And there are many anecdotes about the famous SS Standartenführer.

Max Otto von Stirlitz, also known as Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, is found in more than one work by Semenov. Gradually, they reveal his origin, interests and how the young Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov becomes first Maxim Isaev, and then Stirlitz.

Spy biography

The parents of the outstanding intelligence officer met in Transbaikalia, where they were exiled for their political views. Vsevolod was born on October 8, 1900. After 5 years, his mother could not cope with consumption and died.

The young intelligence officer began working under the pseudonym Isaev already in 1920. During this period, he acts as an employee of the press service. A year later, Vladimirov works as deputy head of the foreign department of the Cheka. Then, in 1921, he was sent to Estonia.

The underground activity of the young Chekist is rapidly gaining momentum, in 1922, introduced into the White Guard troops, he ends up in Manchuria. For the next 30 years, he has been collecting intelligence for the benefit of the Motherland far beyond its borders.

The appearance of Stirlitz

Who is Stirlitz? This is the same young intelligence officer Maxim Isaev. In 1927, he was transferred from Europe to troubled Germany, where the Nazi Party was gaining strength. It was then that the representative of the German aristocracy, Max Otto von Stirlitz, appeared.

During the Second World War, Colonel Isaev worked in the main department of imperial security. For his numerous and undeniable services to the Fatherland, Vsevolod Vladimirov received the title of Hero. But despite this, in 1947 Stirlitz ends up in a Soviet prison, where he plays his own game.

Personal life

Unlike his literary and film colleagues, Stirlitz is extremely cold and indifferent to the opposite sex. This is explained by no means by the insensitivity and callousness of the scout, but by the fact that there is no free space in his heart. Love for Alexandra Nikolaevna Gavrilina, who remained at home, the spy carried through his whole life. Despite the long separation, this woman responded to him in the same way and even gave birth to a child from him in 1923, which Maxim Maksimovich learns about only in 1941.

Unfortunately, Yulian Semyonov did not foresee a happy family life for his hero; by order of Stirlitz, his son would be shot in 1947.

To know everything about Stirlitz, you will have to read 14 novels about this hero.

The nature, interests and passions of Stirlitz

How was Stirlitz's youth? What was he really like? Being with his father in Bern during the emigration, young Vsevolod worked part-time in a newspaper. Largely due to this, the future spy acquired an interest and love for literature.

Vladimirov has all the qualities necessary for a scout. He is smart, prudent and cold-blooded. Able to quickly analyze, evaluate and orient in any situation.

Vsevolod would never have turned into Maxim Isaev, and even more so Stirlitz, had he not been a good actor and psychologist. These skills were the best way to help him so skillfully infiltrate any enemy team and create the appearance of good relations with forced colleagues.

From alcoholic beverages, Stirlitz prefers noble cognac. Although sometimes he can afford a mug of cold light beer.

Stirlitz prototypes

There are many assumptions about who could be the prototype of this well-known intelligence agent throughout the post-Soviet space. One can only guess whose features Semyonov endowed his hero with.

What did Stirlitz look like? You see a photo of a person in the article. This is how the creator of the image saw it. It is known for certain that the author found inspiration by scrupulously studying the archives of the special services. Every story about Stirlitz hides real events and people. Those whose names were hidden by pseudonyms and spy legends, and declassified only after many years.

Of course, the literary hero was not without artistic exaggerations. For example, Stirlitz is characterized not just as a good tennis player, but as a Berlin champion in this sport. In real life, it would hardly have been possible to combine hard work in intelligence with constant training and competition.

Who is Stirlitz? Film "17 Moments of Spring"

The famous film has become legendary for more than 40 years. The premiere of this cult picture was watched by 200,000,000 people.

Today it is simply impossible to imagine Stirlitz performed by another actor. But there were candidates besides Tikhonov, who, in general, turned out to be involved in the film by chance.

Archil Gomiashvili auditioned for this role, but he did not fit in some of the parameters presented by Yulian Semyonov. But he could not leave his native theater for such a long time (the shooting lasted 3 years).

Before the tests, Vyacheslav Tikhonov was made up, rewarding with a magnificent mustache. Such an external image of a scout plunged him into shock. But after some modifications and the willingness of the actor to devote himself entirely to this film, due to the lack of other work, it was he who was approved for the role.

On-screen Maxim Isaev brought the actor, in addition to popular recognition, fame and love of women, also an order.

Tikhonov harmoniously complemented the picture not only with his acting, but also offered the director a scene with his wife, who did not originally exist in the script. He was prompted by a friend's story about a meeting of his colleagues from the special services with their wives during their work abroad.

Some inconsistencies and facts

Stirlitz is a man entwined with secrets and mysteries. Here are some inconsistencies and facts that are perplexing:

1. In fact, the name of the famous intelligence officer does not exist. Although there is a close-sounding Stieglitz. In addition, there was a real historical character, Vice Admiral of the German Navy Ernst Stieglitz.
2. Despite his outstanding espionage skills, Maxim Isaev would hardly have been able to infiltrate such high ranks. The Nazis were too meticulous in checking the SS officers. He would have to take the place of an existing German with an impeccable reputation for several generations, and not just provide real documents.
3. Even lower-ranking colleagues do not use the prefix "von" when referring to Stirlitz. This is allowed, but in those years it was still a rarity. Moreover, according to legend, Stirlitz has a noble origin.
4. In all divisions of the NSDAP, smoking was under the strictest ban. The police were not allowed to smoke during working hours. Isaev easily violates this rule.
5. The pub in which the scout liked to spend time - "Rough Gottlieb" is in fact the restaurant "Last resort" in Berlin.
6. And the restaurant beloved by the hero, where Stirlitz meets his wife, is not at all in Germany, but in the Czech Republic.

Who is Stirlitz? This is a man of mystery, about which it is difficult to say something unequivocally. Whether this person actually lived or not is difficult to answer. Everyone has their own opinion on this matter. But in any case, the image is quite interesting. Is not it?

And some other countries.

All-Union fame for the image of Stirlitz was brought by the television series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" based on the work of the same name, where Vyacheslav Tikhonov played his role. This character has become the most famous image of a spy in Soviet and post-Soviet culture, comparable to James Bond in Western culture.

Biography

Contrary to popular belief, Stirlitz's real name is not Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, as can be assumed from " Seventeen Moments of Spring", A...

From the party characteristics of a member of the NSDAP since the year of von Stirlitz, SS Standartenführer (VI department of the RSHA): “A true Aryan. Character - Nordic, seasoned. Maintains good relations with co-workers. Fulfills his duty without fail. Merciless to the enemies of the Reich. Excellent Sportsman: Berlin Tennis Champion. Single; he was not noticed in connections discrediting him. Awarded by the Fuhrer and commended by the Reichsfuehrer SS…”

Works where he participates

Interesting Facts

• In fact, the German surname Sti(e)rlitz does not exist; the closest similar one is Stieglitz, also known in Russia.
• Being an impostor, Stirlitz really could not have served in the SS in such a high position, since the Nazi security services checked the identity of each candidate for several generations. To pass such a test, Stirlitz had to not only have genuine identification documents, but replace the real German Max Stirlitz, who really lived in Germany and looked like him in appearance. Although such substitutions are practiced by special services when introducing illegal agents, in reality, all sources of Soviet intelligence in the upper echelons of the Reich, which are now known, were recruited by Germans or anti-fascist Germans.
• On the samples of the film, Tikhonov (Stirlitz) was indeed filmed on a luxurious Horch-853 of 1935, which belonged to the famous Moscow collector A.A. Lomakov. And these tapes should be in the archives of Mosfilm! But the beginning of the filming itself dragged on for several months. And the owner of the car signed an agreement with another film group for the filming of the same Horch-853 in the famous Soviet action movie "Velvet Season" in Sukhumi. So Stirlitz began to drive a much cheaper 1938 Mercedes-Benz-230 in the film.

Prototypes

• One of the prototypes for Stirlitz was the Soviet intelligence officer Richard Sorge.
• Another real prototype of Stirlitz is Willy Lehman, who served in the sixth directorate of the RSHA under Walter Schellenberg. A German, a passionate horse race player, he was recruited in 1936 by Soviet intelligence, whose employee lent him money after losing, and then offered to supply secret information for a good fee (according to another version, Leman independently went to Soviet intelligence, guided by ideological considerations). He was nicknamed "Breitenbach". In the RSHA he was engaged in countering Soviet industrial espionage.
  Leman failed in the year, under circumstances close to those described by Semyonov: his radio operator Bart, an anti-fascist, during a surgical operation, under anesthesia, began to talk about ciphers and communications with Moscow, and the doctors signaled to the Gestapo. In December 1942, Leman was arrested, a few months later he was shot. The fact of the betrayal of such a high-ranking SS officer was hidden - even Leman's wife was informed that her husband had died after falling under a train. The story of Leman is told in Schellenberg's memoirs, from which, obviously, Semyonov borrowed it.

Dear friends, I am opening a new column in my blog "Literary Detective". Here I will publish my materials about the history of the creation of literary works and real prototypes of famous literary heroes. My first material is dedicated to the legendary and iconic character Stirlitz. I would be grateful for reasonable criticism and corrections, if any. I warn you that these materials are my personal version, which may differ from other, more accepted and popular versions.

So, get acquainted - Max Otto von Stirlitz

The most iconic character of the Soviet era, Soviet intelligence officer Max Otto von Stirlitz, created by the talented pen of Yulian Semenov, has always caused a lot of discussion. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev believed in the reality of Stirlitz so much after watching the serial film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" that he even awarded him the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, with great difficulty I had to persuade him that such a scout did not exist in real life and had to be an actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who played Stirlitz in the film, to give the Hero of Socialist Labor.

But who was this mythical Stirlitz and did he have a real prototype. Immediately I want to dispel the main myth - Stirlitz did not have a single real prototype.

Let's start with the fact that Stirlitz's real name is not Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, as can be assumed from Seventeen Moments of Spring, but Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov. The surname Isaev was taken by Yulian Semyonov as an operative pseudonym for Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov already in the first novel about him, Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.

In the novel "Expansion II" we learn that Vsevolod Vladimirov was born on October 8, 1900 in Transbaikalia, where his parents were in political exile. Father - Russian, Vladimir Alexandrovich Vladimirov, "professor of law at St. Petersburg University, dismissed for free thinking and proximity to social democracy circles." Attracted to the revolutionary movement by Georgy Plekhanov. Mother - Ukrainian, Olesya Prokopchuk, died of consumption when her son was five years old.

The parents met and got married in exile. At the end of the exile, father and son returned to St. Petersburg, and then spent some time in exile, in Switzerland, in the cities of Zurich and Bern. Here, Vsevolod Vladimirovich showed a love for literary work. In Bern, he worked for a newspaper. Father and son returned to their homeland in 1917.

It is known that in 1911 Vladimirov Sr. and the Bolsheviks parted ways. Already after the revolution, in 1921, while his son was in Estonia, Vladimir Vladimirov was sent on a business trip to Eastern Siberia and tragically died there at the hands of the White Guards. Here is the backstory of the famous scout.

I will not analyze absolutely all the legends about who was the prototype of Isaev. I will dwell on the most plausible versions, which are directly or indirectly confirmed by Semenov himself.

Birth of Maxim Isaev

The image of Maxim Isaev (Vsevolod Vladimirov) was born from a secret dispatch by Dzerzhinsky, who sent a talented young man to the Far East who loved horses and painting and had a sharp mind and erudition. That's how Maxim Isaev was born. Semenov himself spoke about it this way: “There are different rumors about me: that Yulian Semenov has access to folders marked“ top secret ”, to the most untouchable archives ... I use quite accessible - up to high school students, if they wish - sources information. I have no authority to get into secret archives and never had. There is also no experience in "secret" work, as I said. I just buy in a bookstore accessible to everyone, for example, the correspondence of the heads of the three states that were allied against Hitler during the war. There I find a passage from a letter from one head of state to the head of another allied state about the people who informed our Supreme High Command. You can go to any city library and read what I wrote. Of course, there is no mention anywhere that there was such a Soviet intelligence officer Isaev. I “invented” it, because there were similar people, remember - Sorge, Abel ... Of course, I work in the archives, but this is not forbidden to anyone.

In the photo, Yakov Grigorievich Blyumkin

And yet, the young Stirlitz had a real prototype, part of whose biography was absorbed by a literary character. This is Yakov Grigoryevich Blumkin (real name is Simkha-Yankev Gershevich Blumkin). It is interesting that among his pseudonyms there are the names of Vladimirov and Isaev. They also have the same date of birth with Stirlitz - October 8, 1900. Blumkin's biography is extremely entertaining. He was highly valued by Dzerzhinsky and Trotsky, he participated in the assassination of the German ambassador Mirbach, was noted in the attempt on the life of Hetman Skoropadsky and the German Field Marshal Eichhorn, "expropriated" the values ​​of the State Bank together with Mishka Yaponchik, overthrew the Persian head of Kuchek Khan and created the Iranian Communist Party. One episode from Blumkin's life almost completely became the basis of the plot of Semyonov's book Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. In the mid-twenties, Yakov graduated from the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army and dealt with the Eastern question, traveled to China, Palestine, Mongolia, and lived in Shanghai. In the summer of 1929, Blumkin returned to the capital to report on his work, but was soon arrested for old connections with Leon Trotsky. At the end of the same year, Blumkin was shot. In October 1921, Blyumkin, under the pseudonym Isaev (taken by his grandfather's name), goes to Revel (Tallinn) under the guise of a jeweler and, acting as a provocateur, reveals the foreign connections of Gokhran employees. It was this episode in the activities of Blumkin that Yulian Semyonov laid the basis for the plot of the book “Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat”.

Another prototype of the young Isaev was a relative of Julian Semenov by wife, Mikhail Mikhalkov. Yulian Semyonov was married to Ekaterina, the daughter of Natalia Petrovna Konchalovskaya from her first marriage. Here are the facts of the biography of Mikhail Mikhalkov: at the beginning of World War II, he served in a special department of the South-Western Front. In September 1941, he was captured, escaped and continued to serve behind enemy lines as an illegal agent, supplying the intelligence agencies of the Red Army with important operational information. In 1945, during a battle in a German uniform, he crossed the front line and was detained by the military counterintelligence SMERSH. On charges of collaborating with German intelligence, he served five years in prison, first in the Lefortovo prison, later in one of the camps in the Far East.

Max Otto von Stirlitz

In the photo Willy Lehman, photo from the archives of the Gestapo

But Max Otto von Strilitz was born from the biography of another intelligence officer who worked for Soviet intelligence, but already a German. Semenov took this hero from the memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, whom he made the chief of Stirlitz himself.

The service of SS Standartenführer von Stirlitz proceeded in Berlin on the Prinz-Albrechtstrasse, in the Reichssicherheitsshauptamt. The RSHA had 6 departments, or general bureaus: legal, 2 investigative, "support for the life of the Germans", secret police (Gestapo), foreign intelligence. It was in the latter, the so-called Amt VI, that Stirlitz served. Judging by the previous novels in the series, the brave Standartenführer often moved from one department to another. In the "Spanish variant" (action time - 1936), Stirlitz is clearly an employee of department VI E, which dealt with Italy and Spain. In 1941 ("Alternative") he definitely serves in Department VI D (Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia). And in 1945 ("Moments"), he most likely works either in VI A (general department) or in VI B (special operations). The Soviet special service, which contains the work book of Colonel Isaev, remained a mystery. Most likely, this is still the foreign intelligence of the NKVD under the leadership of General Pavel Fitin.

Chief Stirlitz Brigadeführer Walter Schellenberg is one of the most extraordinary personalities in the Reich. In less than thirty, he became the head of German intelligence - thanks not only to his brilliant abilities, but also to the patronage of Lina Heydrich, the wife of the head of the RSHA, Reinhard Heydrich. Schellenberg, contrary to Semenov, was by no means an unprincipled (from the point of view of Nazism) opportunist: he refused to cooperate with the allies and, shortly before his death, at the age of only 44, wrote memoirs full of sincere grief for the lost greatness of National Socialism.

And here we come to the third prototype of Stirlitz - the main one for the German stage of life. His name was Willy Lehman. The name of Willy Lehman became known recently. Meanwhile, this amazing man, who oversaw the defense industry and the military construction of fascist Germany in the Gestapo, for 12 years transmitted to Moscow invaluable information about the scale of preparations for fascism to establish world domination.

The declassified documents are included in the forthcoming book "His Majesty the Agent", written by the famous historian and intelligence expert Teodor Gladkov. So far, only a small part of the documents in the Leman case has been opened.

There is a version that Leman was simply recruited for money. The German, a passionate horse race player, was recruited in 1936 by Soviet intelligence, whose employee lent him money after losing, and then offered to supply secret information for a good fee. He bore the operational pseudonym "Breitenbach". In the RSHA he was engaged in countering Soviet industrial espionage.

However, this version is contradicted by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, which declassified some of the documents in the Breitenbach case. According to the representative of the SVR, unlike some agents of the Soviet intelligence, Leman was not recruited. He took the initiative to enter the Soviet residency and disinterestedly offered his services in the fight against Nazism.

On June 19, 1941, the intelligence officer informed the Soviet leadership about the German attack planned in three days. Wilhelm Lehmann, who, like Stirlitz, was a Gestapo officer, SS Hauptsturmführer. Lehman's desire to work for the USSR was dictated by his intransigence towards the basic ideals of fascism. The good-natured and affable person who was Leman was called by many at work (in the IVth department of the RSHA of the Gestapo) "Uncle Willy." No one, including his wife, could even imagine that this bald, kind man, suffering from renal colic and diabetes, was a Soviet agent. Before the war, he transmitted information about the timing and volume of production of self-propelled guns and armored personnel carriers, the development of new nerve agents and synthetic gasoline, the start of liquid-fuel rocket testing, the structure and personnel of the German special services, Gestapo counterintelligence operations, and much more. Documents confirming the fact of the impending attack on the Soviet Union, Leman sewn into the lining of his hat, which he then quietly replaced with the same headdress when meeting with the Soviet representative in a cafe.

Until now, the fact that it was Leman who handed over to Moscow the key to the Gestapo ciphers used in the Funkshpruch telegraph and Fernshpruch radio messages to communicate with his territorial and foreign employees was not known until now. Thus, at the Lubyanka they got the opportunity to read the official correspondence of the Gestapo.

In 1942, the Germans managed to declassify a brave intelligence officer. Willy Lehman failed under circumstances close to those described by Yulian Semenov: his radio operator Bart, an anti-fascist, during a surgical operation, under anesthesia, began to talk about ciphers and communications with Moscow, and the doctors signaled to the Gestapo. In December 1942, Willy Lehman was arrested and shot a few months later. The fact of the betrayal of the SS officer was hidden - even the wife of Willy Lehman was informed that her husband had died after falling under a train. The story of Willy Lehmann is told in the memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, from which Yulian Semyonov apparently borrowed it.

Himmler was simply shocked by this fact. The employee, who worked in the Gestapo for thirteen years, constantly supplied information to the USSR and was never even suspected of espionage. The very fact of his activities was so shameful for the SS that the Lehman case was completely and completely destroyed before it had time to reach the Fuhrer, and the intelligence officer himself was hastily shot shortly after his arrest. Even the wife of the agent for a long time did not know about the true causes of her husband's death. His name was included in the list of those who died for the Third Reich. Of all the Soviet intelligence officers, it was Leman who held the position of a high-ranking SS officer, similar to Stirlitz, surrounded by the arbiters of the fate of Germany and entering the very heart of the Reich.

This is how we got the first literary detective story, fascinating and interesting. And how can it be boring to read about such a character as Maxim Isaev-Stirlitz?!

To be continued?

And some other countries.

All-Union fame for the image of Stirlitz was brought by the serial television film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" based on the novel of the same name, where Vyacheslav Tikhonov played his role. This character has become the most famous image of a spy in Soviet and post-Soviet culture, comparable to James Bond in Western culture.

Biography

Contrary to popular belief, Stirlitz's real name is not Maxim Maksimovich Isaev, as can be assumed from " Seventeen Moments of Spring”, and Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov. The surname "Isaev" is presented by Yulian Semyonov as an operational pseudonym for Vsevolod Vladimirov already in the first novel about him - "Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat".

Isaev-Stirlitz - Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov - was born on October 8, 1900 (" Expansion-2”) in Transbaikalia, where his parents were in political exile.

From the party characteristics of a member of the NSDAP since 1933 von Stirlitz, SS Standartenführer (VI department of the RSHA): “A true Aryan. Character - Nordic, seasoned. Maintains good relations with co-workers. Fulfills his duty without fail. Merciless to the enemies of the Reich. Excellent Sportsman: Berlin Tennis Champion. Single; he was not noticed in connections discrediting him. Awarded by the Fuhrer and commended by the Reichsfuehrer SS…”

Works where he participates

jokes

Stirlitz is a character in one of the largest cycles of Soviet jokes, they usually parody the voice "from the author" constantly commenting on Stirlitz's thoughts or the events of the film. In the series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" it was the voice of the actor of the Leningrad Bolshoi Theater Efim Kopelyan:

Stirlitz insisted on his own. The tincture is very bitter.

Stirlitz bent over the map - he was uncontrollably vomited to his homeland.

Stirlitz was walking through the forest and saw eyes in a hollow.
- Woodpecker, - thought Stirlitz.
- You yourself are a woodpecker! Mueller thought.

Stirlitz walked with Kat through the forest. Suddenly, shots rang out and Kat fell, covered in blood. "They are shooting," thought Stirlitz.

Stirlitz was walking along the corridor of the Reich Chancellery, suddenly Muller was running towards him with the guards. Stirlitz tensed, and his hand involuntarily reached for the gun, but Muller ran past.
- Passed, - thought Stirlitz.
- You would be so carried away! Mueller thought.

Subsequently, the anecdotes were summarized in works of art by Ass Pavel and Nestor Begemotov ("Stirlitz, or How Hedgehogs Breed"), Boris Leontiev (the cycle of works "The Adventures of SS Standartenführer von Stirlitz"), Andrei Shcherbakov ("Leaders of the Fourth Reich", "Operation" Hedgehogs "No 2", "The Adventures of Stirlitz and other adventures of Bormann", etc.) and Sergei Chumichev ("How koloboks multiply, or Stirlitz against the Superspy").

Stirlitz began to suspect that he was going crazy. It seemed to him that some kind of calm, impartial voice was constantly commenting on every action. He walked over to the mirror and looked into it carefully. No, it seemed. Never before has the film crew of Seventeen Moments of Spring been so close to failure.

Many of these anecdotes are based on puns:

Stirlitz fired blindly... The blind fell...

Stirlitz beat for sure. He must have shot point-blank. The emphasis fell backwards. Vznich took off running. The duck began to defend itself.

Stirlitz sat down in a hurry. Raskoryachka immediately started up and drove off.

Stirlitz ran skipping and was in a hurry - the jump was closed in half an hour.

Stirlitz came out of the sea and lay down on the pebbles. Light was offended and left.

Stirlitz arrived drunk. Cheerfully, he left at Muller's house.

Muller shot Stirlitz in the head. "Explosive" - ​​Stirlitz thought with his brains.

Stirlitz fell from the balcony and miraculously caught on the cornice. The next day, the miracle was swollen and made it difficult to walk. Stirlitz decided to go to the doctor, got into the car and told the driver: "Move!". The driver touched it and said, “Wow!”.

Stirlitz saw how the SS men put the car on the pope. "Poor Pastor Shlag!" - thought Stirlitz.

Muller ordered to block all exits in the Stirlitz house. Stirlitz had to leave through the entrance.

Often, the personal data of the actors who played in the series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" are played up:

Or play out situations from the movie itself:

Holtoff, would you like some cognac?
- No, he hits too hard in the head.

Müller, would you like to take a walk along the lake?
- No, we have already seen this movie.

What is twice two? Mueller asked. Stirlitz thought. Of course, he knew how much twice two would be, he was recently informed about this from the center, but he did not know if Muller knew this. And if he knows, then who told him. Maybe Kaltenbrunner? Then negotiations with Dulles reached an impasse.

Many jokes are ironic about Stirlitz's ability to get out of difficult situations:

There is a meeting with Hitler. Suddenly, a man enters the room with a tray of oranges, puts the tray on the table, takes a secret card from the table and leaves. Everyone is dumbfounded.
- Who was that? Hitler asks.
- Yes, this is Stirlitz from the Schellenberg department. He is actually a Soviet intelligence officer Isaev, Muller replies.
So why don't you arrest him?
- Useless. All the same, he will get out - he will say that he brought oranges.

Sometimes international relations are played up:

Muller:
- Stirlitz, are you a Jew?
- No! I am Russian!
- I'm German.

Here is an example of Stirlitz being a fictional character:

Stirlitz wakes up in a prison cell, not remembering how he got there. He thinks out how to get out of the situation: “If a Gestapo man comes in, I will say that I am SS Standartenführer Stirlitz, and if an NKVDist comes in, I will say that I am Colonel Isaev.” A Soviet policeman enters: “Well, you got drunk yesterday, comrade Tikhonov!”

Another technique is to bring the dramatic situation to the point of absurdity:

Jokes about Stirlitz went beyond the cultural space of the Soviet Union:

Late in the evening, Stirlitz enters his house, immersed in darkness. A voice is heard:
- You don't have to turn on the light.
- Is it already Shabbat? - Stirlitz was surprised.

Some jokes combined an international aspect, new trends and a play on words at the same time:

Muller and Stirlitz are sitting in Muller's office - Muller at the table, Stirlitz in an armchair by the window - and look at each other tensely. Muller looks from Stirlitz to the open window, back to Stirlitz, to the window, to Stirlitz ... Suddenly he says sharply:
- Stirlitz, close the window, blowing!
Stirlitz in response:
- Do it yourself motherfucker!

Prototypes

Movie incarnations

In addition to Tikhonov, who, of course, is the main "film face" of Stirlitz, other actors also played this character. In total, four novels were filmed, where Stirlitz (or Maxim Isaev) acts. The role of Stirlitz in them was played by:

• Vladimir Ivashov ("Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat")
• Uldis Dumpis ("Spanish Version")
• Vsevolod Safonov (The Life and Death of Ferdinand Luce)

In the fall of 2009, the Rossiya TV channel plans to show the TV series Isaev, where the role of the young Soviet intelligence officer Maxim Isaev is played by Daniil Strakhov.