A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency.
List of spymasters
NameWhenAllegiance Agency/Organization/ServiceMotojiro Akashi1904Akashi KikanLavrentiy Beria1938NKVDWilhelm Canaris1935AbwehrThomas Cromwell1533William J. Donovan1941Office of Strategic ServicesArmand Jean du Plessis (Cardinal Richelieu)1616Allen Dulles1953Central Intelligence AgencyL.B. Moerdani1952–1988State Intelligence AgencyA.M. Hendropriyono1945State Intelligence AgencyAli Murtopo 1945–1978 State Intelligence AgencyYoga Sugama1942–1989State Intelligence AgencyZhou Enlai1928–1932 Chinese Communist PartySpecial Service section of the Central CommitteeUrban Work Committee of the Central CommitteeRafaat Gebril1973General Intelligence Directorate (Egypt)Fadhil Barrak1976–1989Iraqi Intelligence ServiceMuhammad al-Khuli1970–1987Air Force Intelligence DirectorateAli Mamlouk2005–2024National Security BureauGeneral Intelligence Directorate (Syria)Sándor Goldberger (alias J. Peters)1930–1948Communist Party USASidney Gottlieb1951–1973Central Intelligence AgencyHamid Gul1987–1989Director-General of Inter-Services IntelligenceJaved Nasir1992-1993Director-General of Inter-Services IntelligenceFaiz Hameed2019Director-General of Inter-Services IntelligenceIsser Harel1952–1963MossadRonnie Kasrils1983–19892004–2008Umkhonto we SizweMinister of Intelligence ServicesDavid Kimche1953–1980MossadIvone Kirkpatrick1918–1918British Army, Belgian resistance Maxwell Knight1924–1930MI5Chee Woh, Leong1971–1984Special BranchDai Li1928–1946National Revolutionary ArmyColin Hercules Mackenzie1940–1946Special Operations Executive – Force 136Tengku Mahmood Mahyideen1942–1945 British MalayaSpecial Operations Executive – Force 136 (Malayan region)Yuri Modin1948–1951NKVDHugh Montgomery1953–1981 (CIA) 1981–1985 (INR) 1989–2014 (CIA)Central Intelligence Agency Bureau of Intelligence and ResearchDonald Nichols19516004th Air Intelligence Service SquadronManuel Piñeiro1961–1964Dirección de InteligenciaAllan Pinkerton1855–1861Union Intelligence ServiceWang Puchen1948–1949Bureau of Investigation and StatisticsPyotr Rachkovsky1885–1902OkhranaAlfred Redl1903–1913;EvidenzbureauMao Renfeng1946–1956Bureau of Investigation and StatisticsSemyon Semyonov1937–1950NKVDKang Sheng1940s–1946 Chinese Communist PartyCentral Social Affairs DepartmentHugh Sinclair1919–1939Secret Intelligence ServiceMansfield Smith-Cumming1909–1923Secret Intelligence ServiceRichard Sorge1920–1941Main Intelligence DirectorateSidney Souers1946–1946Director of the Central Intelligence AgencyGustav Steinhauer1911–1914Nachrichten-AbteilungWilliam Stephenson1940–1946British Security Co-ordinationEmanuel Sueyro–1629Benjamin Tallmadge1778–1783Culper RingJohn Thurloe1653Liam Tobin1919Irish Republican ArmyFrancis Walsingham1573–1590George Washington1775Continental ArmyWilliam Wickham1795–1801Markus Wolf1951–1986Main Directorate for ReconnaissanceShen Zui1934–1949Bureau of Investigation and StatisticsKyrylo Budanov2020–presentMain Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine)Bhola Nath Mullik1950–1964 Intelligence BureauR. N. Kao1968–1977Research and Analysis WingVikram Sood1966-2003Research and Analysis WingMaloy Krishna Dhar1968-1996Intelligence BureauAjit Doval1968–20042014-PresentIntelligence BureauNational Security Advisor of IndiaZvi Zamir1948-1973Mossad R. N. Ravi1974-20122018-2019Intelligence BureauDeputy National Security Advisor of IndiaRajinder Khanna1978–20162018-20242024-PresentResearch and Analysis WingDeputy National Security Advisor of IndiaAdditional National Security Advisor of IndiaAnil Dhasmana1981–2019Research and Analysis WingSamant Goel1984-2023Research and Analysis WingRavi Sinha1988–2025Research and Analysis Wing Tapan Deka1988-2026Intelligence BureauParag Jain1989–PresentResearch and Analysis WingDavid Barnea1996–2026MossadRoman Gofman1995-PresentMossadMahesh Dixit1993-PresentIntelligence BureauSergey Naryshkin2016–presentSVRMikhail Lyubimov1959–1980KGB
See also List of American spies List of British spies List of German spies List of fictional spymasters
Bibliography
Notes
References