Iosif Grigulevich

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Soviet spy and Costa Rican diplomat (1913-1988)

WritersLived 1913 to 1988 · aged 75

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Fame50.5

Momentum0.5

Languages15

In century#30,837

Also inDeutsch

Photos 2

The Yugoslav head of state, Marshal Tito (left), receives the Costa Rican ambassador, Teodoro B. Castro (right), on 27 April 1953. Ambassador Castro was in fact a Soviet illegal agent, Iosif Grigulevich, who, under orders from Stalin and the KGB, was plotting to assassinate Tito.

Awards 6

Order of the Red Banner

Order of the Red Star

Order of Friendship of Peoples

Honored Scientist of the RSFSR

Order of the Red Banner of Labour

Order of Francisco de Miranda

Connected to Iosif 6

Shōichirō ToyodaAlso won Order of Francisco de Miranda

Zinaida YermolyevaAlso won Honored Scientist of the RSFSR

Alexander BakulevAlso won Honored Scientist of the RSFSR Patrick JohnAlso won Order of Francisco de Miranda

Chabuca GrandaAlso won Order of Francisco de Miranda

Yevgeniy ChazovAlso won Honored Scientist of the RSFSR

About this person

Iosif Romualdovich Grigulevich was a Soviet secret police (NKVD) operative active between 1937 and 1953, when he played a role in assassination plots against Communist and Bolshevik individuals who were not loyal to Joseph Stalin. This included the murders of claimed and actual Trotskyists during the Spanish Civil War, most notably Andreu Nin, and an initial, unsuccessful assassination attempt against Leon Trotsky in Mexico City. Under an assumed identity as Teodoro B. Castro, a wealthy Costa Rican expatriate living in Rome, Grigulevich served as the ambassador of the Republic of Costa Rica to both Italy and Yugoslavia (1952-1954). He was tasked by the NKVD with the assassination of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, but the mission was aborted following Stalin's death in 1953.