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  • Every Monday we bring you a deep dive into the fascinating lives of incredible people.

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  • Pretty much everyone on the planet has heard of James Bond.

  • The suave, unshakable, devastatingly handsome MI6 agent has been portrayed by Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig, and others on the big screen,

  • but did you know he was actually based on a real-life secret agent whose story is more incredible than anything youll find in fiction?

  • Although Fleming never admitted that Yugoslavian double agent Dusko Popov was his primary source of inspiration, there’s plenty of evidence that this was the case.

  • It’s also believed that MI6 would never have allowed him to disclose this information in his lifetime,

  • but today were going to tell you the fascinating story of the real-life James Bond, so let’s get started.

  • Dusko Popov came from a wealthy Serbian family in Yugoslavia.

  • Although there was considerable political turmoil in his country as he was growing up,

  • his family stayed above the fray and enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle with a number of villas and yachts.

  • He often vacationed on the Adriatic coast and by all accounts lived a charmed life.

  • Popov’s father insisted that he get a quality education.

  • He enrolled him in a prestigious preparatory school in England called Ewell Castle,

  • but he was expelled after just four months for taking the cane the teacher used to punish students and snapping it in two in front of the class.

  • When he was 18, he enrolled in the University of Belgrade, where he developed a reputation as a ladiesman.

  • After graduating, he continued on to the University of Freiburg in Germany to get his law degree in 1935.

  • While at the University of Freiburg, Popov became best friends with Johnny Jebsen,

  • who also came from a wealthy background thanks to his shipping magnate father.

  • At this time the Nazis and Adolf Hitler had already taken power, and Popov didn’t like how easily people were swayed into following Nazi beliefs.

  • He spoke out against the Nazis and published articles that ridiculed them.

  • In the summer of 1937, he was arrested by the Gestapo, who said he was a communist.

  • He might have been held in prison indefinitely if his father hadn’t had connections with the prime minister of Yugoslavia, who arranged for his release.

  • Popov was then forced out of Germany, but it wouldn’t be long before he was welcomed back with open arms.

  • In February 1940, he was practicing law back in his hometown when he received a message that his friend Jebsen wanted to meet with him.

  • Jebsen had joined the Abwehr, Germany’s military intelligence service, and he was tasked with recruiting people to act as spies.

  • Popov was torn as he knew his best friend needed him, but he also despised the Nazis.

  • He quickly saw that this was actually a perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Nazis.

  • He agreed to act as a German spy and then almost immediately went to the British intelligence and offered his services as a double agent.

  • Before long, Popov was simultaneously Britain’s greatest secret agent and Germany’s greatest secret agent.

  • The British would feed him official-looking information that was just a little off, which the Germans would gratefully accept.

  • They felt as if he was doing the work of 10 men, which in actuality wasn’t far from the truth.

  • Because of his success with Abwehr, the Gestapo and the Nazi intelligence groups also recruited him to help them out.

  • On the other side, he was serving MI5, Britain’s domestic counter-intelligence agency, and MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence agency.

  • On top of this, he also later became an FBI informant.

  • He beautifully maneuvered the complexities of having so many conflicting allegiances.

  • In addition to his spy work, Durov also had a cover that he was a businessman in the export and import business.

  • Despite it being only a cover, Popov actually made major deals and was quite successful in his business endeavors as well while acting as a double agent.

  • And if that weren’t enough, he also came up with the idea for a money-laundering scheme

  • through which he stole a significant amount of money from the Nazis with the backing of MI6.

  • This was called the Midas Plan, and this is where Ian Fleming comes into the story.

  • At the time, Ian Fleming was an assistant to the Director of British Naval Intelligence, Admiral Godfrey.

  • Godfrey was the one who signed off on the Midas Plan, and he knew when Popov was expected to receive a large payment from the Abwehr.

  • Godfrey tasked Fleming with shadowing Popov in order to ensure that the money was safely delivered to the chief of MI6 in Lisbon.

  • Portugal was one of only two countries in Europe that had remained neutral in the war,

  • so the capital city of Lisbon became a hub for spies and diplomats from both sides.

  • It was a romantic city full of fancy hotels, fine restaurants, and exciting casinos, one of which would play a major role in Fleming’s inspiration for Bond.

  • In August 1941, Popov received the payment of $38,000—worth roughly 650,000 at today’s valuationand rather than hide it or secure it in a safe,

  • he decided to keep the money on him as he enjoyed a night at the Casino Estoril, one of the largest casinos in Europe.

  • Fleming followed close behind without interacting with Popov in order to fulfill his duty of keeping his eye on the money. But he ended up studying Popov instead.

  • At the casino, Popov was playing at the baccarat table when a cocky Lithuanian businessman announced that he would match any amount someone bet at his table.

  • Popov didn’t like his attitude and he wanted to teach him a lesson.

  • So he pulled out all of the money that was to go to MI6 and bet it all on a single hand of baccarat to call the man’s bluff.

  • The crowd went quiet, stunned at the massive amount of cash he laid on the table.

  • Fleming reportedly had turned green at the thought that Popov was putting at risk the very money he had been tasked to protect.

  • After a tense moment, the flustered Lithuanian withdrew his claim and Popov cheerfully gathered the money off the table

  • while telling the casino head that they shouldn’t allow such irresponsible gamblers at their tables.

  • This scene that Fleming witnessed is said to have inspired a similar casino scene in his book Casino Royale.

  • But more than that, Fleming appears to have largely based the entire character of James Bond on Dusko Popov.

  • How Fleming describes Bond in his book perfectly mirrors how Dusko was in real life.

  • Just like Bond, he had dark hair combed straight back and blue-gray eyes.

  • He spoke five different languages, was clean-shaven, had won two shooting contests, was very athletic, and he was known to be a womanizer.

  • He was cultured and could fit into any setting, and he wasn’t afraid of dangerin fact, he sought it out.

  • Dusko was charming, socially skilled, brilliant, good looking, calm and collected. Sound familiar?

  • Even the picture of Bond that Fleming had commissioned looked similar to Popov.

  • One difference was that Popov’s codename wasTricycle.’

  • Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as 007. But let’s get back to his story.

  • After he safely delivered the 38,000 to MI6, Popov was sent to the US by the Germans to set up a spy network there.

  • The British also thought Popov could be helpful in the States, and they put him under the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover.

  • Unfortunately, Hoover did not trust Popov because he was a foreigner and a double agent.

  • He wanted him to only serve as bait so that he could catch real German spies instead of actively taking part in missions.

  • Popov even warned Hoover about the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor in August 1941,

  • four months before the actual attack, but Hoover disregarded his warning.

  • The FBI did not trust him to send messages to the Germans, so they did it on his behalf.

  • This caused the Germans to become suspicious as the quality of his work dropped.

  • Nevertheless, he was able to maintain his cover to the very end and even played an instrumental role in the success of the D-Day invasions

  • by deceiving the Germans about when and where the attacks would occur.

  • Popov had achieved the unthinkable.

  • He was willing to die for the cause, but because of his quick thinking, smooth-talking, and smart decision making, he survived

  • and had numerous amazing experiences along the way.

  • After the war, he continued his successful import/export business as a British citizen

  • and kept quiet about all his spy adventures until he published his biography entitled Spy/Counterspy in 1974.

  • Even his wife and children had not known about his life as a spy before this.

  • He passed away in 1981 at the age of 69 following a prolonged illness.

  • Sadly, there’s no way we could cover every exciting part of Popov’s life in this video.

  • So, for that youll have to check out Into the Lion’s Mouth: The True Story of Dusko Popov:

  • World War II Spy, Patriot, and the Real-Life Inspiration for James Bond.

  • Author Larry Loftis did extensive research into the declassified MI6 documents that contain the incredible details of Popov’s life as a double agent.

  • You can hear this captivating novel on Audible for 20 dollars, but even better, if you go to alux.com/freebook and sign up,

  • where you'll get the audiobook version for free thanks to our partnership with Audible!

  • While researching his story, weve come across this quote from Ian Fleming we’d like to share with you that goes like this:

  • Your life probably won’t be as exciting as James Bond or Popov, but you can definitely avoid being trapped by boredom

  • by getting out of your comfort zone and saying yes to an adventure that you would normally say no to.

  • Now that were wrapping up this story, we’d like to know:

  • Let us know in the comments. And, of course, for sticking with us until the end here's your...

  • Dusko played the role of a double agent so well that he was honored with not only the Order of the British Empire

  • but also the German Iron Cross following World War II.

  • Whatsmore, he was the only person involved in the war that managed this incredible feat.

  • Thank you for spending some time with us Aluxers!

  • Make sure to subscribe so you never miss another video.

  • We also handpicked these videos for you to watch next.

  • As always the conversation continues on social media.

  • Thanks again and we can't wait to have you back tomorrow.

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実在のジェームズ・ボンドの物語 (The Story of the Real Life James Bond)

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    林宜悉 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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