Michael Josselson (2 March 1908,

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

– 7 January 1978,

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland) was a CIA agent.

Biography

Michael Josselson was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in Estonia, where his father was a timber merchant. Strongly opposed to the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

, his family moved to Germany after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

of 1917. Josselson studied at the University of Berlin. After obtaining his diploma, he worked for the American department store Gimbel's, becoming the representative of the firm in Paris. When

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

came to power, Josselson left Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1937 with his French wife. He continued to work in New York as the manager of Gimbel's European branches. Michael Josselson joined the US Army during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As he could speak four languages without the slightest accent, he was placed in the intelligence service. He was sent to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

with a team charged with conducting interrogations of German prisoners of war with the aim of distinguishing convinced Nazis from those who were not. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Josselson was commissioned by the CIA to set up the

Congress for Cultural Freedom The Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) was an anti-communist cultural organization founded on 26 June 1950 in West Berlin. At its height, the CCF was active in thirty-five countries. In 1966 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency w ...

in 1950. He recruited former communist intellectuals (

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

, Denis de Rougemont,

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...

, Franz Borkenau, Andre Gide,

Raymond Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand Aron (; ; 14 March 1905 – 17 October 1983) was a French philosopher, sociologist, political scientist, historian and journalist, one of France's most prominent thinkers of the 20th century. Aron is best known for his ...

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

Michael Polanyi Michael Polanyi ( ; ; 11 March 1891 – 22 February 1976) was a Hungarian-British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. He argued that positivism is a false account of knowle ...

, and others) to lead an ideological struggle in Europe against the influence of Marxist ideas, in the name of freedom of expression. Frances Stonor Saunders's 1999 book '' Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War'' explains in detail the role of Michael Josselson in this operation. In 1966, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' revealed that the Congress for Cultural Freedom had received funding from the CIA. In 1967, the magazines Ramparts and

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

investigated the CIA's funding of a number of anti-communist cultural associations. These reports included a statement by a former CIA secret operations director admitting CIA funding and congressional operations. This revelation caused a great scandal and many intellectuals resigned from the Congress for Cultural Freedom. Josselson devoted his last years to writing a biography of General

Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly Prince Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (baptised – ) was a Russian field marshal who figured prominently in the Napoleonic Wars. Barclay was born into a Baltic German family from Livland. His father was the first of his family to be accep ...

, ''The Commander'', which was published posthumously in 1980.

Bibliography

* * Michael et Diana Josselson, ''Le Général Hiver'', Éditions Gérard Lebovici, Paris, 1986. * Frances Stonor Saunders, '' Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War '', Granta, 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Josselson, Michael 1908 births 1978 deaths Anti-communist propagandists Cold War CIA spies Estonian anti-communists People from Tartu People from Kreis Dorpat Congress for Cultural Freedom 20th-century Estonian Jews 20th-century Estonian people United States Army personnel of World War II

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References