Serghei Nicolau (born Sergey Nikonov; 1905–1999) was a
Romanian communist espionage chief and a
Securitate general.
Biography
An
ethnic Russian
The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or not.
History
...
, Nicolau was born in
Cacica,
Suceava County
Suceava County () is a county ('' ro, județ'') of Romania. Most of its territory lies in the southern part of the historical region of Bukovina, while the remainder forms part of Western Moldavia proper.
The county seat is the historical town ...
in to an ethnic
Russian family. He also called himself at various times Serghei Nicanov, or Sergiu Nicolau, or Victor Nicolau-Cacica.
Like his boss
Emil Bodnăraș
Emil Bodnăraș (10 February 1904 – 24 January 1976) was a Romanian communist politician, an army officer, and a Soviet agent, who had considerable influence in the Romanian People's Republic.''Final Report'', p. 646
Early life
Bodnăraș was ...
, he was recruited by the
NKVD. This occurred in the late 1930s after he was expelled from the Chemistry faculty of the
University of Iași, for attending meetings of the banned
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...
(PCR). His studies abroad, in
Brussels and
Marseille, were paid for, and in the latter city, he was part of the local
French Communist Party leadership. At some point, he deserted from the
Romanian Army and left for the
Soviet Union.
At the beginning of
World War II, Nicolau was assigned to return to Romania in order to set up a spy network, but he was captured at sent to prison, where he spent part of his sentence alongside another NKVD agent,
Gheorghe Pintilie.
While at
Doftana prison, the two belonged to a group of Soviet agents around future PCR leader
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej.
[Biografiile nomenklaturii]
, at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes in Romania site Following the 1949 arrest of
N. D. Stănescu, he was made head of the External Intelligence Service (SSI). Guided by Bodnăraș, he worked to recruit loyal agents, both within the agency and in the Romanian Army.
[Oprea, p.31] In consultation with the local Soviet espionage bureau, the pair reorganized the SSI into four bureaus: foreign information, supervision of diplomatic missions in
Bucharest, domestic information and counterespionage activities.
[Oprea, p.31-2]
The Soviet handlers were not content with only training and assisting
Securitate officers, but they actively started recruiting some of them. Nicolau protested this practice to Gheorghiu-Dej, who refused to intervene, since he was seeking at the time the support of the Soviets in his campaign against the
Ana Pauker faction of the PCR. As a result, Nicolau was removed as head of the SSI on January 6, 1953 and replaced by .
On April 1 of that year, Nicolau transferred to the information services of the Ministry of Defense.
From 1954 until his retirement in 1960, Nicolau, who held the rank of
lieutenant general, led the military espionage bureau of the
Romanian General Staff.
In the early 1950s, his wife Nina was Gheorgiu-Dej's personal secretary.
Notes
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolau, Serghei
1905 births
1999 deaths
Romanian communists
Directors of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Romania)
Soviet spies
Securitate generals
People convicted of spying for the Soviet Union
Prisoners and detainees of Romania
Romanian prisoners and detainees
People from Suceava County
Incarcerated spies
Collaborators with the Soviet Union