PAVEL FEDOSIMOV...
In this post we will review some already published information plus some very surprising news about another Pavel Fedosimov...
A little diversion, but in reality, it's more of an update and refresher for serious followers of the Somerton Man case.
Those that have been following will recognise the face of Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov, the name given to a man who was vice-consul for the Soviets in New York in the 1940s.. The clip you see above is an animated piece showing his face in reasonable detail. The photograph on which the clip is based was taken in 1947, it is the last known photograph of the man known as Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov.
According to records, (Vassiliev's notes) this man was recalled to Moscow and in fact, his details are recorded on the passenger list of the POBEDA that departed New York on July 30th, 1948 headed for Odessa. Pavel was at the time suspected of being about to betray the mother country hence the recall. Whilst Pavel's details were on the ship's manifest, the name of his wife, Vera Fedosimova, does not appear. In fact according to records, no one of that name ever departing from the USA. Interestingly, Russian reports of the departure of the Pobeda recount the story of the wife of a Soviet Diplomat refusing to board the ship, however no name was given to her in the Russian version of events.
According to records, (Vassiliev's notes) this man was recalled to Moscow and in fact, his details are recorded on the passenger list of the POBEDA that departed New York on July 30th, 1948 headed for Odessa. Pavel was at the time suspected of being about to betray the mother country hence the recall. Whilst Pavel's details were on the ship's manifest, the name of his wife, Vera Fedosimova, does not appear. In fact according to records, no one of that name ever departing from the USA. Interestingly, Russian reports of the departure of the Pobeda recount the story of the wife of a Soviet Diplomat refusing to board the ship, however no name was given to her in the Russian version of events.
A relatively minor though, nonetheless the important fact that may later have significance, is that we found that Fedosimov on his return trip to Odessa, called in at the Port of Alexandria in August 1948.
At this time, Guy Burgess who was to be exposed as a major Soviet spy ( alongside his University days friend Donald Maclean) was the MI6 man in Port Said, the neighbouring port to Alexandria. Fedosimov was the handler for Donald Maclean when he had visited New York in July 1946.
THE NOSE COMPARISON
More on this later in this post, but first, let's look at one aspect of Pavel that has been the subject of some criticism, the nose. The photographic evidence is quite clear and I did take into account the issue of how photographic images of the human face can easily be misunderstood. There are those, and no disrespect intended that simply don't agree with my views and that is their right of course. But here's a video that compares the nose of Pavel to that found on the plaster bust of the Somerton Man. It's only a short video and I think you will be surprised by its content:And, on a lighter note, here's another video all about noses and this is for your entertainment Pete :), courtesy of Shostakovich :
WAS HIS NAME REALLY PAVEL IVANOVICH FEDOSIMOV?
This has been discussed numerous times in the past, what clouds the issue is the well-known habit of agents, both Soviet and others, to use numerous names even reusing names once used by other agents, an example would be Fedosimov's code name, STEPAN which was used by an earlier US based agents, Arnold Deustch once used a similar code name.
In a 2017 post we looked at Pavel's time on the Front between 1941 and 1944 where he was a spymaster, here's a paragraph from that post:
In a 2017 post we looked at Pavel's time on the Front between 1941 and 1944 where he was a spymaster, here's a paragraph from that post:
THE OTHER PAVEL FEDOSIMOV, STEPAN (Pavel) September 1941:
“As head of an operational group, participated in massive operation to relocate Volga Germans. November 1941 — handpicked two probationers (“Roman” and “Anna”) from the Germans of Kuybyshev Region to train in radio communications and drop behind German lines 1942 and 1943 — composed cover stories and fabricated documents with which probationers legalize themselves behind German lines January 1944 — departed for the country." (A reference to Pavel's return to the US, he arrived there, according to our notes on February 21st 1944.)
Sounds fairly straightforward, doesn't it? That is until you research the Russian files of the time and find that a Pavel Fedosimov was killed in action in 1943 in the same region that our 'Pavel' served and within the time frame. The Pavel who died was born in the Kirov region in 1905.
What proof do we have that the man who, in the 1930s worked for Amtorg in the US before departing for Russia in 1940 or thereabouts, was the same Pavel Fedosimov who entered the USA in August 1944? We would need a photograph of the Amtorg Pavel to compare and would you believe that there isn't one? In fact, if I recall correctly the earlier Amtorg Pavel used a different spelling of 'Fedosimo', which is a valid variation.
So, for those interested, there is no proof whatsoever that 'Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov' who is quoted by others as being mentioned in documents after 1948 is the real name of the man in the images above and subject of this post.
So, for those interested, there is no proof whatsoever that 'Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov' who is quoted by others as being mentioned in documents after 1948 is the real name of the man in the images above and subject of this post.
Just to complicate matters a little further, Russian documents list 3 men who had the name of Pavel Fedosimov, one of which is the one born in 1905 to be later killed in action in 1943.
A classic example of name changing is that of Colonel Rudolf Abel, Soviet Agent, real name Fischer a man born in the UK and emigrated with his parents around 1919. He adopted the name Rudolf Abel from a Latvian fellow agent, a man whom he had served with in the Intelligence war against the Nazis. The real Rudolf Abel died in 1955 of a heart attack. Fisher took his name as a mark of respect. Various code names were used including Frank and Mark, in all following his capture in 1950, Abel had used more than 100 different names to cover his identity. Abel was arguably amongst the best of Soviet agents
ERMAKOV, VICTOR ANDREEVICH
When investigating the names of various Soviet and other agents of the early cold war years and earlier, you really have to be cognisant of the tradecraft techniques employed and to substantiate every step that you possibly can in the process. It would be naive in the extreme to find a name, as others have, without finding a photograph to match. Think in terms of Gouzenko whose face was hidden from the public for 25 years until it was eventually revealed.
The search for post-1948 photographs of the man on the left who used the name Pavel Ivanovich Fedosimov. continues.