Georgi Markov
Encyclopedia
Georgi Ivanov Markov (March 1, 1929 – September 11, 1978) was a Bulgaria
n dissident
writer
.
Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright
, but in 1969 he defected from Bulgaria, then governed by President Todor Zhivkov
. After relocating to the West, he worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the BBC World Service
, the US-funded Radio Free Europe
, and Germany's Deutsche Welle
. Markov used such forums to conduct a campaign of criticism against the incumbent Bulgarian regime. As a result of this, it has been speculated that the Bulgarian government may have decided to silence him, and may have asked the KGB
for help. He died as a result of an incident on a London street when a micro-engineered pellet containing ricin
was fired into his leg via an umbrella wielded by someone with possible links to the Bulgarian secret police.
neighbourhood. In 1946 he graduated from the Gymnasium
(high school) and began university studies in industrial
chemistry
. Initially Markov worked as a chemical engineer
and a teacher in a technical school. At the age of 19 years old he became ill with tuberculosis
which forced him to attend various hospitals. His first literary attempts occurred during that time. In 1957 a novel The Night of Celsius appeared. Soon another novel The Ajax Winners (1959) and two collections of short stories (1961) were published. In 1962 Markov published the novel Men which won the annual award of the Union of Bulgarian Writers and he was subsequently accepted as a member of the Union, a prerequisite for a professional career in literature. Georgi Markov started working at the Narodna Mladezh publishing house. The story collections A Portrait of My Double (1966) and The Women of Warsaw (1968) secured his place as one of the most talented young writers of Bulgaria. Markov also wrote a number of plays but most of them were never staged or were removed from theatre repertoire by the Communist censors: To Crawl Under the Rainbow, The Elevator, Assassination in the Cul-de-Sac, Stalinists, and I Was Him. The novel The Roof was halted in mid-printing since it described as a fact and in allegorical terms the collapse of the roof of the Lenin steel mill. Markov was one of the authors of the popular TV series On Every Milestone which created the character of the Second World War detective Velinsky and his nemesis the Resistance fighter Deyanov.
Despite the ban of some of his works, Georgi Markov had become an acclaimed author. He was one of several writers and poets that Zhivkov tried to co-opt and coerce into serving the regime with their works. During this period Markov had a bohemian lifestyle which was unknown to most Bulgarians.
where his brother lived. His initial idea was to wait until his reputation in Bulgaria improved, but he gradually changed his mind and decided to stay in the West, especially after September 1971 when the Bulgarian government refused to extend his passport
. Markov moved to London
where he learned English
and started working for the Bulgarian
section of the BBC World Service
(1972). He tried to work for the film industry, hoping for help from Peter Uvaliev, but was unsuccessful. Later he also worked with Deutsche Welle
and Radio Free Europe
. In 1972 Markov’s membership in the Union of Bulgarian Writers was suspended and he was sentenced in absentia to six years and six months in prison for his defection.
His works were withdrawn from libraries and bookshops and his name was not mentioned by the official Bulgarian media until 1989. The Bulgarian Secret Service started Markov’s file under the code name “Wanderer”. In 1974 his play To Crawl Under the Rainbow was staged in London, while in Edinburgh the play Archangel Michael, written in English, won first prize. The novel The Right Honourable Chimpanzee, coauthored by David Phillips
, was published after his death. In 1975 Markov married Annabelle Dilk. The couple have a daughter, Alexandra-Raina, born a year later.
Between 1975 and 1978 Markov worked on his In Absentia Reports analysis of life in Communist Bulgaria. They were broadcast weekly on Radio Free Europe
. Their criticism of the Communist government and personally of the Party leader Todor Zhivkov
made Markov even more an enemy of the regime.
In 1978, Markov was murdered, apparently by Communist agents (see below). His grave is in a small churchyard at Whitchurch Canonicorum
in Dorset
. His In Absentia Reports were published in Bulgaria in 1990, after the end of the Communist government.
In 2000, Markov was posthumously awarded the Order of Stara Planina, Bulgaria's most prestigious honour, for his “significant contribution to the Bulgarian literature, drama and non-fiction and for his exceptional civic position and confrontation to the Communist regime.”
, had previously made two failed attempts to kill Markov before a third attempt succeeded. On 7 September 1978 (the birthday of Todor Zhivkov
), Markov walked across Waterloo Bridge
spanning the River Thames
, and waited at a bus stop to take a bus to his job at the BBC. He felt a slight sharp pain, as a bug bite or sting, on the back of his right thigh. He looked behind him and saw a man picking up an umbrella off the ground. The man hurriedly crossed to the other side of the street and got in a taxi which then drove away. The event is recalled as the "Umbrella Murder" with the assassin claimed to be Francesco Gullino
, codenamed "Piccadilly".
When he arrived at work at the BBC World Service
offices he noticed a small red pimple
had formed at the site of the sting he'd felt earlier and the pain had not lessened or stopped. He told at least one of his colleagues at the BBC about this incident. That evening he developed a fever
and was admitted to a hospital where he died three days later, on 11 September 1978, at the age of 49. The cause of death was poison
ing from a ricin
-filled pellet.
ordered a thorough autopsy
of Markov's body. The forensic pathologists discovered a spherical metal pellet the size of a pin-head embedded in Markov's calf.
The pellet measured 1.52 mm in diameter and was composed of 90% platinum
and 10% iridium
. It had two holes with diameters of 0.35 mm drilled through it, producing an X-shaped cavity. Further examination by experts from Robert Gergi and Porton Down
showed that the pellet contained traces of toxic ricin
. A sugary substance coated the tiny holes creating a bubble which trapped the ricin inside the cavities. The specially crafted coating was designed to melt at 37° Celsius (the temperature of the human body
). As the pellet was shot into Markov, the coating melted and the ricin was free to be absorbed into the bloodstream and kill him. Regardless of whether the doctors treating Markov had known that the poison was ricin, the result would have been the same, as there is no known antidote to ricin.
Ten days before the murder, an attempt was made to kill another Bulgarian defector, Vladimir Kostov, in the same manner as Markov, in a Paris metro station
. Doctors found the same kind of bullet in his skin. However, it seems that the sugar coating of the bullet protecting the ricin content was damaged during the shot or before, and thus, only a tiny portion of the poison got into his blood, causing only fever. Kostov reported that the shot came from a man carrying a small bag, but not an umbrella. The main reason for this was the declaration of Markov who saw the umbrella but never said he was shot by it. However, forensic experts declared that the probable "gun" that shot the bullet was probably very sophisticated, another reason to believe in state action.
A book describing the whole story and facts was written by Vladimir Bereanu and Kalin Todorov. The book has been removed from sale but is still available.
Several well-known KGB
defectors, such as Oleg Kalugin
and Oleg Gordievsky
, have confirmed that the KGB arranged the murder, even presenting the Bulgarian assassin with alternatives such as a poisonous jelly
to smear on Markov's skin
, but to this day no one has been charged with Markov's murder, largely because most documents relating to his death were probably destroyed. The British newspaper The Times has reported that the prime suspect is an Italian
named Francesco Gullino
(or Giullino) who lives in Denmark
.
A British documentary, The Umbrella Assassin (2006), interviewed people associated with the case in Bulgaria, Britain and America, and revealed that the prime suspect, Gullino, is alive and well, and still traveling freely throughout Europe
.
There were reports in June 2008 that Scotland Yard had renewed its interest in the case. Detectives were sent to Bulgaria and requests were made to interview relevant individuals. There also seems to be a newfound interest on the part of the Bulgarian authorities to resolve the case.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Markov originally worked as a novelist and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, but in 1969 he defected from Bulgaria, then governed by President Todor Zhivkov
Todor Zhivkov
Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
. After relocating to the West, he worked as a broadcaster and journalist for the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
, the US-funded Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
, and Germany's Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
. Markov used such forums to conduct a campaign of criticism against the incumbent Bulgarian regime. As a result of this, it has been speculated that the Bulgarian government may have decided to silence him, and may have asked the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
for help. He died as a result of an incident on a London street when a micro-engineered pellet containing ricin
Ricin
Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally...
was fired into his leg via an umbrella wielded by someone with possible links to the Bulgarian secret police.
Life in Bulgaria
Georgi Markov was born on 1 March 1929, in Knyazhevo, a SofiaSofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
neighbourhood. In 1946 he graduated from the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(high school) and began university studies in industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
. Initially Markov worked as a chemical engineer
Chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is the profession in which one works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work...
and a teacher in a technical school. At the age of 19 years old he became ill with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
which forced him to attend various hospitals. His first literary attempts occurred during that time. In 1957 a novel The Night of Celsius appeared. Soon another novel The Ajax Winners (1959) and two collections of short stories (1961) were published. In 1962 Markov published the novel Men which won the annual award of the Union of Bulgarian Writers and he was subsequently accepted as a member of the Union, a prerequisite for a professional career in literature. Georgi Markov started working at the Narodna Mladezh publishing house. The story collections A Portrait of My Double (1966) and The Women of Warsaw (1968) secured his place as one of the most talented young writers of Bulgaria. Markov also wrote a number of plays but most of them were never staged or were removed from theatre repertoire by the Communist censors: To Crawl Under the Rainbow, The Elevator, Assassination in the Cul-de-Sac, Stalinists, and I Was Him. The novel The Roof was halted in mid-printing since it described as a fact and in allegorical terms the collapse of the roof of the Lenin steel mill. Markov was one of the authors of the popular TV series On Every Milestone which created the character of the Second World War detective Velinsky and his nemesis the Resistance fighter Deyanov.
Despite the ban of some of his works, Georgi Markov had become an acclaimed author. He was one of several writers and poets that Zhivkov tried to co-opt and coerce into serving the regime with their works. During this period Markov had a bohemian lifestyle which was unknown to most Bulgarians.
Writer and a dissident
In 1969 Georgi Markov left for Bologna, ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
where his brother lived. His initial idea was to wait until his reputation in Bulgaria improved, but he gradually changed his mind and decided to stay in the West, especially after September 1971 when the Bulgarian government refused to extend his passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
. Markov moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where he learned English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and started working for the Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
section of the BBC World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
(1972). He tried to work for the film industry, hoping for help from Peter Uvaliev, but was unsuccessful. Later he also worked with Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...
and Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. In 1972 Markov’s membership in the Union of Bulgarian Writers was suspended and he was sentenced in absentia to six years and six months in prison for his defection.
His works were withdrawn from libraries and bookshops and his name was not mentioned by the official Bulgarian media until 1989. The Bulgarian Secret Service started Markov’s file under the code name “Wanderer”. In 1974 his play To Crawl Under the Rainbow was staged in London, while in Edinburgh the play Archangel Michael, written in English, won first prize. The novel The Right Honourable Chimpanzee, coauthored by David Phillips
David Phillips
David Phillips may refer to:*David Phillips , Canadian actor*David Phillips , former Canadian international...
, was published after his death. In 1975 Markov married Annabelle Dilk. The couple have a daughter, Alexandra-Raina, born a year later.
Between 1975 and 1978 Markov worked on his In Absentia Reports analysis of life in Communist Bulgaria. They were broadcast weekly on Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
. Their criticism of the Communist government and personally of the Party leader Todor Zhivkov
Todor Zhivkov
Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
made Markov even more an enemy of the regime.
In 1978, Markov was murdered, apparently by Communist agents (see below). His grave is in a small churchyard at Whitchurch Canonicorum
Whitchurch Canonicorum
Whitchurch Canonicorum or Whitechurch Canonicorum is a village in south-west Dorset, England, situated in the Marshwood Vale five miles northwest of Bridport.The village has a population of 647 ; 10.1% of dwellings are second homes...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. His In Absentia Reports were published in Bulgaria in 1990, after the end of the Communist government.
In 2000, Markov was posthumously awarded the Order of Stara Planina, Bulgaria's most prestigious honour, for his “significant contribution to the Bulgarian literature, drama and non-fiction and for his exceptional civic position and confrontation to the Communist regime.”
Murder
Agents of the Bulgarian secret police, Darzhavna Sigurnost , assisted by the KGBKGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
, had previously made two failed attempts to kill Markov before a third attempt succeeded. On 7 September 1978 (the birthday of Todor Zhivkov
Todor Zhivkov
Todor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
), Markov walked across Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815...
spanning the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, and waited at a bus stop to take a bus to his job at the BBC. He felt a slight sharp pain, as a bug bite or sting, on the back of his right thigh. He looked behind him and saw a man picking up an umbrella off the ground. The man hurriedly crossed to the other side of the street and got in a taxi which then drove away. The event is recalled as the "Umbrella Murder" with the assassin claimed to be Francesco Gullino
Francesco Gullino
Francesco Gullino is a Dane of Italian origin, born in Bari, Italy in 1946, who was named in June 2005 by The Times as the prime suspect in the 1978 "Bulgarian umbrella" murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov...
, codenamed "Piccadilly".
When he arrived at work at the BBC World Service
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
offices he noticed a small red pimple
Pimple
A pimple, zit or spot is a kind of acne, and one of the many results of excess oil getting trapped in the pores. Some of the varieties are pustules or papules....
had formed at the site of the sting he'd felt earlier and the pain had not lessened or stopped. He told at least one of his colleagues at the BBC about this incident. That evening he developed a fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
and was admitted to a hospital where he died three days later, on 11 September 1978, at the age of 49. The cause of death was poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
ing from a ricin
Ricin
Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally...
-filled pellet.
Later investigation and aftermath
Due to the circumstances and statements Markov made to doctors expressing the suspicion that he had been poisoned, Scotland YardScotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
ordered a thorough autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
of Markov's body. The forensic pathologists discovered a spherical metal pellet the size of a pin-head embedded in Markov's calf.
The pellet measured 1.52 mm in diameter and was composed of 90% platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
and 10% iridium
Iridium
Iridium is the chemical element with atomic number 77, and is represented by the symbol Ir. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum family, iridium is the second-densest element and is the most corrosion-resistant metal, even at temperatures as high as 2000 °C...
. It had two holes with diameters of 0.35 mm drilled through it, producing an X-shaped cavity. Further examination by experts from Robert Gergi and Porton Down
Porton Down
Porton Down is a United Kingdom government and military science park. It is situated slightly northeast of Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility which is operated by QinetiQ...
showed that the pellet contained traces of toxic ricin
Ricin
Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally occurring protein. A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult. The LD50 of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram Ricin , from the castor oil plant Ricinus communis, is a highly toxic, naturally...
. A sugary substance coated the tiny holes creating a bubble which trapped the ricin inside the cavities. The specially crafted coating was designed to melt at 37° Celsius (the temperature of the human body
Human body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
). As the pellet was shot into Markov, the coating melted and the ricin was free to be absorbed into the bloodstream and kill him. Regardless of whether the doctors treating Markov had known that the poison was ricin, the result would have been the same, as there is no known antidote to ricin.
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
. Doctors found the same kind of bullet in his skin. However, it seems that the sugar coating of the bullet protecting the ricin content was damaged during the shot or before, and thus, only a tiny portion of the poison got into his blood, causing only fever. Kostov reported that the shot came from a man carrying a small bag, but not an umbrella. The main reason for this was the declaration of Markov who saw the umbrella but never said he was shot by it. However, forensic experts declared that the probable "gun" that shot the bullet was probably very sophisticated, another reason to believe in state action.
A book describing the whole story and facts was written by Vladimir Bereanu and Kalin Todorov. The book has been removed from sale but is still available.
Several well-known KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
defectors, such as Oleg Kalugin
Oleg Kalugin
Oleg Danilovich Kalugin , is a former KGB general. He was a longtime head of KGB operations in the United States and later a critic of the agency.-Early life and the KGB career:...
and Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
, have confirmed that the KGB arranged the murder, even presenting the Bulgarian assassin with alternatives such as a poisonous jelly
Gel
A gel is a solid, jelly-like material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state...
to smear on Markov's skin
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
, but to this day no one has been charged with Markov's murder, largely because most documents relating to his death were probably destroyed. The British newspaper The Times has reported that the prime suspect is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
named Francesco Gullino
Francesco Gullino
Francesco Gullino is a Dane of Italian origin, born in Bari, Italy in 1946, who was named in June 2005 by The Times as the prime suspect in the 1978 "Bulgarian umbrella" murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov...
(or Giullino) who lives in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
A British documentary, The Umbrella Assassin (2006), interviewed people associated with the case in Bulgaria, Britain and America, and revealed that the prime suspect, Gullino, is alive and well, and still traveling freely throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
There were reports in June 2008 that Scotland Yard had renewed its interest in the case. Detectives were sent to Bulgaria and requests were made to interview relevant individuals. There also seems to be a newfound interest on the part of the Bulgarian authorities to resolve the case.
In popular culture
- The ScottishScottish peopleThe Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
postpunk group Fingerprintz recorded a song for their 1979 album The Very Dab that was inspired by Markov's assassination. The name of that song is "Wet Job," and the song itself references how Markov "was waiting for a bus [..] in the rush hour" when he was assassinated (the song also mentions that the deed was "a hit"). - In an episode of the Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show MythBustersMythBustersMythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
, the two hosts of the show, Adam SavageAdam SavageAdam Whitney Savage is an American industrial design and special effects designer/fabricator, actor, educator, and co-host of the Discovery Channel television series MythBusters. His model work has appeared in major films, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and The Matrix...
and Jamie HynemanJamie HynemanJames Franklin "Jamie" Hyneman is an American special effects expert, best known for being the co-host of the television series MythBusters. He is also the owner of M5 Industries, the special effects workshop where MythBusters is filmed...
, created working replicas of the umbrella used to assassinate Markov. - The assassination of Markov with a Bulgarian umbrellaBulgarian umbrellaThe Bulgarian umbrella is the name of an umbrella with a hidden pneumatic mechanism which shot out a small poisonous pellet containing ricin....
inspired the creation of the French film Le coup du parapluie (Umbrella coup) starring Pierre RichardPierre RichardPierre Richard is a popular French actor best known for the roles of a clumsy daydreamer in comedy films...
and directed by Gerard OuryGérard OuryGérard Oury was a French film director, actor and writer. His real name was Max-Gérard Houry Tannenbaum.- A commercially successful French filmmaker :...
. - In the Tom ClancyTom ClancyThomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novel Red RabbitRed RabbitRed Rabbit is a New York Times bestselling novel by Tom Clancy. It incorporates the 1981 plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II.-Plot summary:...
, the assassination of Markov is a topic of much discussion in the story. A minor character of the novel, a BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n operative named Boris Andeyevich Strokov, is revealed to be the killer. - In Stefan KisyovStefan KisyovStefan Kisyov is a novelist, journalist, playwright and short story writer. Kisyov was born in Stara Zagora in 1963. He studied at Sofia and Plovdiv universities, and also at the Sorbonne in Paris...
's novel The Executioner (Kisyov novel)The Executioner (Kisyov novel)The Executioner is a crime novel by Bulgarian novelist Stefan Kisyov, about the killing of Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov. It was published in 2003 and is the winner of the Vick Foundation's "Best Novel of 2004".-Plot summary:...
the killer of Georgi Markov is the Bulgarian secret agent Stefan Gashtev. - In the second episode of John Brason and Gerard GlaisterGerard GlaisterJohn Leslie "Gerard" Glaister DFC, was a British television producer and director best known for his work with the BBC. Amongst his most notable successes as a TV producer were Colditz, The Brothers, Secret Army and Howards' Way.After studying at RADA, Glaister made his West End debut in 1939...
's thriller serial KesslerKesslerKessler is a television series produced by the BBC in 1981, starring Clifford Rose in the title role.The six-part serial is a sequel to the Second World War drama series Secret Army, set in the present day and following the progress of former SS Sturmbannführer Ludwig Kessler, now living under the...
(1981), the sequel to Secret Army, Belgian journalist Hugo Van Eyck is murdered by being poisoned in the street with the tip of an umbrella. The effect of the poison is immediate and he dies moments after being jabbed. - In John D. McDonald's 1979 novel The Green RipperThe Green RipperThe Green Ripper is the eighteenth of 21 Travis McGee novels written by John D. McDonald. It won the National Book Award for the category of mystery in 1980, and was the first and only book in that category to receive the award. The plot is centered on revenge against a secretive, terrorist cult...
, Travis McGee's girlfriend is murdered using the same technology. In an interview with CIA agents, Meyer refers to Markov by name. - In an episode of CSI: NYCSI: NYCSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
("Past Imperfect"), a man is found to have been shot in the leg with a pellet containing ricin. A character references the 'Umbrella Assassination' in London as a similar occurrence to the events in the story. - In an episode from the second season of CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
(Caged (CSI)), a character references Georgi Markov and the 'Umbrella Assassination' in London. - In an episode of sitcom Yes, Prime Minister ("A Diplomatic IncidentA Diplomatic Incident“A Diplomatic Incident” is the eleventh episode of the BBC comedy series Yes, Prime Minister and was first broadcast 17 December 1987.- Plot :...
"), the President of FrancePresident of the French RepublicThe President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
is about to visit LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and will be bringing with him the gift of a LabradorLabrador RetrieverThe Labrador Retriever is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United...
puppy in reciprocation for a similar offering made by The QueenElizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
during her last state visit to FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Well aware of British quarantineQuarantineQuarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
laws, the French are seeking to create a diplomatic incident in order to gain an advantage in the Channel TunnelChannel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
negotiations. While discussing the issue by telephone with a civil servant from the British Embassy in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Bernard WoolleyBernard WoolleySir Bernard Woolley GCB is one of the three main fictional characters of the 1980s British sitcom Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. He was portrayed by Derek Fowlds.-Character:...
suggests facetiously the assassination of the puppy and then advises his interlocutor to "see if the Bulgarians have got any spare umbrella tips". - In the video game No One Lives ForeverNo One Lives ForeverThe Operative: No One Lives Forever is a first-person shooter video game with stealth gameplay elements, developed by Monolith Productions and published by Fox Interactive, released for Windows in 2000. The game was also ported later to the PlayStation 2 and Mac OS X...
, Volkhov uses a specially modified umbrella to deliver a biological explosive to a British businessman. - The Markov murder is referred to in the play A Touch of Danger, by Francis DurbridgeFrancis DurbridgeFrancis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School in Yorkshire where he was encouraged to write by his English teacher. He continued to do so whilst studying English at Birmingham University...
:
Crane Did you ever, by any chance, read a book called The Truth That Killed?
Max Yes, I read it.
Crane Then no doubt you recall the Markov murder? The incident with the umbrella? (He slowly raises the walking-stick, deliberately pointing it at Max. He no longer limps) - The Markov murder is referenced in the novel The Whole TruthThe Whole Truth (novel)The Whole Truth is a 2008 book by David Baldacci.-Plot summary:The head of a major arms vendor plots to restore the great power confrontations like those of the cold war, along with the long term stability of mutually assured destruction...
by David BaldacciDavid BaldacciDavid Baldacci is a bestselling American novelist.-Biography:Baldacci received a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. As a student, Baldacci wrote short stories in his spare time, and later practiced law for nine years near Washington, D.C....
, as a way to deal with a news reporter. - In the AMC television series Breaking BadBreaking BadBreaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...
, the Markov murder is discussed in Season 2 Episode 1Breaking Bad (season 2)The second season of the American television drama series Breaking Bad premiered on March 8, 2009 and concluded on May 31, 2009. It consisted of 13 episodes, each running approximately 47 minutes in length. AMC broadcast the second season on Sundays at 10:00 pm in the United States...
, "Seven Thirty Seven", when the two main characters, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, make ricin out of castor beans to poison a drug lord, Tuco, who intends to kill them. Additionally, during the fourth season, Walt and Jesse plan to use ricin to poison their new boss, Gus Fring. - In the CBS television series NCISNCIS (TV series)NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
, the same technique used for the Markov murder is used in Season 7 Episode 21, "Obsession", when two characters are killed by a ricin pellet; the forensic specialist Abby SciutoAbby SciutoAbigail "Abby" Sciuto is a fictional character from the NCIS television series by CBS Television, and is portrayed by Pauley Perrette. Like Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo and Donald Mallard, Abby was first introduced in the episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" in the television show JAG, and has...
and the medical assistant Jimmy Palmer find out evidences and explain to the other characters the Markov murder itself but they falsely claimed that Markov is a Russian. - In the television show FringeFringe (TV series)Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
, the episode entitled "MarionetteMarionette (Fringe)"Marionette" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe. The episode was written by Monica Owusu-Breen and Alison Schapker, and directed by Joe Chappelle...
" features a character named Roland David Barrett. Stalking his victim in a train station, Barrett uses an umbrella gun to shoot him in the back of his leg, introducing a slow acting toxin. - In Will EisnerWill EisnerWilliam Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
's graphic novel Life on Another PlanetLife on Another PlanetLife On Another Planet, also known as Signal from Space, is a science fiction story by Will Eisner serialized in The Spirit and later collected into a single volume....
, which includes a KGB espionage subplot, a character is poisoned to death from the poke of an umbrella. - In the BBC One show SpooksSpooksSpooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...
, Series 10, Episode 4, Sasha Gavrik visits a colleague in a hotel room - the colleague covertly sneaks up on Gavrik and places an umbrella against his colleagues's calf, making a reference to the Markov incident.
External links
- Markov's umbrella assassin revealed. After 26 years, police hope to bring killer to justice by Nick Paton Walsh. June 6, 2005. (The Guardian)
- WNET (PBS) "Secrets of the Dead" on investigation of the assassination.
- Georgi Markov "The Umbrella Assassination" mvm.ed.ac.uk
- "The Poison Umbrella" Yveta Kenety, in: The New Presence 4/2006, S. 46-48