Ramón Mercader
Encyclopedia
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río Hernández (7 February 1913 — 18 October 1978) was a Spanish
communist
who became famous as the murderer of Russian
Communist ideologist Leon Trotsky
in 1940, in Mexico
. Declassified archives have shown that he was a Soviet agent.
He served 20 years in Mexican prison for the murder; Joseph Stalin
presented him with an Order of Lenin
in absentia, and the KGB
awarded him a Hero of the Soviet Union
medal after his release in 1961.
, but grew up in France
with his mother, Eustaquia María Caridad del Río Hernández, after she separated from his father, Pau Mercader Marina. Cuba
n-born Caridad was an ardent Communist who fought in the Spanish Civil War
and served the Soviet international underground. As a young man, Mercader embraced Communism, working for leftist
organizations in Spain
during the mid-1930s. He was briefly imprisoned for his activities, but was released in 1936 when the left-wing coalition Popular Front
won in the elections of that year. During the civil war in Spain, Mercader was recruited by NKVD
officer Nahum Eitingon
and trained in Moscow
as a Soviet agent.
Mercader's contacts with and befriending of Trotskyists began during the Spanish Civil War. George Orwell
’s biographer Gordon Bowker relates how English communist David Crook
, an ostensible volunteer for the Republican side, was sent to Albacete
where he was taught Spanish and also given a crash course in surveillance techniques by Ramon Mercader. Crook then, on orders from the NKVD
, used his job as war reporter for the News Chronicle
to spy on Orwell and his Independent Labour Party
comrades in the POUM
Trotskyist militia.
, in France, Mercader befriended Sylvia Ageloff, a confidant of Trotsky in Paris
, assuming the identity Jacques Mornard, supposedly the son of a Belgian diplomat. A year later, he was contacted by a representative of the "Bureau of the Fourth International
." Ageloff returned to her native Brooklyn
, in New York, in September that same year, and Mercader joined her, assuming the identity of Canadian Frank Jacson. He was given a passport which had originally belonged to a Canadian citizen named Tony Babich, a member of the Spanish Republican Army
during the Spanish Civil War
. Babich's photograph was removed and Mercader's was inserted in its place. Mercader explained to Ageloff that he purchased forged documents to avoid military service. In October, Mercader, ostensibly to tend to business affairs (a cover provided by Eitingon), moved to Mexico City, where Trotsky lived with his family, and persuaded Ageloff to join him. Through her, Mercader began to meet with Trotsky personally, posing as a supporter of Trotsky's ideas.
The then leader of the main American Trotskyist party
, Joseph Hansen
, was later accused by Trotsky's followers as being "a double agent
of the FBI
and the GPU
" and of having assisted Mercader to penetrate Trotsky's inner circle of friends and acquaintances, an accusation Hansen denied.
On 20 August 1940, Mercader attacked and fatally wounded Trotsky with an ice axe
, while the exiled Russian was in the study at his home in Coyoacán
(then a village on the southern fringes of Mexico City). The blow failed to kill Trotsky instantly. Hearing the commotion, Trotsky's guards burst in and nearly killed Mercader, but Trotsky, heavily wounded but still conscious, ordered them to spare his attacker's life, shouting "Do not kill him! This man has a story to tell."
Caridad and Eitingon, having arrived in Mexico City
shortly after Mercader, were waiting outside the compound in separate cars to provide a getaway; but, when Mercader did not return, they left and fled the country.
Trotsky was taken to a hospital in the city and operated on but died the next day, as a result of "severe brain damages".
Mercader was turned over by Trotsky's guards to the Mexican authorities, to whom he refused to give his real identity. He would only identify himself as "Jacques Mornard". Mercader claimed to the police he had wanted to marry Ageloff, but Trotsky had forbidden the marriage. He alleged that a violent quarrel with Trotsky had led to him wanting to murder Trotsky. He stated that "... instead of finding myself face to face with a political chief who was directing the struggle for the liberation of the working class, I found myself before a man who desired nothing more than to satisfy his needs and desires of vengeance and of hate and who did not utilize the workers' struggle for anything more than a means of hiding his own paltriness and despicable calculations.... It was Trotsky who destroyed my nature, my future and all my affections. He converted me into a man without a name, without country, into an instrument of Trotsky. I was in a blind alley.... Trotsky crushed me in his hands as if I had been paper."
It was not until September 1950 that fingerprint evidence conclusively proved the assassin's true identity. Nevertheless, Mercader, in 1940, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ageloff was initially arrested by the Mexican police as an accomplice, as she had lived together with Mercader on and off for about two years, up to the time of the assassination, but charges were quickly dropped.
presented Ramón's mother Caridad with the Order of Lenin
for her part in the operation.
After the first few years in prison, Mercader requested to be released on parole
, but the request was denied by Dr. Jesús Siordia and the criminologist Alfonso Quiroz Cuarón. After almost 20 years in jail, he was eventually released from Mexico City's Palacio de Lecumberri
prison on 6 May 1960 and moved to Havana
, Cuba
, where Fidel Castro
's new revolutionary
government welcomed him.
In 1961, he moved to the Soviet Union
and was awarded the highest civilian decoration of the country, the Hero of the Soviet Union
medal, from the then head of the KGB Alexander Shelepin
. He divided his time between Cuba and the Soviet Union for the rest of his life. He died in Havana in 1978.
Mercader is buried under the name Ramon Ivanovich Lopez (Рамон Иванович Лопес) in Moscow's Kuntsevo Cemetery
. His name still has a place of honour in the Museum of Security Services in Lubyanka Square
, Moscow
.
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
who became famous as the murderer of Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
Communist ideologist Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
in 1940, in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Declassified archives have shown that he was a Soviet agent.
He served 20 years in Mexican prison for the murder; Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
presented him with an Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
in absentia, and 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...
awarded him a Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
medal after his release in 1961.
Life
Mercader was born in 1913 in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, but grew up in France
France
The 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...
with his mother, Eustaquia María Caridad del Río Hernández, after she separated from his father, Pau Mercader Marina. Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n-born Caridad was an ardent Communist who fought in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and served the Soviet international underground. As a young man, Mercader embraced Communism, working for leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
organizations in Spain
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
during the mid-1930s. He was briefly imprisoned for his activities, but was released in 1936 when the left-wing coalition Popular Front
Popular Front (Spain)
The Popular Front in Spain's Second Republic was an electoral coalition and pact signed in January 1936 by various left-wing political organisations, instigated by Manuel Azaña for the purpose of contesting that year's election....
won in the elections of that year. During the civil war in Spain, Mercader was recruited by NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
officer Nahum Eitingon
Nahum Eitingon
Nahum Isaakovich Eitingon, or Naum Isaakovič Ejtingon , also known as Leonid Aleksandrovich Eitingon , was a Soviet intelligence officer, who was sometimes described as a major organizer of Stalin's state terrorism system.- Career :Eitingon, a Russian Jew, joined the Cheka in 1920, shortly before...
and trained in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
as a Soviet agent.
Mercader's contacts with and befriending of Trotskyists began during the Spanish Civil War. George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
’s biographer Gordon Bowker relates how English communist David Crook
David Crook
David Crook . A committed Marxist from 1931, he joined the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. After being wounded on his first day at the front, he was returned to a hospital in Madrid...
, an ostensible volunteer for the Republican side, was sent to Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....
where he was taught Spanish and also given a crash course in surveillance techniques by Ramon Mercader. Crook then, on orders from the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, used his job as war reporter for the News Chronicle
News Chronicle
The News Chronicle was a British daily newspaper. It ceased publication on 17 October 1960, being absorbed into the Daily Mail. Its offices were in Bouverie Street, off Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 8DP, England.-Daily Chronicle:...
to spy on Orwell and his Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
comrades in the POUM
Poum
Poum is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The town of Poum is located in the far northwest, located on the southern part of Banare Bay, with Mouac Island just offshore....
Trotskyist militia.
Assassination of Trotsky
In 1938, while he was a student at the SorbonneSorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, in France, Mercader befriended Sylvia Ageloff, a confidant of Trotsky in Paris
Paris
Paris 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...
, assuming the identity Jacques Mornard, supposedly the son of a Belgian diplomat. A year later, he was contacted by a representative of the "Bureau of the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
." Ageloff returned to her native Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, in New York, in September that same year, and Mercader joined her, assuming the identity of Canadian Frank Jacson. He was given a passport which had originally belonged to a Canadian citizen named Tony Babich, a member of the Spanish Republican Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
. Babich's photograph was removed and Mercader's was inserted in its place. Mercader explained to Ageloff that he purchased forged documents to avoid military service. In October, Mercader, ostensibly to tend to business affairs (a cover provided by Eitingon), moved to Mexico City, where Trotsky lived with his family, and persuaded Ageloff to join him. Through her, Mercader began to meet with Trotsky personally, posing as a supporter of Trotsky's ideas.
The then leader of the main American Trotskyist party
Socialist Workers Party (United States)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far-left political organization in the United States. The group places a priority on "solidarity work" to aid strikes and is strongly supportive of Cuba...
, Joseph Hansen
Joseph Hansen (socialist)
Joseph Leroy Hansen , was an American Trotskyist and leading figure in the Socialist Workers Party.Born in Richfield, Utah, Joseph Hansen was the oldest of 15 children in a poor working class family, and he was the only one of them who could attend college. His father, Conrad J. Z...
, was later accused by Trotsky's followers as being "a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
of the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and the GPU
State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1934...
" and of having assisted Mercader to penetrate Trotsky's inner circle of friends and acquaintances, an accusation Hansen denied.
On 20 August 1940, Mercader attacked and fatally wounded Trotsky with an ice axe
Ice axe
An ice axe, is a multi-purpose ice and snow tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes which involve frozen conditions. It can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered...
, while the exiled Russian was in the study at his home in Coyoacán
Leon Trotsky Museum, Mexico City
The Leon Trotsky House Museum is a museum honoring Leon Trotsky and an organization that works to promote political asylum, located in the Coyoacán borough of Mexico City. The center of the complex is the house in which Trotsky lived with his wife from 1939 to 1940, and where the Russian dissident...
(then a village on the southern fringes of Mexico City). The blow failed to kill Trotsky instantly. Hearing the commotion, Trotsky's guards burst in and nearly killed Mercader, but Trotsky, heavily wounded but still conscious, ordered them to spare his attacker's life, shouting "Do not kill him! This man has a story to tell."
Caridad and Eitingon, having arrived in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
shortly after Mercader, were waiting outside the compound in separate cars to provide a getaway; but, when Mercader did not return, they left and fled the country.
Trotsky was taken to a hospital in the city and operated on but died the next day, as a result of "severe brain damages".
Mercader was turned over by Trotsky's guards to the Mexican authorities, to whom he refused to give his real identity. He would only identify himself as "Jacques Mornard". Mercader claimed to the police he had wanted to marry Ageloff, but Trotsky had forbidden the marriage. He alleged that a violent quarrel with Trotsky had led to him wanting to murder Trotsky. He stated that "... instead of finding myself face to face with a political chief who was directing the struggle for the liberation of the working class, I found myself before a man who desired nothing more than to satisfy his needs and desires of vengeance and of hate and who did not utilize the workers' struggle for anything more than a means of hiding his own paltriness and despicable calculations.... It was Trotsky who destroyed my nature, my future and all my affections. He converted me into a man without a name, without country, into an instrument of Trotsky. I was in a blind alley.... Trotsky crushed me in his hands as if I had been paper."
It was not until September 1950 that fingerprint evidence conclusively proved the assassin's true identity. Nevertheless, Mercader, in 1940, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Ageloff was initially arrested by the Mexican police as an accomplice, as she had lived together with Mercader on and off for about two years, up to the time of the assassination, but charges were quickly dropped.
Release and honors
Shortly after the assassination, Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
presented Ramón's mother Caridad with the Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
for her part in the operation.
After the first few years in prison, Mercader requested to be released on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
, but the request was denied by Dr. Jesús Siordia and the criminologist Alfonso Quiroz Cuarón. After almost 20 years in jail, he was eventually released from Mexico City's Palacio de Lecumberri
Palacio de Lecumberri
The Palacio de Lecumberri is a large building, formerly a prison, in the northeast of Mexico City, Mexico, which now houses the General National Archive ....
prison on 6 May 1960 and moved to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, where Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's new revolutionary
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
government welcomed him.
In 1961, he moved to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and was awarded the highest civilian decoration of the country, the Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
medal, from the then head of the KGB Alexander Shelepin
Alexander Shelepin
Alexander Nikolayevich Shelepin was a Soviet state security officer and party statesman. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its Politburo and was the head of the KGB from 25 December 1958 to 13 November 1961.Shelepin was born in Voronezh...
. He divided his time between Cuba and the Soviet Union for the rest of his life. He died in Havana in 1978.
Mercader is buried under the name Ramon Ivanovich Lopez (Рамон Иванович Лопес) in Moscow's Kuntsevo Cemetery
Kuntsevo Cemetery
The Kuntsevo Cemetery is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway . The local five-domed church was commissioned in 1673 by Artamon Matveyev...
. His name still has a place of honour in the Museum of Security Services in Lubyanka Square
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
In popular culture
- In 1967, West German television presented L. D. Trotzki – Tod im Exil ("L. D. Trotsky - Death in exile"), a play in two parts, directed by August EverdingAugust EverdingAugust Everding was a German opera director and administrator. He studied at the Universities of Bonn and Munich, where launching his career in the 1950s...
, with Peter Lühr in the role of Trotsky. - Joseph LoseyJoseph LoseyJoseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
directed The Assassination of TrotskyThe Assassination of TrotskyThe Assassination of Trotsky is a 1972 British film directed by Joseph Losey with a screenplay by Nicholas Mosley. It starred Richard Burton as Leon Trotsky, as well as Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.-Plot:...
, a film released in 1972, featuring Alain DelonAlain DelonAlain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon is a French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 was already being compared to French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot...
as Frank Jacson/Mercader and Richard BurtonRichard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
as Trotsky. - David IvesDavid IvesDavid Ives is a contemporary American playwright. A native of South Chicago, Ives attended a minor Catholic seminary and Northwestern University and, after some years' interval, Yale School of Drama, where he received an MFA in playwriting...
' play Variations on the Death of TrotskyVariations on the Death of TrotskyVariations on the Death of Trotsky is a short one-act comedy written by David Ives for All in the Timing. The play fictionalizes the death of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky at different moments, though all from the same, historically accurate cause: a wound to the head by an ice...
is a comedy based on Mercader's assassination of Trotsky. - A Spanish documentary about Mercader's life called Asaltar los cielos ("Storm the skies") was released in 1996, while a Spanish-language documentary, El Asesinato de Trotsky was co-produced in 2006 by The History ChannelThe History ChannelHistory, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
and Anima Films, and directed by Argentinian director Matías Gueilburt. - The Trotsky assassination is depicted in the film FridaFridaFrida is a 2002 biographical film which depicts the professional and private life of the surrealist Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. It stars Salma Hayek in her Academy Award nominated portrayal as Kahlo and Alfred Molina as her husband, Diego Rivera....
(2002), with Mercader portrayed by Antonio Zava (uncredited) and Trotsky by Geoffrey RushGeoffrey RushGeoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor and film producer. He is one of the few people who has won the "Triple Crown of Acting": an Academy Award, a Tony Award and an Emmy Award. He has won one Academy Award for acting , three British Academy Film Awards , two Golden Globe Awards and four Screen...
. - A 2009 novel by U.S. writer Barbara KingsolverBarbara KingsolverBarbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
, The Lacuna, includes an account of Trotsky's assassination by "Jacson". - Cuban author Leonardo Padura FuentesLeonardo Padura FuentesLeonardo Padura Fuentes is a Cuban novelist and journalist. , he is one of Cuba's best known writers internationally. In English and some other languages, he is often referred to by the shorter form of his name, Leonardo Padura...
' novel El hombre que amaba a los perros ("The Man Who Loved Dogs"), Tusquets, Barcelona, 2009, refers to the lives of both Trotsky and Mercader, exploring the motivations and historical context of the assassination.
Further reading
- Cabrera Infante, Guillermo (1983): Tres tristes tigres, Editorial Seix Barral, ISBN 84 322 3016 2.
- Conquest, Robert (1991): The Great Terror: A Reassessment, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-507132-0.
- Andrew, Christopher; Vasili Mitrokhin (1999): The Sword and the Shield, Basic Books, ISBN 978-0-465-00310-5.
- Padura Fuentes, Leonardo (2009): El hombre que amaba a los perros, Tusquets Editores (Narrativa), ISBN 978-84-8383-136-6.
- Jakupi, Gani (2010): Les Amants de Sylvia, Futuropolis, ISBN 978-2-7548-0304-5.
- Wilmers, Mary-Kay (2010): The Eitingons, Verso, ISBN 978-1-84467-642-2.
External links
- Asaltar los Cielos, Spanish documentary about the life of Ramón Mercader, at IMDBase