# List of spymasters

A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency.

## List of spymasters

| Name | When | Allegiance | Agency/Organization/Service |
| Motojiro Akashi | 1904 | Japan | Akashi Kikan |
| Vera Atkins | 1944 | United Kingdom | Special Operations Executive |
| Lavrentiy Beria | 1938 | Soviet Union | NKVD |
| Arturo Bocchini | 1927–1940 | Fascist Italy | OVRA |
| Wilhelm Canaris | 1935 | Nazi Germany | Abwehr |
| Thomas Cromwell | 1533 | Kingdom of England | |
| William J. Donovan | 1941 | United States | Office of Strategic Services |
| Armand Jean du Plessis (Cardinal Richelieu) | 1616 | Kingdom of France | |
| Allen Dulles | 1953 | United States | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Zhou Enlai | 1928–1932 | Chinese Communist Party | Special Service section of the Central Committee Urban Work Committee of the Central Committee |
| Rafaat Gebril | 1973 | Egypt | General Intelligence Directorate (Egypt) |
| Ali Mamlouk | 2005–2024 | Ba'athist Syria | National Security Bureau General Intelligence Directorate (Syria) |
| Sándor Goldberger (alias J. Peters) | 1930–1948 | Soviet Union | Communist Party USA |
| Sidney Gottlieb | 1951–1973 | United States | Central Intelligence Agency |
| Hamid Gul | 1987–1989 | Pakistan | Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence |
| Faiz Hameed | 2019 | Pakistan | Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence |
| Isser Harel | 1952–1963 | Israel | Mossad |
| R. N. Kao | 1968–1977 | India | Research and Analysis Wing |
| Ronnie Kasrils | 1983–1989 2004–2008 | South Africa | Umkhonto we Sizwe Minister of Intelligence Services |
| David Kimche | 1953–1980 | Israel | Mossad |
| Ivone Kirkpatrick | 1918–1918 | United Kingdom | British Army, Belgian resistance |
| Maxwell Knight | 1924–1930 | United Kingdom | MI5 |
| Dai Li | 1928–1946 | Republic of China | National Revolutionary Army |
| Colin Hercules Mackenzie | 1940–1946 | United Kingdom | Special Operations Executive – Force 136 |
| Yuri Modin | 1948–1951 | Soviet Union | NKVD |
| Hugh Montgomery | 1953–1981 (CIA) 1981–1985 (INR) 1989–2014 (CIA) | United States | Central Intelligence Agency Bureau of Intelligence and Research |
| Bhola Nath Mullik | 1950–1964 | India | Intelligence Bureau |
| Donald Nichols | 1951 | United States | 6004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron |
| Manuel Piñeiro | 1961–1964 | Cuba | Dirección de Inteligencia |
| Allan Pinkerton | 1855–1861 | United States | Union Intelligence Service |
| Wang Puchen | 1948–1949 | Republic of China | Bureau of Investigation and Statistics |
| Pyotr Rachkovsky | 1885–1902 | Russian Empire | Okhrana |
| Alfred Redl | 1903–1913 | Austria-Hungary; Russian Empire | Evidenzbureau |
| Mao Renfeng | 1946–1956 | Republic of China | Bureau of Investigation and Statistics |
| Semyon Semyonov | 1937–1950 | Soviet Union | NKVD |
| Kang Sheng | 1940s–1946 | Chinese Communist Party | Central Social Affairs Department |
| Hugh Sinclair | 1919–1939 | United Kingdom | Secret Intelligence Service |
| Mansfield Smith-Cumming | 1909–1923 | United Kingdom | Secret Intelligence Service |
| Richard Sorge | 1920–1941 | Soviet Union | Main Intelligence Directorate |
| Sidney Souers | 1946–1946 | United States | Director of the Central Intelligence Agency |
| Gustav Steinhauer | 1911–1914 | Germany | Nachrichten-Abteilung |
| William Stephenson | 1940–1946 | Canada | British Security Co-ordination |
| Emanuel Sueyro | c. 1620–1629 | Spain | |
| Benjamin Tallmadge | 1778–1783 | United States | Culper Ring |
| John Thurloe | 1653 | Commonwealth of England | |
| Liam Tobin | 1919 | Irish Republic | Irish Republican Army |
| Francis Walsingham | 1573–1590 | Kingdom of England | |
| George Washington | 1775 | United States | Continental Army |
| William Wickham | 1795–1801 | United Kingdom | |
| Markus Wolf | 1951–1986 | East Germany | Main Directorate for Reconnaissance |
| Shen Zui | 1934–1949 | Republic of China | Bureau of Investigation and Statistics |
| Kyrylo Budanov | 2020–present | Ukraine | Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine) |