1919 - 1963
Oleg Vladimirovich Penkovsky (Russian: Олег Владимирович Пеньковский; 23 April 1919 – 16 May 1963), codenamed Hero (by the CIA) and Yoga (by MI6) was a Soviet military intelligence (GRU) colonel during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Penkovsky informed the United States and the United Kingdom about Soviet military secrets, including the appearance and footprint of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile installations and the weakness of the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile program. This information was decisive in allowing the US to recognize that the Soviets were placing missiles in Cuba before most of them were operational. It also gave US President John F. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Oleg Penkovsky has received more than 2,193,740 page views. His biography is available in 26 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 25 in 2019). Oleg Penkovsky is the 3,656th most popular politician (down from 3,478th in 2019), the 372nd most popular biography from Russia (down from 341st in 2019) and the 115th most popular Russian Politician.
Oleg Penkovsky was a Soviet military intelligence officer who spied for the United States and Britain. He passed information to the CIA and MI6 from 1961 to 1963. His information helped the West understand Soviet military capabilities.
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Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
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Among politicians, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 3,656 out of 15,577. Before him are Hormizd II, Mary of Clopas, Vologases I of Parthia, Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, Ahmad ibn Tulun, and Charibert II. After him are Nicholas Kanabos, Şah Sultan, Musa Çelebi, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Ziusudra, and Ghazi of Iraq.
300 - 309
HPI: 60.88
Rank: 3,650
100 BC - 1
HPI: 60.88
Rank: 3,651
1 - 78
HPI: 60.88
Rank: 3,652
1823 - 1888
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,653
835 - 884
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,654
618 - 632
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,655
1919 - 1963
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,656
1200 - 1204
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,657
1544 - 1577
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 3,658
1388 - 1413
HPI: 60.86
Rank: 3,659
42 BC - 23 BC
HPI: 60.86
Rank: 3,660
HPI: 60.85
Rank: 3,661
1912 - 1939
HPI: 60.85
Rank: 3,662
Among people born in 1919, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 42. Before him are Joseph Murray, Daniel Bell, Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado, Jackie Robinson, Hermine Braunsteiner, and Pete Seeger. After him are Iris Murdoch, César Manrique, Chavela Vargas, James Lovelock, Georges Duby, and Lauri Törni. Among people deceased in 1963, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 35. Before him are Richard Baer, Jacques Hadamard, Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Richard Barthelmess, Józef Gosławski, and Kurt Zeitzler. After him are Pedro Armendáriz, Karl Bühler, Piero Manzoni, William Beveridge, Alois Hudal, and Princess Alexandra of Hanover.
1919 - 2012
HPI: 61.73
Rank: 36
1919 - 2011
HPI: 61.68
Rank: 37
1919 - 1983
HPI: 61.33
Rank: 38
1919 - 1972
HPI: 61.25
Rank: 39
1919 - 1999
HPI: 60.92
Rank: 40
1919 - 2014
HPI: 60.88
Rank: 41
1919 - 1963
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 42
1919 - 1999
HPI: 60.84
Rank: 43
1919 - 1992
HPI: 60.62
Rank: 44
1919 - 2012
HPI: 60.37
Rank: 45
1919 - 2022
HPI: 60.22
Rank: 46
1919 - 1996
HPI: 60.13
Rank: 47
1919 - 1965
HPI: 59.73
Rank: 48
1911 - 1963
HPI: 62.60
Rank: 29
1865 - 1963
HPI: 62.11
Rank: 30
1887 - 1963
HPI: 61.70
Rank: 31
1895 - 1963
HPI: 61.45
Rank: 32
1908 - 1963
HPI: 61.34
Rank: 33
1895 - 1963
HPI: 61.27
Rank: 34
1919 - 1963
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 35
1912 - 1963
HPI: 60.54
Rank: 36
1879 - 1963
HPI: 60.37
Rank: 37
1933 - 1963
HPI: 59.48
Rank: 38
1879 - 1963
HPI: 59.11
Rank: 39
1885 - 1963
HPI: 59.06
Rank: 40
1882 - 1963
HPI: 58.91
Rank: 41
Among people born in Russia, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 372 out of 3,262. Before him are Anna Netrebko (1971), Vera Menchik (1906), Jani Beg (1300), Ivan Serov (1905), Lovis Corinth (1858), and Vasily Perov (1834). After him are Ivan Silayev (1930), Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893), Bulat Okudzhava (1924), Velimir Khlebnikov (1885), Boris Nemtsov (1959), and Leonid Andreyev (1871).
1971 - Present
HPI: 61.00
Rank: 366
1906 - 1944
HPI: 60.98
Rank: 367
1300 - 1357
HPI: 60.97
Rank: 368
1905 - 1990
HPI: 60.94
Rank: 369
1858 - 1925
HPI: 60.93
Rank: 370
1834 - 1882
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 371
1919 - 1963
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 372
1930 - 2023
HPI: 60.78
Rank: 373
1893 - 1953
HPI: 60.76
Rank: 374
1924 - 1997
HPI: 60.73
Rank: 375
1885 - 1922
HPI: 60.57
Rank: 376
1959 - 2015
HPI: 60.55
Rank: 377
1871 - 1919
HPI: 60.54
Rank: 378
Among politicians born in Russia, Oleg Penkovsky ranks 115. Before him are Andrey Bogolyubsky (1111), Princess Louise of Prussia (1808), Yakov Yurovsky (1878), Vladimir Kryuchkov (1924), Jani Beg (1300), and Ivan Serov (1905). After him are Ivan Silayev (1930), Boris Nemtsov (1959), Anna Dostoevskaya (1846), Mathilde Kschessinska (1872), Naina Yeltsina (1932), and Mengu-Timur (1235).
1111 - 1174
HPI: 61.33
Rank: 109
1808 - 1870
HPI: 61.28
Rank: 110
1878 - 1938
HPI: 61.25
Rank: 111
1924 - 2007
HPI: 61.02
Rank: 112
1300 - 1357
HPI: 60.97
Rank: 113
1905 - 1990
HPI: 60.94
Rank: 114
1919 - 1963
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 115
1930 - 2023
HPI: 60.78
Rank: 116
1959 - 2015
HPI: 60.55
Rank: 117
1846 - 1918
HPI: 60.48
Rank: 118
1872 - 1971
HPI: 60.45
Rank: 119
1932 - Present
HPI: 60.39
Rank: 120
1235 - 1282
HPI: 60.31
Rank: 121