Ion Mihai Pacepa
Romanian Cold War defector to USA
Died when: 92 years 109 days (1107 months)Star Sign: Scorpio
Ion Mihai Pacepa (Romanian pronunciation: [i'on mi'haj pa't??epa]; 28 October 1928 – 14 February 2021) was a Romanian two-star general in the Securitate, the secret police of the Socialist Republic of Romania, who defected to the United States in July 1978 following President Jimmy Carter's approval of his request for political asylum.
He was the highest-ranking defector from the former Eastern Bloc, and wrote books and articles on the inner workings of communist intelligence services.
His best known works are the books Disinformation and Red Horizons.At the time of his defection, Pacepa simultaneously had the rank of advisor to President Nicolae Ceau?escu, acting chief of his foreign intelligence service, and a state secretary of Romania's Ministry of Interior.
Subsequently, he worked with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in operations against the former Eastern Bloc.The CIA described his cooperation as "an important and unique contribution to the United States".