Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

change political prisoners and suspected dissidentsfor agents cap-

tured in the West.

STOLYPIN, PETER ARKADIEVICH (1862–1911).Stolypin was

the most successful reformer of the last years of tsardom, and an ef-

fective and brutal security boss. After serving as governor of Saratov

oblast, Stolypin was brought to the capital as minister of internal af-

fairs in early 1906 to deal with growing urban and social violence.

Shortly thereafter, he was made prime minister. Stolypin called for a

policy of authoritarian reform. He institutionalized a “wager on the

strong,” making it possible for rich peasants to obtain land at nomi-

nal prices. As the empire’s security generalissimo, he crushed revo-

lution; in 1906–1908, more than 25,000 rebels received sentences of

death, imprisonment, or exile. During this period the noose was re-

ferred to as a “Stolypin necktie,” and freight cars used to transport

prisoners into exile were known as “Stolypin cars.” He used the

Okhrana effectively, breaking up many terrorist organizations.

Stolypin was assassinated on 1 September 1911 by an anarchist who

was also an informantfor the Okhrana. In an article on Stolypin’s

death, the New York Timesnoted that the person most responsible for

his death was “Stolypin himself.”

STRAIGHT, MICHAEL (1916–2004).The scion of a wealthy and

powerful American family, Straight was recruited for the NKVDby

Anthony Bluntin the mid-1930s at Cambridge. Straight, according

to his autobiography, refused to cooperate with Soviet intelligence on

his return to the United States. This self-serving account of his life

has been challenged by scholars with access to Soviet records. In

1963 Straight, who was being considered for a senior federal ap-

pointment, informed the American and British authorities of his re-

cruitment and Blunt’s role as a Soviet agent. Straight’s testimony

opened the door to the prosecution of Blunt for espionage. The

British authorities did not believe that the testimony was usable in a

court of law and chose to use it instead to force Blunt to confess.

STRONG, ANNA LOUISE (1885–1970). Strong was an early apos-

tle of the Soviet experiment. After being disappointed by the failure

of the American progressive movement, she went to Russia in 1921

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