Thursday, March 10, 2011

The agent

I was just trawling through some FBI documents when I stumbled upon the story of Emilio Kosterlitzky, who according to the FBI, was "one of the most colorful characters to ever serve as a special agent."

He was also of Russian descent, and had served in both the Russian and Mexican militaries prior to becoming an FBI agent. He had reached the rank of brigadier general in the Mexican military (not that high, but it is a senior rank at least.)

Kosterlitzky left Mexico during the Revolution, heading to Los Angeles, where he joined the FBI in 1917, at the tender age of 63.

Acccording to the FBI document, Kosterlitzky was appointed a “special employee," and with "his deep military experience and international flair (including strong connections throughout Mexico and the Southwest U.S. and the ability to speak, read, and write more than eight languages) he excelled at it."

He earned six dollars a day for the nine years he worked with the FBI before he died in 1926.

Just thought I'd share this guy's interesting story.

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