Ramón Mercader facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ramón Mercader
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| Born |
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río
7 February 1913 |
| Died | 18 October 1978 (aged 65) |
| Resting place | Kuntsevo Cemetery, Moscow, Russia |
| Other names | Jacques Mornard; Frank Jacson; Ramón Ivánovich López; Leon Jacome; Leon Haikys (Not to be confused with Leon Gaikis) |
| Occupation | Waiter, militiaman, soldier, secret agent of the NKVD |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Roquelia Mendoza Buenabad |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Caridad Mercader, Pablo Mercader Marina |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | 20 years imprisonment |
Ramón Mercader (born Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río, 7 February 1913 – 18 October 1978) was a Spanish Communist. He was also a secret agent for the NKVD, which was the Soviet Union's main secret police agency. Mercader is known for assassinating the famous revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in August 1940. He used an ice axe for the attack. For this act, Mercader was sent to prison in Mexico for nearly 20 years.
After he was released from prison in 1960, Mercader received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal and the Order of Lenin medal. These were high honors from the Soviet Union. He then lived in different socialist countries, including Cuba and the USSR.
Contents
Early Life and Secret Work
Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río was born on 7 February 1913 in Argentona, Spain. His mother, Caridad Mercader, was also a communist. She fought in the Spanish Civil War and worked for the Soviet secret service. Ramón grew up in France with his mother.
In the mid-1930s, Mercader became a Communist. He worked with leftist groups in Spain. He was even put in prison for his political actions. However, he was freed when the Popular Front government was elected in 1936. During the Spanish Civil War, he was recruited by Nahum Eitingon. Eitingon was an officer in the NKVD. Mercader was sent to the Soviet Union for training as a secret agent.
As an NKVD agent, Mercader became friends with people who supported Trotsky. He even met David Crook, an English communist and war reporter. Mercader taught Crook Spanish and trained him in spying techniques.
The Assassination of Leon Trotsky
In 1938, Mercader was studying at the University of Paris. There, he met Sylvia Ageloff, a young woman from New York. She was close to Leon Trotsky. Mercader pretended to be Jacques Mornard, the son of a Belgian diplomat. In 1939, Mercader joined Ageloff in Brooklyn, New York. He used a fake Canadian identity, Frank Jacson. He told Ageloff he bought the fake identity to avoid military service.
In October 1939, Mercader moved to Mexico City. He convinced Ageloff to join him there. Leon Trotsky was living with his family in Coyoacán, Mexico. He had been exiled from the Soviet Union. This happened after he lost a power struggle against Joseph Stalin.
Trotsky's house had already been attacked once. This attack was led by David Alfaro Siqueiros, a muralist. It was organized by Pavel Sudoplatov, a high-ranking NKVD officer. Stalin himself had ordered Trotsky to be "eliminated within a year."
After the first attack failed, a second team was sent. This team included Mercader and his mother, Caridad. Sudoplatov later claimed he chose Ramón Mercader for the assassination.
Mercader used his relationship with Sylvia Ageloff to get into Trotsky's house. He pretended to support Trotsky's ideas. He also befriended Trotsky's guards and helped them with small tasks. He even drew maps of the house to help other assassins. Trotsky's grandson, Esteban Volkov, said Mercader was there during the first attack too.
On 20 August 1940, Mercader was alone with Trotsky in his study. He said he wanted to show Trotsky a document. While Trotsky was looking at it, Mercader struck him from behind. He hit Trotsky on the head with an ice axe.
The blow did not kill Trotsky immediately. He stood up and fought with Mercader. Trotsky's guards heard the noise and rushed into the room. They started beating Mercader. But Trotsky, though badly hurt, told them to stop and let Mercader speak.
Mercader's mother, Caridad, and Eitingon were waiting outside in cars. When Mercader did not return, they left and fled the country.
Trotsky was taken to a hospital and had surgery. However, he died the next day from severe brain injuries.
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Trotsky's guards handed Mercader over to the Mexican police. Mercader refused to tell them his real name. He only identified himself as Jacques Mornard. He claimed he wanted to marry Ageloff, but Trotsky stopped them. He said a fight with Trotsky led him to kill him.
Mercader stated:
... instead of facing a political chief who was directing the struggle for the liberation of the working class, I found myself before a man who desired nothing more than to satisfy his needs and desires of vengeance and of hate and who did not utilize the workers' struggle for anything more than a means of hiding his own paltriness and despicable calculations ... It was Trotsky who destroyed my nature, my future and all my affections. He converted me into a man without a name, without country, into an instrument of Trotsky. I was in a blind alley ... Trotsky crushed me in his hands as if I had been paper.
In 1943, Jacques Mornard was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a Mexican court. His true identity as Ramón Mercader was later confirmed by the Venona project. This happened after the Soviet Union fell.
The Murder Weapon
The Mexico City police found the ice axe. It was kept in an evidence room for years. A secret police officer, Alfredo Salas, took it. He said he wanted to keep it for history. It was a mountaineering ice axe made in Austria. Mercader had cut about half of its handle. He told police he was good at using an ice axe. He said he could break a large block of ice with just two hits.
Salas gave the ice axe to his daughter, Ana Alicia. She tried to sell it in 2005. Trotsky's grandson, Esteban Volkov, said he did not care about the axe. He even wondered if it was the real one. The ice axe was bought by Keith Melton. He is a collector and writer about spying history. It is now on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C..
After Prison and Honors
Soon after the assassination, Joseph Stalin gave Mercader's mother, Caridad, the Order of Lenin. This was for her part in the operation. Ramón Mercader asked to be released from prison early. But the Mexican authorities said no. In 1943, Caridad Mercader asked Stalin to help free her son. In 1944, she got permission to leave the USSR. However, she traveled to Mexico, which was against the plan. Her presence made things harder for the Soviets trying to free Ramón. The Mexican authorities increased security. This caused the Soviets to stop trying to get Ramón out of jail. Ramón served 19 years and eight months in prison. His brother, Luis, said Ramón never forgave his mother for interfering.
Mercader was released from Mexico City's Palacio de Lecumberri prison on 6 May 1960. He moved to Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro's new government welcomed him. In 1961, Mercader moved to the Soviet Union. He was given the country's highest award, Hero of the Soviet Union. Alexander Shelepin, the head of the KGB, gave him the award in person. For the rest of his life, he lived between Czechoslovakia, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. He married a Mexican woman named Rogalia in prison. They had two children.
Ramón Mercader died in Havana in 1978 from lung cancer. He is buried in Moscow's Kuntsevo Cemetery. His grave uses the name Ramón Ivanovich Lopez. His last words are said to have been: "I hear it always. I hear the scream. I know he's waiting for me on the other side."
Decorations and Awards
- Hero of the Soviet Union, 1940 (in absentia) according to Isaac Don Levine (1959)
- Hero of the Soviet Union, May 31, 1960
See also
In Spanish: Ramón Mercader para niños
- África de las Heras
- Great Purge
- Leon Trotsky Museum, Mexico City
- Moscow Trials
