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Marcus Klingberg

Marcus Klingberg was a Polish-born Israeli epidemiologist at the Israel Institute for Biological Research who was convicted in 1983 of spying for the Soviet Union.

1918 to 2015Espionage for the Soviet UnionEpidemiology researchIsrael Institute for Biological Research

Born: 7 October 1918, Warsaw
Died: 30 November 2015, 6th arrondissement of Paris
Occupation: epidemiologist, university teacher, spy, military officer
Education: Belarusian State Medical University, University of Warsaw
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
Wars: World War II

Marcus Klingberg was born in 1918 in Warsaw

Klingberg was born in Warsaw in 1918 to a Hasidic family of rabbis. He lived for a time with his grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Klingberg. As a teenager he left religion and went to a secular high school.

He began studying medicine at the University of Warsaw in 1935. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, he fled to the Soviet Union and finished his studies in Minsk. His parents and younger brother were murdered at Treblinka in 1942.

He served in the Red Army as a medical officer and later in epidemic control, becoming Chief Epidemiologist of the Byelorussian Republic. After the war he worked at the Polish Ministry of Health, married Wanda Jasinska in 1946, and moved to Sweden.

He immigrated to Israel in 1948 and served in the IDF Medical Corps. He later became Deputy Scientific Director of the Israel Institute for Biological Research and a professor of epidemiology at Tel Aviv University.

He passed information to the Soviet Union for ideological reasons. He was arrested in 1983, convicted in secret, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Released to home detention in 1998, he moved to Paris in 2003 and died in 2015.

Marcus Klingberg's life in 9 milestones

1918
Born in Warsaw.
1935
Began medical studies at the University of Warsaw.
1941
Volunteered for the Red Army.
1943
Became Chief Epidemiologist of the Byelorussian Republic.
1948
Immigrated to Israel and joined the IDF.
1957
Appointed Deputy Scientific Director of the Israel Institute for Biological Research.
1983
Arrested and convicted of spying for the Soviet Union.
1998
Released to home detention due to ill health.
2003
Moved to Paris to live with his daughter.

Marcus Klingberg served in the military

He served in the Red Army from 1941 and left with the rank of captain. In Israel he served in the IDF Medical Corps from 1948, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1950.