Fritz Joubert Duquesne the Master of Disguise
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Fritz Joubert Duquesne’s life reads like an elaborate spy series. He was a German spy who had numerous aliases around the world. He was captured 3 times by the British, once by the Americans and once by the Portuguese and each time he managed to get away. One escape led to him becoming an American citizen and Teddy Roosevelt’s adviser in big game hunting.
During the Boer war, Duquesne would be captured and imprisoned by both the British and Portuguese. One escape ended with him joining the British army and attempting to sabotage British installations from the inside. He was found out and captured but managed to escape and flee to the United States. In the U.S. he became a journalist and the personal shooting instructor to Teddy Roosevelt. In 1914 he was approached by the Germans and signed on to become a German spy.
Duquesne was first sent to Brazil where he was responsible for disrupting the traffic of ships who were not loyal to Germany. He was responsible for sinking 22 ships while operating under at least 3 different aliases. When one of his accomplices was captured by the British and gave up Duquesne, he fled Brazil. He returned to Europe where Germany had him board the HMS Hampshire in Scotland posing as a Russian Duke. Once on-board with Lord Kitchner he signaled the Germans to blow up the ship. The target, Kitchner, died and Duquesne escaped on a raft.
He returned to the U.S. masquerading as an Allied war hero when he was arrested on fraud charges. He faked paralysis for 2 years while in prison. Then he disguised himself as a woman, cut through the bars of his cell and climbed over the wall and out the prison. His spy activities continued until he was finally arrested, convicted and kept in prison for the Duquesne Spy Ring. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison at the age of 64, but released after 14 due to ill health. He died at the age of 78.