Morton Sobell

Morton Sobell (April 11, 1917 – June 6, 2018) was an American electrical engineer who became a prominent figure in Cold War espionage history. In 1951, Sobell was arrested and convicted alongside Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for allegedly transmitting atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and served 18 years before being released in 1969. For much of his life, Sobell maintained his complete innocence and became a symbol of potential injustice during the McCarthy era, though he later admitted to minor espionage activities while continuing to deny involvement in atomic secret transfers. His case became emblematic of the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s and continues to spark historical debate about Cold War prosecution. Sobell lived to be 101 years old, becoming a vocal critic of American Cold War policies and a respected elder figure in discussions about civil liberties and government accountability.