To some of the younger staffers in Britain's Moscow embassy, smooth, charming Sigmund Mikhailski was living proof that a Communist needn't be a cad. An interpreter, smiling Sig was hired in 1954 and soon made himself a regular Man Friday around the chancery offices on Sofiiskaya quay. When no one else could get Bolshoi ballet tickets, Sig did. He was equally skillful at producing hard-to-get goodies, or black-marketing their clothes or Western currency for a handsome profit. He always went out of his way to help the lonely ones, showed them the sights, even took them to restaurants where...
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