Milan C. Miskovsky

Miskovsky was born on May 11, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois, He grew up during the Great Depression, but his family did not suffer significant economic harm. Miskovsky's father was heavily involved in Chicago politics, and Miskovsky would frequently help him deliver food and clothes to people unable to afford them. In 1956, Miskovsky obtained a law degree from the George Washington University Law School. He joined the legal office of the CIA, and was eventually promoted to the rank of assistant general counsel. ==U-2 incident==

In 1960, the Soviet Union shot down a United States U-2 spy plane. The Soviets captured its pilot, Gary Powers, and tried him for committing espionage against the Soviet Union. At first, the United States believed that Powers could be freed by crafting an argument regarding international principles. To this end, Miskovsky and two other lawyers (Alexander W. Parker and Frank Rogers) wrote a brief stating that Power's U-2 plane did not violate Soviet airspace any more than Sputnik violated American airspace. However, the Soviet Union refused to allow foreigners to defend Powers. Powers was ultimately defended by a lawyer who acted as a spokesman for the Soviet government. The Soviets ultimately sentenced Powers to a decade in prison. Working with lawyer James B. Donovan, Miskovsky negotiated with Soviet representatives. Eventually, they agreed upon a trade: Gary Powers would be released in exchange for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel held by the United States. Both sides agreed and Powers was released in 1962, along with Frederic Pryor, an American economics student imprisoned in East Germany. ==Bay of Pigs invasion==

In April 1961, a 1,400-man force of Cuban exiles invaded Cuba in an attempt to end the regime of Fidel Castro. The invasion was a failure and two hundred of the exiles were killed while an additional 1,200 were captured. Miskovsky, working with lawyer and lead negotiator James Donovan, and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, negotiated a release for the prisoners in return for around fifty million dollars in medicine, food and other supplies. The captured Cubans were released days before Christmas 1962. ==Later life==

Miskovsky left the CIA in 1964, and worked for the Federal Maritime Commission and the Treasury Department for four years. Miskovsky died of lung cancer on October 15, 2009, in Washington, D.C. ==Personal life==

Miskovsky married Anne Miskovsky (nee Grogan), a fellow member of the Central Intelligence Agency, in 1952. The marriage lasted until 2004, when Anne Miskovsky died of leukemia. Miskovsky was a member of the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Georgetown. In 1987, he and his wife served as the chairs of the Holy Trinity Parish bicentennial celebration. ==In popular culture==

When interviewed by the Harvard Gazette in 2016, Donovan's granddaughter Beth Amorosi described as "artistic license" the portrayal in the movie Bridge of Spies of Donovan's rather antagonistic relationship with his CIA handler ("an amalgam" of several CIA people), whereas Donovan "actually had a very good relationship with the CIA agent he worked with, M.C. Miskovsky". ==Publications==