Felix Sommerfeld: The German 007

The German agent who was Mexican President Madero's confidante

Felix Sommerfeld: The German 007

By Sheryl Losser

In the photo, Mexican President Francisco I. Madero is second from the left, and Felix Sommerfeld is to his left. (Public Domain)

The elusive and mysterious Felix Sommerfeld was a German secret agent in Mexico and the United States from 1908 through 1919. He was Mexican President Francisco I. Madero’s confidante, head of the Mexico secret service, and worked as a diplomat and arms buyer for Venustiano Carranza and “Pancho” Villa during the Mexican Revolution. He also ran the Mexican part of Germany’s war strategy in North America between 1914 and 1917, and he was close to General Hugh Lenox Scott and American Secretary of War Lindley Miller Garrison in the United States.