- Gust Avrakotos
Gust Lascaris Avrakotos (
January 14 ,1938 –December 1 ,2005 [ [http://www.io.com/~jsm/nph-ap.cgi/http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?stat=&lastname=AVRAKOTOS&nt=exact&firstname=GUST&middlename=L&ssn=&submit=Submit Gust L. Avrakotos] ,Social Security Death Index ] ) was aGreek-American case officer and division chief for the United StatesCentral Intelligence Agency . Avrakotos is best known for the massive arming ofAfghanistan 'smujahideen in the 1980s in theSoviet war in Afghanistan underOperation Cyclone . Avrakotos's partnership with Charlie Wilson in this operation was chronicled in the book "Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History", [Crile, George, "Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History", ISBN 0-87113-854-9] and the film "Charlie Wilson's War ", releasedDecember 21 ,2007 .Avrakotos was born in
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania , the son of a Greek Americansoft drink manufacturer. He briefly worked atJones and Laughlin Steel mill in Aliquippa before graduatingvaledictorian fromAliquippa High School in 1955. Avrakotos attended theUniversity of Pittsburgh , where he graduatedsumma cum laude , and later attended theCarnegie Institute of Technology , which is now a part ofCarnegie Mellon University .He joined the CIA after college, and his assignments included an anti-
terrorist mission inGreece and duty in the CIA'sLangley, Virginia , headquarters. Avrakotos retired from the CIA in 1989, then worked forTRW inRome and for News Corp., for which he began a business intelligence newsletter, working in Rome andMcLean, Virginia . He returned to the CIA as a contractor from 1997 until 2003. Avrakotos split time between homes inVirginia andMoon Township, Pennsylvania . He died of astroke in 2005.cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/24/AR2005122400871.html
title=CIA Agent Gust L. Avrakotos Dies at Age 67
accessdate=2008-08-14
date=2005-12-25
work=Washington Post
first=Patricia
last=Sullivan
page=C08] Avrakotos was portrayed in the 2007 film "Charlie Wilson's War " byAcademy Award winnerPhilip Seymour Hoffman . Hoffman was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Avrakotos.Tady, Scott. " [http://www.timesonline.com/articles/2007/12/19/news/doc476884fa591a7530995480.txt CIA agent and Aliquippa native helped down the Soviets] ," "Beaver County Times ",December 19 ,2007 ]References
External links
* [http://www.namebase.org/cgi-bin/nb01?_AVRAKOTOS_GUST_LASCARIS Gust Lascaris Avrakotos] , Namebase.org
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