Elza Akhmerova, alsoElsa Akhmerova, was an American citizen, bornHelen Lowry. She was a distant relative ofEarl Browder,General Secretary of theCommunist Party of the United States (CPUSA). She died of leukemia.

From 1936 to 1939, Lowry was an equal partner in espionage with her husbandIskhak Akhmerov, a SovietNKVD intelligence agent. Iskhak Akhmerov operated an espionage network in the United States, and both of the Akhmerovs are referenced in VENONA decryptions of Soviet cable traffic: Lowry is listed under the Soviet code name "ADA" (later changed toELZA (ELSA)). As a native-born American and English speaker, Akhmerova was able to freely operate on behalf of Soviet intelligence. She was a full partner in her husband'sespionage activity, and is referenced in severalVenona project decryptions. In 1939, she married Akhmerov.^[1] In 1945, Lowry was named by Soviet intelligence agentElizabeth Bentley as one of her contacts.^[2]

• Earl Browder
• Iskhak Akhmerov

• Robert Louis Benson,VENONA Historical Monograph #3: "The 1944–45 New York and Washington-Moscow KGB Messages."
• Haynes, John Earl and Harvey Klehr, Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America. Yale University Press. (2000)
• Schecter, Jerrold and Leona, Sacred Secrets: How Soviet Intelligence Operations Changed American History. Potomac Books (2002)
• Aleksandr Vassiliev's Notes from KGB archives on Akhmerova

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