Felix A. Sommerfeld

Felix A. Sommerfeld (May 28, 1879 – after 1930) was a German secret service agent in Mexico and the United States between 1908 and 1919. He was chief of the Mexican Secret Service under President Francisco I. Madero, worked as a diplomat and arms buyer for Venustiano Carranza and Francisco "Pancho" Villa, and ran the Mexican portion of Germany's war strategy in North America between 1914 and 1917.

Born on May 28, 1879 in Schneidemuehl, Posen, Germany, Sommerfeld grew up in a middle class Jewish household as the youngest son of Pauline and Isidor Sommerfeld. After finishing high school Sommerfeld began studies in Berlin as a mining engineer. However, for unknown reasons he dropped out and came to the United States in 1898 to visit his brother. In the excitement over the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, the 19-year-old joined the army but deserted a few months after. In 1900 Sommerfeld, this time as a German soldier, went to war in China to put down the Boxer Rebellion. He was a "Meldereiter," German for horse messenger. When he returned in 1901 he completed his mining engineering studies and returned to the United States in 1902. After briefly staying with his brother Julius in Chicago, Sommerfeld set out to the West as a prospector. He worked his way through Arizona, Sonora (Mexico) and Durango (Mexico) until 1905 when he returned to Chicago totally broke. Not much is known about the German adventurer between 1906 and 1908. It is possible that he returned to Germany and received secret service training in Berlin.

In 1908, he suddenly showed up in Chihuahua, Mexico. He again worked as a mining engineer, however, in reality he became an informant for the German government. Chihuahua was ripe with rebellion and Sommerfeld did all he could to find out as much as possible about the anti-reelection movement led by wealthy Coahuila land owner, Francisco I. Madero. After the fraudulent elections that brought Porfirio Díaz yet another term as president in 1910, the Mexican Revolution erupted. Sommerfeld ostensibly worked for AP News but filed regular intelligence reports for the German government.

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