Varoujan Aintablian

Varoujan Aintablian (1892-), also known as the Monkey Man, was an Egyptian-Armenian one-eyed assassin, spy and thief of the Cairo underworld who acted as an informant for Nazi agents operating in the city around 1936.

Biography[]

An assassin, spy and thief, the individual known only as the Monkey Man had a hand in a number of illegal activities throughout Cairo. Usually operating from a position of surveillance from his motorcycle, Aintablian reported information back to his employers who included among their number illegal goods traffickers, disreputable businessmen and, on occassion, the Nazis.

In his work, Aintablian used a trained Capuchin to track his targets or retrieve objects, taking advantage of her ability to gain access to places that he otherwise couldn't. He taught his monkey that if she didn't succeed in her tasks, she wouldn't get to eat.

Around 1936, Aintablian and another known denizen of the Cairo underworld, a feared swordsman who far was less interested in keeping to the shadows, were among the locals hired specifically by German agents to prevent any interference in the Nazi mission to unearth the lost Ark of the Covenant buried at nearby Tanis.

Monkey Man followed Henry Jones' and Marion Ravenwood's movements through the streets of Cairo with the aid of his pet.

After Marion's apparent death, Aintablian followed Jones to the home of an old man, whom Sallah believed could decipher the markings of the Headpiece to the Staff of Ra. While the serving boy was away from the kitchen, Aintablian snuck in and poisoned a bowl of dates in an attempt to kill Jones. His plot was thwarted, however, when his hungry pet ate from the bowl first, her death revealing the plot to Sallah just in the nick of time.

Aintablian was arrested during World War II due to his connections with the Nazis and the Afrika Korps.