Mata Hari, meaning "Eye of the Day" (the sun).
She is born as Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle on on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden.
I have always been fascinated by this woman.
Her life as an exotic dancer in private salons in Paris, dancing fully naked, a sensation in those days, making her a celebrity.
To the press she tells stories about sacred temples in India, about her study of oriental dancing, her mother, who was a Javanese princess and her father, a Scottish nobleman who would ... The press loves it.
In World War 1 Mata Hari becomes a spy, codename H21, for the German intelligence service.
Later on she is also working for the French intelligence.
Without realizing she becomes entangled in a web of intrigue.
Her naivety and imagination make it very unsuitable for the role of double agent and soon she is distrusted by all parties. On February 13, 1917 she is arrested in Paris. After a dubious process then as a pro-German spy sentenced to death. On October 15, 1917, she is shot.
But her legend lives on. The fact that almost immediately after her death questions arose about the justification of her execution, on top of rumours about the way she acted during her execution, set the story. The idea of an exotic dancer working as a lethal double agent, using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers fired the popular imagination, set the legend and made Mata Hari an enduring archetype of the femme fatale.
On the web you can find much more detailed information about this extraordinary and fascinating woman.
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