stage name of Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (1876-1917), a
Dutch dancer and courtesan who began to dance professionally in 1905 in
Paris,
France. Tall, attractive, superficially acquainted with East
Indian dance, and willing to appear practically nude in
public, she became popular in
Paris and Europe. Throughout her
life, Mata Hari had numerous lovers, many of whom were military officers. During the First
World War (1914-1918), she became connected with a
German spy
network, accepting
money to spy for them, while at the same
time agreeing to spy for the
French. Although the facts regarding her alleged espionage activities are vague,
French intelligence discovered her dealings with the Germans. She was consequently
arrested in
Paris in 1917, interrogated and
tried by a military
court in
secret. The
evidence brought against her was indecisive and she maintained that, though she accepted
money from the Germans, she never actually spied for them. However, she was convicted and put to
death as a
German spy. After her
execution, the story of Mata Hari magnified and her name has since come to mean a beautiful and seductive female spy, as well as a double-dealing woman. Mata Hari literally means "eye of the
day" and is said to be a
Malay expression for the
sun.
(1876 - 1917), a dancer on the
French stage and a spy who worked for both the
French and the Germans during
World War I. Her real name was Gertrud Margarete Zelle. The
French executed her in 1917. A Mata Hari is a seductive, double-dealing woman.
a seductive, double-dealing woman; a woman like Mata Hari (1876 - 1917), a dancer on the
French stage and a spy who worked for both the
French and the Germans during
World War I. Her real name was Gertrud Margarete Zelle. The
French executed her in 1917.
a seductive, double-dealing woman; someone like Mata Hari (1876 - 1917), a dancer on the
French stage and a spy who worked for both the
French and the Germans during
World War I. Her real name was Gertrud Margarete Zelle. The
French executed her in 1917.
real name Gertrud Margarete Zelle (1876 - 1917), a dancer on the
French stage and a spy who worked for both the
French and the Germans during
World War I. The
French executed her in 1917. A Mata Hari is a seductive, double-dealing woman.