--Mata Hari was a famous Dutch dancer who almost danced nude (rare
for the time). She was the second child of Adam Zelle and
his wife Antje van der Meulen (only girl in a family of four
boys). 'Mata Hari' was to become one of the most infamous
spies in history. She was married in 1895 and was the mother of
two children (Norman & Juana).
--After
her divorce she would start to use the name Mata Hari which was
Malayan for 'Eyes of the days' or 'The Sun'. Her dancing career
started when she moved to Paris and danced at Emile Guimet's (museum)
in 1905. The dance she did was a Siva dance, which used shawls
that she slowly removed and dance very provocatively for the time,
she was an instant success, however, a professional dancers work
is usually short and hers was no exception, it would only last
from 1905 to 1912.
--
Her
fame made it easy to travel to various European countries,
so the French Secret Service asked Mata Hari to mix and mingle with
the Germans and find out as much information as she could. However,
the French became suspicious of her and arrested her when she tried
to cross the French border to visit a lover. She was interrogated
and confessed to being a German spy code-named H21 (new reports
say she was framed) . When she went to trial and the verdict
of guilty came in, she would be executed by a French firing squad
on 10/15/1917, (as she was a double spy for Germany and France).
She was immortalized in the movie which starred Greta Garbo and
Ramon Navarro in the title role in 1932.
Birth Place
Birth Date
Spouse
Offspring
Leeuwarden,
Holland
8/7/1876
- 10/15/1917
Campbell
or John Macleod
Norman
John (1897)
Juana
Louise (1898)
Books
Magazines
1931
- Mata Hari - Courtesan & Spy (by
Coulson)
1927
- On Special Missions (by Chas Luceeto)
1931
- Underworld of Paris, Secrets of Surete, (by
Morain)
7/1929
- Dance Magazine (pt 1)
8/1929
- Dance Magazine (pt 2)
1951
- The World’s 30 Greatest Women Spies” (by
Singer)
