Exotic Mata Hari 1876 - 1917 (executed by firing squad)

Mata Hari was a stage name that Margaretha Geertruida or former married name of Zelle MacLeod used. She was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan – a celebrity of the early 20th centaury who became well known in France for her exotic stage acts. She had married a Dutch colonial official and lived in Java, Indonesia during the latter part of the 19th century where she had studied Indonesian culture and made up fictitious tales about her origins for her exotic stage acts in Paris – an act the would earn her high fame, acclaim and admiration among the well to do men of Europe. She was a like a modern day pop star of that time.

She had, in fact, answered a newspaper article, in the Netherlands, and become a mail bride to Rudolph John MacLeod at the age of 18. Her mother had died and she had left the protection of her godfather. This marriage arrangement was not successful because her husband openly kept other mistresses while in Indonesia and was a heavy drinker. They had two children – a girl and a boy. The young son died in infancy at age 3 and shortly after this tragedy the MacLeods returned to the Netherlands, where they soon got divorced. The husband Rudolph took custody of the daughter and later attained photographs of his wife dressed in exotic attire to strengthen his case for keeping custody of his daughter.

Zelle MacLeod moved to Paris and began her career in the exotic dance industry where she quickly won popularity among the upper class gentlemen of Europe who flocked to Paris to enjoy the type of entertainment forbidden in other cities of Europe. As Mata Hari, which was Indonesian for ‘Sun’ (eye of the day) Zelle became a courtesan and courted titled gentlemen from various nations of Europe, including France and Germany just before the First World War broke out.

When, in 1914, War came to Europe; the Netherlands remained a neutral country and the Mata Hari (Zelle MacLeod) was able to travel between the warring nations. She was often stopped by various intelligence agencies in France, UK and Germany and questioned and the French became very suspicious of her spying for the Germans. After all, she had been intimate with high ranking men of influence in all nations including a German crown Prince.

Then in 1917 a coded radio message was intercepted by French intelligence and it was done in a German code that France had broken. It emphasised that without help from a particular agent some of their battle successes would not have been possible. This was attributed to Mata Hari and she was quickly arrested in Paris. Subsequently, this celebrity of the day was put on trail and found guilty of causing the deaths of up to 50,000 French soldiers. She was convicted of spying for Germany and sentenced to death by firing squad. This was done in the October of 1917 and she was said to have met her death bravely – denying her conviction to the very end.

Today there is still much controversy and speculation concerning her execution and her name has burnt its way into the history books. Many believe she was innocent of the claims. Others believe the exotic dancer was a double agent and the Germans might have sent the coded message knowing the French would blame the Mata Hari. Whatever the facts; the Mata Hari was caught up in a web of conspiracy that was beyond her abilities – innocent or guilty.