Movie scene depicting the execution of Dutch exotic dancer and spy Mata Hari by a French firing squad on October 15, 1917

Movie scene depicting the execution of Dutch exotic dancer and spy Mata Hari by a French firing squad on October 15, 1917

Today 106 years ago, on October 15, 1917, the Dutch exotic dancer Margaretha Zelle, better known as Mata Hari, was executed by the French for espionage.

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, to an entrepreneurial father who was able to give her a lavish childhood with a good education. As a girl, she was known for being flamboyant and often appearing in flashy dresses.

Though in 1889 her life changed dramatically, as her father went bankrupt, and in 1891 her mother passed away. In 1895, at the age of 18, Margaretha married a 38-year-old Dutch officer, and went to live with him in Dutch Indonesia. Their marriage was plagued by the age gap and financial struggles, but they had 2 children, one of which passed away at the age of 2. The couple was divorced in 1902. 

Margaretha went to Paris for a new start. Without money, career or a husband, she became an exotic dancer, dancing seductively in a salon, and almost instantly became a success. In order to sound more exotic, she adopted the stage name "Mata Hari", which is "Sun" in Malay.

In 1916, during the First World War, Mata Hari developed a passionate relationship with a Russian pilot from the Russian Expeditionary Force, Captain Vadim Maslov. He was shot down and badly wounded in the summer of 1916, and Mata Hari requested to visit him at the front.

As an exotic dancer from the neutral Netherlands, the French saw a special use for her. She was allowed to visit Maslov if she agreed to spy for France and attempt to seduce the German Crown Prince Wilhelm, whom she had danced for several times before the war, so the French could expose the German heir as a womanizer to the public.

Mata Hari was offered 1 million French  Francs if she could seduce him and provide intelligence of German war plans. She agreed and traveled to Madrid, Spain in late 1916 to meet with a German Major Kalle, in order to set up a meeting with the Crown Prince. 

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