An Exotic Dancer & Seductress Who Became A Deadly WWI Spy

Mata Hari refused a blindfold & blew a kiss to her executioners.

Mata Hari had different identities for different people. She was an exotic dancer, a femme fatale, a seductress, and a spy. However, she is best known for her execution after the First World War for espionage.

Her real name was Margaretha “Gertha” Zelle, and she was born in the Netherlands in 1876 to a wealthy family.

At 18, she was married to a Dutch East Indies official and moved to Indonesia with him, but she found herself bored with her life and developed an interest in Indonesian dance.

After her arrival in Europe, Gertha had reinvented herself as “Mata Hari”, her stage name. She became quite popular in European high society as an exotic dancer.

When the First World War erupted in 1914, Mata Hari was a famous exotic dancer in Europe. She was accused of espionage by France and executed after the end of the war. Here are some unknown facts about Mata Hari:

The Headmaster At Her School Tried To Seduce Her

Gertha was born to a hatmaker who had invested in oil. The first 13 years of her life were luxurious, but her family lost their wealth in 1889.

In 1891, her mother died, and she was sent to her godfather, who sent her to a school in Holland.

The headmaster at the school tried to seduce Gertha, which became a scandal, and her dream of becoming a kindergarten teacher was finished as she was taken out of the school.

She Married a Colonial Officer to Escape the Boredom of Her Life

Gertha was an ambitious young woman and wanted to get out of her middle-class lifestyle.

At 18, she responded to an advertisement regarding a bride in the Dutch East Indies — she was too bold for her times as she travelled to Java to marry MacLeod. Her husband was Norman John MacLeod, a Dutch East Indies officer.

She Started Dancing to Get Rid of Her Loneliness in Indonesia

Life on the island was lonely for Gertha, as she also did not have a healthy relationship with her husband.

Therefore, she started taking an interest in local culture to remain busy, but ended up learning Indonesian dancing — something that turned out to be her route to fame and freedom.

Gertha’s decision to marry a stranger living on a far-off island did not pay off well. MacLeod was an abusive alcoholic.

Even the birth of two children (only one survived boyhood) could not keep their relationship going. Upon their arrival in Europe in 1902, the couple separated and finally got divorced in 1906.

She Was Coerced to Give Up The Custody Of Her Child

When the couple divorced, Gertha was granted the custody of her only child, Non. She tried to provide for her daughter but did not have the financial resources to do so.

MacLeod put out advertisements in newspapers barring people from helping her. She eventually backed away from the custody and decided to move to Paris.

She Worked As A Circus Worker

Gertha started working as a circus performer in Paris. She began as a horse rider with the stage name “Lady MacLeod” but eventually took up exotic dancing.

She Became The Most Popular Exotic Dancer In Europe

Gertha started her career by posing as a Javanese princess and taking the name “Mata Hari”. She often performed naked, which made her scandalous dances famous throughout Europe. She did this at a time when women used full-body bathing suits.

The list of her lovers kept increasing such that Mata Hari found access to European high society and began a career as a courtesan — indeed, she had very influential lovers.

Finally the lady, moved across Europe when WWI broke out.

The Man She Loved Was Shot Down, Which Made Her A Spy

In 1916, Gertha fell in love with a Russian pilot named Vadim Maslov. Maslov’s plane was shot down, and he was admitted to a French hospital.

Gertha wanted to see him, but the authorities asked her to become a spy for France if she wanted to know the love of her life, to which she agreed.

She got Commissioned to Seduce The Kaiser’s Son

The French officers believed that Gertha’s reputation as a courtesan could help them. They offered her 1 million Francs in exchange for seducing Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s son, to learn German intelligence and heir and thus began Gertha career as a spy.

Gertha’s frequent travelling across the borders became problematic. In 1916, she was apprehended by the British officers who released her when she told them that she worked for the French.

However, in 1917, she was arrested by the French authorities for sharing French secrets with the Germans.

During her trial, it was proved that she accepted money from the Germans in exchange for French secrets. She denied having shared any valuable information.

The Allies Convicted Her Despite Lack of Evidence

The French authorities did not have any evidence against Gertha. Therefore, they argued that she was a consummate performer and was prone to play both sides.

She had been accepting money from the Germans for sexual favours, but she was never proven guilty of what she was accused of.

Numerous historians believe that Gertha was too clumsy to deceive both sides. She was not even smart enough to spy for the French.

Some believe that the Germans set her up, while others believe that the failing French government used her as a scapegoat to hide its incompetence in the war.

She Blew A Kiss To the Firing Squad

On October 15, 1917, Gertha was brought in front of a firing squad for her execution. She refused to wear the blindfold and blew a kiss towards the firing squad before her death.

Her Head Had Gone Missing, And Her Body Was Used For Medical Research

None of Gertha’s family claimed her body. Her corpse was used for medical research. Her head was taken off and kept in the archives at the Museum of Anatomy in Paris.

In 2000, the archivists noticed that her head had gone missing, and no one knew where it went.

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