Through her exotic dances, she became the epitome of a woman of temptation. During World War I, the German secret service managed to recruit a highly successful courtesan as an agent. But the game of high politics brought her to trouble. In 1917, she was tried and executed for high treason.
In a costume that was breathtaking and which revealed more than hid, she seemed to come from the world of the fabulous East. Dressed only in transparent bedspreads, decorating her hands, ankles and head with exotic rings, tiaras and ornaments, at the beginning of the 20th century she danced in Paris and deprived the minds and fortunes of many men of her time. Which is quite understandable: at the turn of the new century, the world had never seen anything like Mate Hari. Within a very short time, the dancer conquered high society with her temple striptease, admired diplomats, ministers and princes with her performances in Parisian salons and other places.
All of them were in the full power of the "Indian Bayadera" - and she was just an adventurer. Born in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden, Margareta Gertreda Zelle (that was her civil name) became an erotic symbol of her time. She invented a new name for herself - Mata Hari and with the help of a dramatic biography, how fantastic, so deceitful, she created her own myth.
If Margareta Gertreda Zelle, aka Mata Hari, remained only a performer of exotic dances, the world would certainly forget about her. But on October 15, 1917, Mata Hari was shot as a double agent and therefore is still considered a symbolic image of the female art of seduction and deadly espionage. A femme fatale from a Dutch province, who came to Paris to conquer the world, paid with her life for her vanity - after the modern "witch trials" provoked by the First World War.
The "Indian Temple Dancer" constantly told the astonished public the legend of her birth. Whether the story was true or not, it didn't matter. High society enjoyed the mysteries of the East - who wanted the truth about Margaret Gertred Zell? She was born on August 7, 1876 in Leeuwarden in the province of Friesland. Adam Zelle, a proud father and successful hatter, was highly respected in the town - in 1873, when he visited King Willem III, he carried the banner. This scene was captured for eternity by the artist. From that day on, Adam Zelle was seized with vanity; he spent his money faster than he could earn. His pretty daughter Margareta was spoiled, she was put on display like a luxurious toy: when little Gritier, who was barely three years old, rode through the city in a cart pulled by two goats,Leeuwarden's glorious burghers were astonished.
With an amber-colored face, dark-haired, with almond-shaped eyes, next to her fair-haired peers, she really looked like a princess from The Thousand and One Nights. Margareta went to the best local girls' boarding house, taught French, English and German. But her classmates disliked her: she was not developed and arrogant for her age, she loved to shock, pretended to be a "baroness" and demanded that her father take her out for a walk in a large carriage.
But soon the world invented by Margareta cracked. Her father's affairs were getting worse; in 1889 the hatter had to declare his bankruptcy. In the marriage of the Zelle couple, a crisis was also looming. In the end, Adam Zelle left the family, a mother and children had to look for a new home - simpler. Margareta immediately lost not only her beloved father, the center of her life, but also her usual environment.
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It was a shock that the young girl could not overcome. If before she loved to tell fantastic stories, now she just wrapped herself in a cocoon of deliberate lies. When her mother died nine months later, the guardian, the godfather, decided to send Margaret to the boarding school. The seventeen-year-old beauty entered into a love affair with the headmaster of the school, the mature teacher could not resist the exotic charm of the young student, and Margareta was looking for a kind of replacement for her father. The relationship was not kept secret - Margaretha was kicked out of school and sent to her relatives in The Hague. For the first time she saw a big city, high life in cafes and theaters, walked along the boulevards and flirted with officers in smart uniforms. But her chances in the marriage market as a half-orphan with a small dowry were slim. In March 1895 she came across a marriage announcement: “Officer from the Dutch East Indies,being on vacation at home, he will meet a pretty girl for further marriage. In her reply, Margareta included her photo. The calculation was justified: her beauty compensated for all the shortcomings, John Rudolph MacLeod, a captain from a Scottish aristocratic family, immediately burst into love.
Margareta Gertreda Zelle with her husband Jonam Rudolph MacLeod.
Six days after their first meeting, he made the beautiful pretender his mistress. After 17 years in the tropics, the 39-year-old officer wanted to use his medical leave to find a wife. Margareta Gertreda Zelle, who was 20 years younger, seemed like a suitable candidate; On July 11, 1895, a civil marriage took place.
But already on their honeymoon, the newlyweds were convinced how badly they fit together. The brave captain turned out to be a choleric, exhausted by rheumatism, while Margaretha enjoyed her new position as an officer's wife - and threw money with might and main. The first child, Norman John, was born on January 30, 1897. In May of the same year, the young family went to Java on the Princess Amalia. It was a great adventure for Margareta - she finally gets to know the East, the focus of her many fantasies. A huge house, servants and all the privileges of the colonial government awaited the young Dutch woman. While her husband was on duty in the tropical heat, Margareta spent her days shopping, receptions, and flirting with young officers. The MacLeod spouses grew more and more cold towards each other, even the birth in May 1898 of their daughter Jeanne Louise could not change anything.
When, in June 1899, both children were unexpectedly poisoned and little Norman John died, the marriage broke up completely. It is still unclear whether this was the revenge of a jealous lover or an accident. In 1902 the couple returned to Europe and divorced. Although the Amsterdam court awarded Margaretha the parental custody of their common daughter, McLeod ordered that Jeanne Louise never see her mother again.
Margareta fled to Paris in the hope that there she, like the hero of Thomas Mann's novel, the adventurer Felix Krul, would find her happiness. At the turn of the century, Paris was considered one of the most exciting cities in Europe: in 1900, the first World Exhibition opened its doors, the city magically attracted artists, aristocrats and seekers of happiness. When Margareta got to Paris, she turned 26.
Young Dutch woman tried to capitalize on her beauty again
She offered herself to artists as a model - and received the first refusal in her life.
Margareta left disappointed.
When she returned to Paris in 1904, she came up with new tactics. This time she wanted, she just had to conquer the world.
“Mata Hari is Dutch, Scottish and Javanese at the same time. From the northern races, she took a tall, strong body, and in Java, where she grew up, she borrowed the flexibility of a panther, the mobility of beautiful snakes. Add to this the heat that the East kindles in the eyes of its daughters, and you get an idea of the new star that rose over Paris last night, - enthused the reporter of the newspaper LaVie Parisienne
March 18, 1905 Margareta Gertreda MacLeod, née Zelle, was gone - Mata Hari was born. For a year, a native of Friesland turned into a femme fatale. She took dance lessons and found her audience in private salons. She was fortunate enough to meet a wealthy soap manufacturer who allowed an imaginary stranger to appear in his private museum among the art of the East. The debut was a sensation.
She was the first dancer of her time to break the strict taboo on nudity. The gentlemen of the Parisian world went crazy - and stood in line at her bedroom. Mata Hari knew how to use the moment. Soon she began to demand 1000 francs in gold for each of her speeches - the worker at that time received five francs a day. In exclusive boutiques in Paris, Mata Hari spent her fortune on furs, jewelry, dresses and hats. Her success sparked envy.
The Parisian ladies of the half-light tried in vain to discredit their beautiful rival:
Mata Hari danced on all stages and in all salons, moved in the highest circles. The dancer also performed abroad, she was successful in Madrid, Monte Carlo and Berlin, had affairs with ambassadors, nobles and, according to rumors, even with the German crown prince, the son of Wilhelm II.
In the summer of 1914, the dancer returned to Berlin, but on August 1, 1914, the First World War broke out. This message left Mata Hari indifferent - she took much more painful that she was denied an engagement at the theater by Viennese students.
When her jewelry and furs were confiscated on August 4, Mata Hari knew it was time to leave Germany. However, her return to Paris was denied. Without documents and without money, she finally began to seek refuge in the only country that still accepted her: at the end of August 1914, for the first time after many years, Mata Hari again set foot on Dutch soil. The great war in Europe unexpectedly destroyed her hopes for a new international career.
Mata Hari got a job in The Hague
In the spring of 1916, she met Karl Kramer, the press attaché of the German embassy. Although the dancer was still performing, engagements were less frequent, and she had long lived beyond her means.
When, a week after their first meeting, Karl Kramer came to her apartment, Mata Hari decided that the press attaché was looking for love affairs. But Kramer pursued completely different goals: he was an agent of the military intelligence of the German Empire and came to the dancer with an interesting proposal. He will pay her debts if she agrees to ask a little in Parisian salons. "Go get us the news," Kramer suggested to her, and Mata Hari enthusiastically agreed. The naive dancer did not know that by this time she was already being followed by the Dutch secret police. A woman like her aroused suspicion during the war. Her meeting with Karl Kramer was also recorded.
On May 15, 1916, the newly minted spy applied for a new passport to travel to Paris on a mission. Her route was supposed to pass by sea through England, but the local authorities denied her entry, without giving reasons. Mata Hari protested - unsuccessfully. Finally, she booked a seat on the boat to Vigo in Spain to travel from there overland to Paris. Meanwhile, the British secret police sent out to all ports
and border points circular:
Did Mata Hari know what she was getting herself into? Hardly. Arriving in Paris, she tried to complete the task, visited salons and made new acquaintances. The meeting with the captain of the Special Regiment of the Russian Imperial Army Vadim Maslov became fateful for her. For the first time in her life, a femme fatale fell in love - with a man almost half her age. However, this, apparently, did not prevent Mate Hari from meeting with others.
Undoubtedly, she started working as a German agent despite falling in love. When Vadim Maslov was wounded in battle, Mata Hari made every effort to visit her lover in the infirmary.
A special regiment of the Russian Imperial Army - a regiment that operated as part of the Russian Allied Corps in France. But the military hospital in which Maslov was lying was in a restricted area near the front, and foreigners could only get there with a special pass.
So the woman in love was introduced to Georges Lad, one of the chiefs of the French counterintelligence service. Whether Mata Hari deliberately decided to go to the lion's den or completely recklessly ended up in the Second Bureau is still unclear. However, the chief of French intelligence saw a chance to use the dancer with international connections for his own purposes. He promised her a pass if she agreed to work for the French in the future. Mata Hari agreed. She became close in Madrid with the German military attaché Hans von Kalle. The budding spy had no idea what a dangerous spy network she was entangled in. Von Kalle solved the double game and used Mata Hari to convey disinformation to the French. At the same time, he sent a poorly coded message to Berlin, in which he said that Mata Hari, for the sake of appearance, agreed to the proposal of the Second Bureau. As expected,the radio message was intercepted by the British and passed on to the French allies. Mata Hari's fate was sealed.
The arrest warrant
On February 13, 1917, immediately upon her return to Paris, she was arrested at the Plaza Hotel on Rue Montaigne. The charge was: espionage and collaboration with the enemy. Even at that moment, Mata Hari did not seem to understand her position at all - after all, what secrets did she reveal? After being taken to prison, she first demanded a telephone and a bathroom.
During interrogations, she was confused by new lies and excuses. “I love officers. I have loved them all my life. I'd rather be the mistress of a poor officer than a rich banker. My greatest pleasure is sleeping with them without thinking about money. I also like to compare different nations.
For four agonizingly long months, Mata Hari waited for her verdict, vacillating between hope and despair. She foresaw the punishment for high treason, but never took the death sentence into account. “She was a born spy - no remorse, no compassion,” admitted her investigator, Captain Pierre Bouchardon, even before the verdict.
Finally, on July 25, 1917, the military jury also found the accused guilty. Sentence: death penalty by firing squad.
To her execution on the morning of October 15, 1917, Mata Hari walked on stage: wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a veil, furs and long gloves, she crossed the execution site and blew a kiss to the witnesses. She refused the blindfold. When the firing squad officer raised his saber, she looked him firmly in the eyes and said, "Monsieur, thank you." Mata Hari played the role of femme fatale for the last time.