Mata hari descendants

How old was mata hari when she died
Mata hari death
Mata hari grandchildren

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mata hari

margaretha geertruida zelle

At the age of 29, the Frisian girl Margaretha is an outright media hype in Paris. As Mata Hari, she captivates society audiences with her exotic dance, slowly baring her body. The newspapers can’t stop writing about this sensation. For ten successful years, her name has been synonymous with sensuality and glamour. But her numerous affairs with men in uniform and her travels through Europe during World War I make her suspicious in the eyes of the French secret service. In early 1917 she was arrested on suspicion of espionage for the Germans. Mata Hari dies on October 15 of that year before a French firing squad in the woods near Paris.

Scroll through the page and read the whole story of Mata Hari.

the myth and the girl

In 2017, one hundred years after her death, the Fries Museum hosted the largest Mata Hari exhibition ever: Mata Hari, the myth and the girl. The Fries Museum has a large collection of Mata Hari memorabilia. On this page you get an impression of the woman behind the myth, you can also scroll through her

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I was first introduced to the name Mata Hari in Pond Life, a mini-series that focussed on Amy and Rory Pond from Doctor Who. In the first episode the Doctor (Matt Smith) leaves a message on their answering machine and briefly comments on meeting Mata Hari – ‘What an interesting woman’. It’s taken me four years to research her. First thing I learned? That’s not her name. This should have been obvious, she was an exotic dancer and performer. Margaretha Zelle moved to Paris in 1903 and after two years ‘Mata Hari’ became the one to watch. She was sexy, even by today’s standards. According to reports Hari would often remove all her clothes, and if not would only wear a jewelled bra. There’s even photographic evidence of this, which is where my research took a sadder turn.

Guess who kept these photos? Her ex-husband. Zelle married Captain MacLeod in 1895 and, aptly described on Wikipedia – ‘The marriage was an overall disappointment’. Her husband drank, hit her, and was anything but decent. They divorced in 1906 and Zelle was given custody of their daughter, until MacLeod refused t

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Mata Hari was an exotic dancer from the Netherlands who gained much fame in France as a dancer. During the First World War, she was arrested on charges of espionage and executed by a French firing squad. Evidence of her actual guilt is frequently questioned.

Mata Hari was born 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Her name at birth was Margaretha Geerruida Zelle. Until the age of 13, she lived a comfortable lifestyle, attending elite private schools paid for by her father. Her father doted much attention on his ‘little princess’ making her used to the attention of men. However, in 1889, her father went bankrupt and her parents soon divorced. She tried to study to be a kindergarten teacher but her godfather removed her after the Headmaster became attached to Margaretha.

When she was 18, she answered a newspaper ad from a handsome Dutch officer living in Java, the East Indies. In those days it was common for Dutchman living in colonies to request wives by placing ads in papers. Margaretha moved to Java where the couple had two children. However, the marriage was n