Mata Hari - Dancer, Lover, Spy,Mata hari ,Biography of Mata Hari

                                                    

Mata Hari - Dancer, Lover, Spy

She was an exotic dancer in Paris at the heightof the Belle époque. She was the object of sexual desire for wealthymen, ambassadors and high ranking officers. She was Mata Hari: the dancer, the spy, oneof the great names of WWI espionage. Novels, movies, even video games and a YoungIndiana Jones episode have channelled a character that is now the stuff of legends: a shrewd,manipulative femme fatale, spying and double crossing on both Germany and the Allies atthe height of WWI, motivated only by greed and the need to maintain an extravagant lifestyle. She was Margaretha Von Zelle, also known asMata Hari, also known as Agent H21 of the German Secret Service. She was accused of causing the death of 50,000French soldiers and met her deserved fate in front of a firing squad on a cold Octobermorning in 1917.
                                                  
Before the DawnBut before you pronounce your verdict, stop and think: in a world of spies nothing isas it seems. The commonly accepted narrative of Mata Harimay be just a fabrication: was she really the ruthless double agent the French counter-espionagewanted you to believe, or a simple pawn on the European chessboard, lost in a game shecould barely understand? Documents recently de-classified by the Frenchsecret services reveal a whole new truth, which we are about to tell. Mata Hari was born Margaretha Gertruida Zelleon the 7th of August 1876, in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden, from a relatively well-offfamily. Her first years of life were largely uneventful,until the day when, aged 13, her beloved father Adam abandoned her and her mother to livewith another woman.

 Two years later, her mother Antje died. With no other sustenance, Margaretha was sentaway by relatives to study to become a teacher. Margaretha was now 15 and had bloomed. With her dark complexion and dark exotic looksshe stood out “like an orchid among dandelions”… according to a schoolmate. This friend was not the only one to notice:aged 16, Margaretha was expelled from school for having an affair with the headmaster. Two years later Margaretha was living in TheHague, bored, miserable and yearning for an adventure away from the Netherlands. She found a way out through a lonely heartsadvert posted by a Dutch colonial officer of Scottish descent, Captain Rudolf McLeod,who was 22 years her senior. They married in July 1895. If Margaretha wanted adventure in life, McLeodwould offer it: as he was posted in the Dutch colonies in Indonesia, things could not getmore exotic than that. Their married life in Indonesia, though, wasnot a happy one. McLeod was a serial adulterer and physicallyabusive towards Gretha. She retorted by having numerous affairs withthe young officers posted in the colony. But the worse thing was that Rudolf had contractedsyphilis by one of his mistresses, infecting Margaretha and – by hereditary transmission– their two children, Norman-John and Louise-Jeanne who had been born in 1896 and 1898.

Norman’s case was particularly severe andhe received the only available treatment at that time – mercury. The local Army doctor overdosed the childwho sadly died from mercury poisoning aged only two. This was the final blow for the McLeod’smarriage. They separated, and after returning to theNetherlands in 1902, they formally divorced. The Light of DawnA divorced woman like Margaretha in early XXth Century Europe would have been at a tremendousdisadvantage. But she did not surrender. In her colonial days she had picked up morethan just an STD from that gentleman McLeod. She could speak fluent German, French, Italian,Spanish and Malay. Most of all, she could dance. She had learned some local Malay and Indonesiandances unknown to the European audiences of the early 1900s. This is when her career truly started. Imagine the setting, Paris during the BelleEpoque, that period from 1871 until 1914 in which French economy, culture and the artswere flourishing. The scene, the Guimet Museum of Asian art. Enter an unknown dancer who is going to stunthe high society of Paris with her bold moves, inspired by the mysterious rituals of thefar east.

 Her name used to be Margaretha McLeod néeZelle, now it is just Mata Hari, the Eye of the Dawn in the Malay language. It was the start of a stellar career thatwould take her from private parties to the most celebrated theatres in Europe. In fact, Mata Hari’s shows would have beencompletely banned in any other context, even by the loose standards of the Belle Epoque. She would perform with loose and transparentrobes, very often stripping almost completely naked. And yet she always got away by stating thatshe was simply re-enacting the sacred dances of the priestesses of some cult or anotherin Indonesia. During the following year her celebrity grew,not only because of her performances, but mainly because of the affaires and the gossipthat surrounded her. Her patrons included journalists, lawyers,government officials, Army officers: the top echelon of the Parisian society. And they repaid her favours in lavish gifts,clothes, jewels or just cash. Now it’s time to dispel a myth that hasalways surrounded Mata Hari: the fact that she was little more than a prostitute andhad an appetite for sex with powerful men. In a series of letters to her cousin Edward(published in 2017) Mata Hari confesses how she had developed a loathing for sex afterher unfortunate relationship with McLeod.

If sometimes she consented to a relationshipwith a powerful friend it was only so she could provide for her beloved daughter Louise. The Light of DuskIt was a fact, nonetheless, that her dancing had made her famous but it was her wealthyacquaintances that had made her rich. These ‘acquaintances’ became ever moreimportant with time: as the Belle Epoque gradually slid into the warning signs of the War toend all Wars, demand for her shows started to wane. In June 1914 she had received an offer todance in Berlin. It was too good an opportunity to miss. Unfortunately the show was cancelled due toa small mishap: Germany’s declaration of war against Russia on the 1st of August. Time to go back to Paris for Mata Hari, then. Alas, another contretemps prevented her fromdoing so: Germany’s declaration of war against France on the 3rd of August. World War I had started. Mata Hari decided then to return to her realhome, The Hague. She could have settled there and enjoy a quietlife in one of the few remaining neutral powers in Europe. She could, but she didn’t. It was in the autumn of 1915 that Mata Haristarted dating one Karl Kroemer, apparently the Honorary Consul of Germany in Amsterdam,but actually an agent for the Kaiser’s secret service.

 Kroemer had a plan: he would recruit thisbeautiful woman, who carried a neutral passport and spoke several languages to seduce topbrass in the Allied field and report back any secret she could gather. Her reward: 20,000 Francs. ‘Not above suspicion’This is when accounts start to differ. According to the official enquiry that wouldfollow, this is when Mata Hari officially became Agent H21 and started her campaignto harm the Allied war effort, for the sole reason of earning more and more cash to fundher lavish lifestyle. Feel free to believe the legend, but the declassifieddocuments suggest a different story: Mata Hari declined the offer … but kept the 20,000Francs! In her eyes these were a rightful compensationfor having had her furs and jewels seized by German border guards at the outbreak ofthe war. Having regained some funds and some confidence,Mata Hari returned to her spiritual home, Paris. Sailing to France from the Netherlands inDecember that year, her ship was docked in the English port of Folkestone, and all passengerswere questioned by a British intelligence officer.

The officer noted of Mata Hari:“She Speaks French, English, Italian, Dutch and probably German. Handsome, bold type of woman. Well and fashionably dressed.” And the final verdict? “Not above suspicion”And “She should be refused permission to returnto the U.K.” This overzealous officer even sent a messageabout Mata Hari to the French Deuxieme Bureau, or ‘Second Office’, which was the Counterespionageunit of the Ministry of War, headed by Captain George Ladoux. It was January 1916 now. Mata Hari was back in Paris and had resumedher old habits, hanging out with dashing officers and powerful under-secretaries. But something had changed: she was being followed. Ladoux’s agents shadowed her every move,opened her mail, intercepted her phone calls. I’ll present again both version of thisstory, ladies and gentlemen of the Jury. According to the official enquiry, the counterespionageunit wass gathering intelligence on Mata Hari’s spying for the Germans. But the facts are that the evidence they collectedamounted to rien de rien. First loveThat same year Mata Hari met Vladimir de Massloff, probably her first love, surely the greatestof her life.

De Massloff was a decorated Russian Captain,who had been partially blinded in one eye while fighting on the Western Front. When Vladimir proposed, Mata Hari acceptedhappily. But he had to leave for the front again. How could she stay closer to him? Despite her passport from a neutral Country,Mata Hari still needed a special safe-conduct to travel near the front-lines. Enter Jean Hallaure, an ex-lover. Jean apparently worked for the War Department– but unofficially reported to … Captain Ladoux. Him again. Jean arranged an appointment for Mata Harito meet the Deuxieme Bureau and the Captain placed his offer on the table:The exotic dancer would become a spy for them, seducing high ranking German targets in neutralcountries to capture military secrets. In exchange, Captain Ladoux would give herthe safe-conduct she needed and One. Million. Francs. That’s more than 3 Million USD in today’smoney. That would have been more than enough to supportMassloff and herself after they married, especially if he did not recover his sight or his aristocraticfamily disowned him.

 Ladoux instructed Mata Hari to wait for instructionsbefore going back to The Hague via Spain … instructions, which never came. She did not know what intelligence she wasmeant to gather, whom to target, nor how to communicate in secret. Tired of waiting, she eventually wrote himby regular post asking at least for an advance: if she was going to seduce important men,she needed to buy some new clothes! Finally en route for Spain, Mata Hari’sship was yet again stopped at a British port and she was questioned once more. This time, the British transferred her toLondon and kept her under custody until November 1916. What was going on? It seems that the British secret service MI5were trying to establish if she was indeed Margaretha Zelle aka Mata Hari, or one ClaraBenedix, an actual German secret agent. A sticky situation, which Mata Hari triedto resolve by admitting to being a French agent. The British contacted Ladoux. His reply was“Understand nothing.

 Send Mata Hari back to Spain.” What was his game? According to author Pat Shipman, the MI5’sinterpretation was that Ladoux suspected her for some time of being a German agent andhad only pretended to employ her. He would have been only too happy to havethe Brits get rid of her. But also in this occasion they let her go. In December 1916 Mata Hari set to work inMadrid. Without instructions but determined to winher reward she seduced a German diplomat, Maj. Arnold von Kalle. They spent only three afternoons in bed, butit was enough. He let it slip that the German Navy with theirOttoman allies were planning a submarine landing in Morocco, back then a French Colony. The Germans planning to open a new front inNorth Africa? This was huge news! Mata Hari sent a message to Ladoux to informhim. His response? [Crickets]Why did Ladoux not respond to her? Did he not trust her nor the intelligenceshe had captured? Mata Hari sought advice from another lover,this time a French officer, Col.

Joseph Denvignes. Denvignes asked her to extract more informationabout the Moroccan landing from Kalle, which she did. Bad move. Kalle and the Germans now became suspiciousand decided to act. American journalist Russell Warren Howe in1985 claimed to have accessed the Mata Hari Dossier, which had been kept secret by theDeuxieme Bureau since 1917. According to him, what the German secret servicedid was incredibly sneaky. Suspecting that Mata Hari was a French spyand still resentful that she had extorted 20,000 Francs from Kraemer in 1915, Kalleand his cronies sent a secret radio message to Berlin to get rid of her. This message implicated that Mata Hari wasactually a German double agent. But the evil genius was that they used a codewhich they knew the French had already cracked! Into Ladoux’s webThe message was intercepted by a listening post located on top of the Eiffel Tower (Itis a big aerial after all …) and promptly relayed to Ladoux who now had the evidencehe needed to arrest Mata Hari. So, the German agents had manipulated Ladouxin doing their own dirty work. But Ladoux was only too happy to have beenmanipulated.

 He had suspected her from the start. And the French public opinion was always onthe hunt for scapegoats after the disastrous battles of the Somme and Verdun. In January 1917 Mata Hari returned to Parisand demanded to meet Ladoux to claim her reward. But he simply shunned her, as she was runningout of money and hope. Then, on the 19th of February the DeuxiemeBureau issued an arrest warrant against her. The charges were “espionage on behalf ofGermany”. Mata Hari was taken to Saint Lazare, Paris’harshest women’s prison. She who had once been at home in the mostluxurious hotels of Europe now had to survive in a flea-ridden and overcrowded jail. For three months she was interrogated by investigativemagistrate Pierre Bouchardon, an unforgiving man with a prejudice against so called “loosewomen” like Mata Hari. During this time, Ladoux kept her completelyisolated, especially from her lawyer Clunet (another ex-lover) and from her fiancée Vladimirde Masloff.

Finally, on the 24th of July, Mata Hari wenton trial. Once one of the most beautiful women in Europeshe appeared ill, bloated and tired. But not yet defeated. Clunet was not experienced in military trialsbut he did a fair job. He pointed out that the only evidence againsther was the message intercepted at the Eiffel Tower, which may have been doctored by Ladouxhimself. He produced a ‘star witness’, the secretaryto the Minister of Foreign Affairs who testified for Mata Hari’s good character and loyalty. Mata Hari herself gave a great performance,declaiming to the jury "A courtesan? I admit it. A spy? Never!" But this was a show trail from the start. A few weeks earlier, the 20th of April, thedisastrous Nivelle offensive had ground to a halt. 40,000 French soldiers had died on a singleday, the 16th of April. As a consequence, 68 Divisions had mutiniedin June, refusing to continue fighting and dying for France. The general public needed a scapegoat forthose failures. What better than a spy? Even better: a foreigner. Even better: a woman of loose morals.

According to author Pat Shipman, the 7 jurorsall believed the unfounded rumour that Mata Hari’s spying had caused the death of 50,000French soldiers. How could she stand a chance? On the 27th of July the Judge pronounced theverdict: guilty of espionage and treason. Sentence of death, to be executed by firingsquad. How to dieOn the morning of the 15th of October Mata Hari was driven to the Vincennes Castle inthe outskirts of Paris. Six months of incarceration had taken theirtoll on her legendary beauty. Even so, she decided to wear her finest clothesfor the occasion. The firing squad officer offered to blindfoldher, but she refused. Instead, she looked defiantly at her captorsand executors. Legend says that she blew one kiss to thesoldiers of the firing squad, and one to the priest there to offer the last rites. Then, the squad commander raised his sabre. Journalist and eye witness Henry Wales wrote:“She did not die as actors and moving picture stars would have us believe that people diewhen they are shot. She did not throw up her hands nor did sheplunge straight forward or straight back.

Instead she seemed to collapse. Slowly, inertly, she settled to her knees,her head up always, and without the slightest change of expression on her face … She layprone, motionless, with her face turned towards the sky. A non-commissioned officer drew his revolver… Bending over, he placed … the revolver almost - but not quite - against the lefttemple of the spy. He pulled the trigger, and the bullet toreinto the brain of the woman” She had tied Europe’s richest and most powerfulmen to her little finger. She had Europe’s audiences at her feet. But when the Belle Epoque ended and the Warto start all Wars had broken out, Mata Hari had failed to stay afloat. She had been condemned by her naivete ratherthan her cunning and had been framed by petty, vengeful men. Yet, she had faced her last weeks on Earthwith great dignity, giving her best ever performance on that cold October morning.

The sergeant major supervising the firingsquad remarked at the time, “By God! This lady knows how to die.” CloseThank you for watching today’s video and let us know your verdict in the comments. Mata Hari – legendary spy or martyr of aGreat Game she could not control? If you want to know more about World War Icheck out our video about Kaiser Wilhelm right here. For another story of women spies in a man’sworld discover Coco Chanel’s story right here. We have three new videos going live everyweek, so subscribe and hit the bell icon to make sure you don’t miss any of them. See you next time and thank you for watching.