Mata Hari: From Stage To Scaffold: The story of a famous dancer turned accused spy
Marga showed a natural talent for dance and performance, which led her to join a traveling dance troupe at the age of 14.
Mata Hari: From Stage To Scaffold: The story of a famous dancer turned accused spy
Margaretha Zelle “Marga”, better known as Mata Hari, was born in the Netherlands on August 7, 1876, to parents Adam Zelle and Antje van der Meulen.
Hari was the only girl out of four children. The family hailed from the Dutch city of Leeuwarden, where her father owned a successful hat business.
Marga showed a natural talent for dance and performance, which led her to join a traveling dance troupe at the age of 14. Her time with the troupe was short-lived, as she fell in love with a fellow dancer named Rudolf MacLeod.
At the age of 15, Mata Hari married Captain Rudolf MacLeod, a Scottish officer stationed in Indonesia. Their marriage was tumultuous, with MacLeod subjecting her to physical and emotional abuse.
After their divorce, Mata Hari moved to Paris and reinvented herself as an exotic dancer, performing under the name Mata Hari which means “eye of the day” in Malay, which was fitting for the seductive performer.
She became a sensation in the world of entertainment, with her shows combining elements of traditional Indonesian dance with burlesque.
Her fame led to a successful career as a high-society escort, with prominent politicians, businessmen, military men, and entrepreneurs vying for her attention.
During World War I, Mata Hari’s life took a dramatic turn. Her former lover, Captain Vadim Maslov, was wounded in battle and sent to a German hospital for treatment. Mata Hari traveled to Madrid to gather information for the French intelligence agency, but her true loyalties remained unclear. The Germans discovered her double agent status and accused her of committing double espionage.
At her trial, the only evidence presented against her was decoded messages and makeup found in her room. She admitted to accepting a bribe from her handler in exchange for trivial information but maintained that she was not a traitor.
Despite this, she was sentenced to death by firing squad. In retrospect, many historians believe that Mata Hari was falsely accused of being a traitor to shift the focus from the failing French forces.
After her execution, it was discovered that her main accuser, George Ladoux, had fabricated evidence against her. The French government hid this fact for over a century before recently declassifying the documents. It turns out that British officer Henry Noedemaker also believed she was a double agent and accused her of espionage after finding something suspicious in her room during a ship voyage. Three years after her execution, Noedemaker took his own life due to guilt over contributing to her death.
Mata Hari’s remains were treated in an undignified manner after her execution. Her head was severed from her body as a morbid souvenir and embalmed before being displayed at the Paris Museum of Anatomy. In 2000, it was reported that her head had been missing since 1954, but it has not been found since then.
The story of Mata Hari has inspired several films and musicals over the years, including a well-known 1931 hit starring Greta Garbo and produced by MGM. In her hometown of Leeuwarden lies the Frisian Museum, with a room dedicated to the life of Mata Hari.
The Museum of Friesland created a Mata Hari exhibition which opened on the 100 year anniversary of her execution. A statue stands in place of her family home after it was destroyed in a fire in 2013.
Despite all the fame and success she achieved throughout her life, Mata Hari’s choices were driven by desperation and fear due to the abuse and betrayal she endured during her marriage to MacLeod. Her damaged view of love left her with a fear of intimacy later in life.