Who is Mata Hari?
Mata Hari was a Dutch dancer and courtesan executed for alleged espionage during World War I. As an exotic dancer and suspected double agent, Mata Hari became seen as the classic femme fatale, and her story inspired many rather loosely based films and novels. Her activities as a spy, however, have never been proven, and there remains a great deal of mystery surrounding the woman’s arrest and death. Mata Hari was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden, Friesland in the Netherlands. Her parents were both Friesland natives, and she had one older and three younger brothers. In 1882, Margaretha moved to Leiden with her family. When Margaretha was 13, her father went bankrupt and the family had to move to a poor area of town. Her father moved to Amsterdam in an attempt to improve his circumstances, and left his wife in charge of the children. Tragically, Margaretha’s mother passed away in 1891, and her father did not reclaim his children. Margaretha went to live with
