Mata Hari, photo, biography, personal life, whose family will be presented in the article, was a famous dance performer and courtesan. She was of Dutch origin. This woman became famous during the First World War.
Who is Mata Hari? Biography, photo
The heroine of an article was born in the Netherlands. Mata Hari, whose real name is Margaret Gertrude, was the only daughter of Adam Zella. She had three brothers . Mata Hari (years of life - 1876-1917) received a good education. This was made possible thanks to the entrepreneurial activity of his father. Adam owned a hat store and successfully invested in the oil industry. Until the age of 13, Margareta attended exclusively schools in which the offspring of representatives of the upper class studied. But in 1899, his father went bankrupt. After some time, Adam divorced his wife. He sent Margaret to Snack to the godfather. Subsequently, she continued to study in Leiden. There was a rather unpleasant incident there. In Leiden, Margareta received the profession of a kindergarten teacher. However, the school director began to flirt openly with her. The offended godfather took the girl from the school. A few months later, Margareta fled to The Hague with her uncle.
Indonesia
Mata Hari, photo, biography, whose personal life will subsequently become the subject of research by many historians, was a very attractive special. At 18, she married for the first time. This happened in Amsterdam, in 1895, the spouse was the 39-year-old captain Rudolf McLeod. Margaret met him on an ad. The couple moved to about. Java. Early marriage was the first desperate step Mata Hari took. Family, children, wife greatly burdened Rudolph. Soon the couple became disillusioned with the marriage. Rudolph had a weakness for alcohol, vented his dissatisfaction with life on his wife. He accused Margaret of all his troubles, including the fact that he could not advance in service. In addition, Rudolph was an avid woman and openly contained lovers. Margareta, disappointed in her husband, moved to another officer - van Roeders. For many months, she actively studied the traditions of Indonesia, including through her work in a dance group. In 1897, Margareta first used her pseudonym Mata Hari. This combination means "sun." After the persuasion of Rudolph Margaret again returned to him. However, the husband’s behavior has not changed. To forget, she continued to study the local culture.
First tragedy
In 1898, Margaret's son died at the age of 2 years. It is believed that he died from complications of syphilis transmitted to him from his parents. The spouses themselves claimed that the son was poisoned by a servant. Some sources have information that Rudolph insulted the husband of the servant. He in response ordered his wife to poison the son and daughter of Margaret and Rudolph. A maid added poison to the food. This turned out to be quite easy, since she was free to move around the house and was allowed into the kitchen. The boy was terribly tormented before death. However, the daughter was able to survive. Some said that it was a real miracle, others pointed to the strong immunity of the child. Nevertheless, to this day it remains a mystery how she could survive if the food was poisoned in both children. In 1903, Rudolph and Margaret divorced. At the same time, the ex-husband condemned the right to raise a daughter who died at 21. Allegedly, a complication of syphilis was also the cause.
Paris
In 1905, all of France found out who Mata Hari was. Biography, photos of this woman attracted a huge number of fans. It all started with the fact that after the divorce Margaret was in a very distress. To survive, she went to Paris. At first the city met her unfriendly. She had no funds, so she had to limit herself in everything. First, Margaret decided to earn a job as a model. However, it was quickly replaced by more successful competitors. Margaret did not have magnificent forms, so the French artists did not really like her. She had to get a job in the circus of Mollieu. There she worked with horses as a rider, called Lady Gresh MacLeod. At the same time, Margareta was well aware that she would not earn a fortune by such an activity.
Carier start
In 1905, Mata Hari first appeared on a dance podium in Paris . Biography, in short, few people were interested in at first - everyone looked at the body. Margaret herself came up with a number. She remembered how during the period of marriage in the East Indies, she saw oriental dances and how much the audience was delighted with them. She showed her first number in the salon of Ms. Kireevskaya. All gathered were delighted with the exotic movements of the dancer. The men remembered the final of the issue, when the girl was completely naked. It is worth saying that Margareta was not a professional dancer. She just needed money.
Glory
Since 1905, Margareta became a famous oriental-style dancer, performing under the pseudonym Mata Hari. It was a unique girl. Some of her dances were close in performance to modern striptease. At that time, he was not yet familiar to a Western audience. At the end of her performance, the dancer remained almost naked. “So Shiva wanted,” said Mata Hari. It was a real sacred dance. It was performed on stage in front of a small number of connoisseurs. The site was strewn with rose petals. Of interest are the legends told by Mata Hari. It was a romantic girl with a rich imagination. For example, she said that she has known sacred oriental dances since childhood. The dancer could say that she is an exotic princess or daughter of the Indian princess and King Edward the Seventh, that she has her own horse, which allows her to ride on herself, that she received her upbringing in a monastery in the East. There were many more romantic hoaxes with which Mata Hari enveloped her fans. This ultimately contributed to its tremendous success at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, interest in the East and erotica was especially acute.
Courtesan
Not only in Paris, but also in other European cities, Mata Hari began to speak . The biography, in short, was mainly associated with wealthy fans. For example, one of them was a French rich man. He invited her to dance at the Museum of Oriental Art. Mata Hari, whose photo captivated a good part of the male population of Europe, was a very successful courtesan. She was in connection with several high-ranking military men, politicians, and other influential figures of different countries, including Germany and France. She was given expensive gifts, but she often experienced financial problems and borrowed. Margaret reportedly had a passion for card games. Presumably, it was money that was spent on them. Before World War I, Margaret met a German police officer. Some authors believe that it was then that Mata Hari fell under the supervision of special services . "Spy" - so later they will call her.
Double agent
During World War I, the Netherlands was a neutral country. Margareta, as a Dutch citizen, could freely travel to her homeland. Between the states passed the front line. Margaret's road lay through Spain, in which German residency was very active, as well as Great Britain. Her frequent travels attracted the attention of counterintelligence. In the summer of 1914, Margaret was heading to Paris through Switzerland. She was stopped at the border to check documents. Margareta did not have them, so she was forced to send all her costumes further, and she went through Berlin to Holland. Arriving at home, the dancer was morally defeated. She had no livelihood. Margaret accidentally meets a very wealthy banker. He soon becomes her lover and contains her. Through him, Margareta met influential Germans, very generous and kind. The dancer did not reach Paris, and a year later she was recruited by German intelligence. From that moment, Margaret began life as Mata Hari the spy. The biography of the girl is filled with many rumors. Far from all the tangle of contradictions researchers managed to unravel.
Mata Hari: biography (briefly the most important)
When recruiting Margaret received the call sign N-21. Some authors believe that she became a spy before the start of the war. The exact circumstances and reasons for the recruitment are unknown. In 1916, the French counterintelligence received the first information about her involvement in working for the Germans. Mata Hari, learning about this, she herself came to the secret services. She offered the French her help. At the same time, Margaret called the name of one of her lover, known as an agent-recruiter. As a result, the French sent her on a small mission to Madrid. There suspicions of espionage were finally confirmed. Counterintelligence managed to intercept the radio exchange between the German agent and the center. In the information, he pointed out that the reverted spy N-21 arrived in Madrid and received a direction from the German residency in Paris. There is an assumption that radio was specifically declassified by the German side in order to get rid of Margaret.
Arrest
After returning to Paris, Mata Hari was taken into custody. This happened on February 13, 1917. The trial of Margaret took place behind closed doors. She was charged with transmitting information to the enemy, as a result of which several divisions died. It is worth saying that the materials of the proceedings are still classified. The court found Matu Hari guilty and sentenced to death. Her lawyer tried to release her before execution. He appealed, but the complaint was rejected. The lawyer even petitioned the president, but he also refused a pardon. The defender even suggested saying that she was pregnant in order to defer the execution of the sentence. But Mata Hari refused to lie.
Execution
On October 15, 1917, a guard came for Margaret in the morning. She was asked to get dressed and prepare for execution. However, the arrestee was indignant that she was being taken to execution without feeding breakfast. While Margaret was preparing, the coffin was already delivered. They shot her at Vincennes at the training ground. According to sources, she stood without a shadow of excitement and stood very calmly at the pillar. Margareta turned to the nun and hugged her. Then Mata Hari took off her coat and gave it to the woman. Margareta refused to be tied to a pillar. She also did not agree to be blindfolded. Before her stood 12 soldiers. Sending them a kiss, she cried out that she was ready. 11 people fired. The last, twelfth soldier fainted. There is evidence that one of the officers approached the body and shot again in the back of the head. After the execution, the body was transferred to the anatomical theater.
Reaction to execution
The news that a famous dancer was shot for espionage was overgrown with rumors in a short time. One of them is already indicated above. The rumor is about that air kiss. A number of authors believe that he was addressed to Margaret's lawyer, who was her lover. There is a rumor that Mata Hari, trying to distract the soldiers, threw off her clothes and remained naked. However, in 1934, an article was published in The New Yorker to refute it. According to the note, during the execution the dancer was dressed in a costume specially tailored to order on this occasion. Another source indicates that she was wearing a blouse and a hat-hat, chosen by the indictment in court. This costume was reportedly the only clean and full toilet in the prison.
The fate of the remains
The body of the murdered woman was not claimed by her relatives. In this regard, it was sent to the anatomical theater. Margaret's head was embalmed. She was kept in the Paris Museum of Anatomy. But in 2000, it turned out that the head was gone. Experts believe that the disappearance could have happened back in 1954, when the museum was relocated. Sources of 1918 also indicate that the remaining remains of Margaret were also deposited. However, reports on their exact location are not available.
Performance Assessment
Most authors believe that the effectiveness of Margaret as a scout is significantly exaggerated. Experts believe that it is unlikely that the information that she could get was of really serious value to the French or Germans. According to O. Pinto, a lieutenant colonel of the Dutch and British intelligence, Mata Hari undoubtedly won fame. She was the personification of a beautiful female agent. At the same time, Margareta was an expansive and stupid creature. Pinto believes that if the execution did not take place, the world would soon forget that there was once Mata Hari. Biography (a film about a spy was first shot in 1931), of course, was filled with a huge number of events. Far from the last place they held meetings with representatives of the French political and military elite. Historian Chernyak believes that the danger of divulging these ties could affect the conviction.
Was there any benefit from the activities of agent N-21?
Historians disagree on this subject. Some are convinced that Margaret was completely uninterested in the success of intelligence. It only created the appearance of intelligence activities in order to receive good money from the Germans. According to some sources, Margareta herself said that she remembered her outfits detained at the border in 1914, and decided to receive compensation from Germany for this. Other authors, on the contrary, are convinced that Mata Hari repeatedly transmitted secret information to the Germans, working for them until the beginning of 1916 - until the interception of the radiogram. As for the French, having learned of her crime, they nevertheless were in no hurry to punish Margaret. Counterintelligence invited her to work for them. Margareta agreed, but demanded 1 million francs. Mata Hari explained this with her desire to marry her beloved man. The chosen one this time was Vadim Maslov - the Russian captain. He himself did not make grandiose plans with the woman whom many Parisian men dreamed of possessing. After a while, Maslov will say that he was connected with Margaret by a fleeting feeling. In an effort to earn more, Mata Hari began to spy in favor of Germany and France, while transmitting information to them about each other.
Conclusion
Margaret went down in history both as a double agent of N-21 and as a dancer Mata Hari. Biography (the film was shot not only in 1931) is still covered in secrets and legends. She was able to hit a huge number of fans. At the same time, there is evidence that during the interrogation Mata Hari denied her guilt, saying that she had never been a traitor. Some experts believe that indiscriminate communications played a role in her arrest and subsequent execution. Her lovers, patrons, sponsors were quite influential people. However, they could not, and most likely did not even try to help her. This is understandable. Nobody wanted to lose their position in society for the sake of a dancer. And then, there were other women with a less tarnished reputation. Meanwhile, a number of authors believe that it was the image of the martyr that allowed her to become more famous than any of the spies of that time. In popularity, she even overtook some of the more effective agents. Mata Hari lived a relatively short, but very eventful life. Given that she did not receive training as a dancer, success was simply unbelievable. To a greater extent, this, of course, was facilitated by her active study of oriental culture during her stay in Indonesia. Not the last role, of course, was played by her imagination, her love of romanticism. Many authors conclude that, if Mata Hari did not strive for a condition, perhaps she would have lived much longer. She could probably marry, become a mother again. But, unfortunately, fate decreed otherwise. One way or another, she was able to win the hearts of many and left her mark on history.