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Birth
Margaretha Geertruida Zelle; Leeuwarden, Netherlands. -
Period: to
School education & teacher preparation
She lived till the age of eighteen in an affluent family, received a Christian education and was prepared to be a teacher. -
Marriage
She married an officer of the Dutch colonial army, Rudolf Campbell Mac Leod. -
Divorce
She divorced five years of marriage, probably due to the alcoholism of her husband, returned to Europe and settled in Paris, where he started a new life. -
Period: to
Professional dedication
During the first years of the century, Mata Hari danced in the shelters of soldiers and politicians from around the world. She had numerous lovers. -
Nickname
Margaretha Zelle adopted as a stage name Mata Hari, which literally means "eye of the day" in Malay. -
Spy conversion
The German consul in the Netherlands began offering her significant amounts of money in Exchange for information. The dancer accepted, also becoming a spy, to the service of France, in the German-occupied Belgium.
Convinced of his double agent status, the British intelligence services alerted the French authorities, which was submitted to surveillance. -
Detention
After using a fake ID, she was arrested on February 13, 1917 and imprisoned in the prison of San Lazaro on the outskirts of Paris -
Death
She was put on trial for espionage, for being a double agent for Germany and France at the same time to cause the deaths of thousands of soldiers. She was found guilty without conclusive evidence and based on untested hypotheses.
A Parisian crowd gathered on the morning of October 15, 1917 to witness its execution. She appeared dressed simply and refused to sell. Before dying he said goodbye to the soldiers of the platoon waving his hand elegantly.
Vincennes, France.
