Author Waagenaar rates the most absurd story associated with Mata Hari as Kurt Singer's (Spies Who Changed History) assertion that Mata Hari's daughter Juana-Luisa (whose nickname was "Non" but Singer for some unknown reason names her "Banda") received a letter from her mother just before her execution that stated Juana-Luisa was an orphan. After moving to Java in Indonesia, Mata Hari had two children with Captain MacLeod (Norman-John and Louise Jeanne). She refused to be blindfolded or tied to the stake. [49], In 2017, the opera Mata Hari by librettist Peter Peers and composer Matt Marks premiered at New York's Prototype Festival. What is definintely known of Juana-Luisa MacLeod, the undisputed daughter of Margaretha Zelle MacLeod, is that in September of 1914 Margaretha desperately wished to see her daughter again and wrote a letter to MacLeod requesting a meeting. Although the French and British intelligence suspected her of spying for Germany, neither could produce definite evidence against her. The MacLeods had left for the south Pacific in January 1897 and had lived in various cities of Java and Sumatra, known as the Dutch East Indies to Europeans. ... in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. The messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already been broken by the French, suggesting that the messages were contrived to have Zelle arrested by the French. Zelle's contact with the Deuxième Bureau was Captain Georges Ladoux, who was later to emerge as one of her principal accusers. Mata Hari - The True Story, Dodd, Mead and Co., 1986, New York, p. 43. [2], All of these stories have no basis in fact and are similar to the fabricated stories that writers spun around Juana-Luisa's infamous mother during and after her tragic life. She arrived penniless and decided to pose as a model after she worked in one of the popular equestrian circuses where she performed a "temple dance" upon the back of a horse. In 2016, an information centre (belevingscentrum) was created in the building displaying mementos of Mata Hari. Women in Espionage - A Biographical Dictionary, © 2023 by "This Just In". Mata Hari’s mugshot. [7][8][10] A few months later, she fled to her uncle's home in The Hague.[10]. [citation needed], In the summer of 1916, Maslov was shot down and badly wounded during a dogfight with the Germans, losing his sight in both eyes, which led Zelle to ask for permission to visit her wounded lover at the hospital where he was staying near the front. This development served as proof to the Second Bureau that the names of the six spies had been communicated by Mata Hari to the Germans. No one had heard an intruder but nevertheless there was one in the MacLeod home on June 27, 1899, in Medan, Sumatra. Why would anyone poison two children? Mata Hari was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, on August 7, 1876, as the first of four children. He was the son of Captain John Brienen MacLeod (a descendant of the Gesto branch of the MacLeods of Skye, hence his Scottish name) and Dina Louisa, Baroness Sweerts de Landas. Struggling to earn a living, she also posed as an artist's model. [19], Unaware that the Crown Prince did not have much to do with the running of Army Group Crown Prince or the 5th Army, the Deuxième Bureau offered Zelle one million francs if she could seduce him and provide France with good intelligence about German plans. [22], In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle's that it was patently obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari. For the fraction of a second it seemed she tottered there, on her knees, gazing directly at those who had taken her life. A non-commissioned officer then walked up to her body, pulled out his revolver, and shot her in the head to make sure she was dead. Her style and free-willed attitude made her a popular woman, as did her eagerness to perform in exotic and revealing clothing. Jul 29, 2020 - An original three-sheet movie poster (41" x 81") from 1970 for Children of Mata Hari. [40][41] Records dated from 1918 show that the museum also received the rest of the body, but none of the remains could later be accounted for. She entered the world as Margaretha Zelle on August 7, 1876 in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden. Born Margaretha (“Gretha” for short) Zelle on August 7, 1876, in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, as a child she had striking dark features — unusual among her Dutch peers — and was gregarious and bright. MacLeod was legally required to pay support, which he never did, making life very difficult for Zelle and her daughter. She wore a bodystocking for her performances that was similar in color to her own skin, but that was later omitted. [19] [19] In fact, his involvement was minimal and it was German government propaganda that promoted the image of the Crown Prince as a great warrior, the worthy successor to the august Hohenzollern monarchs who had made Prussia strong and powerful. John MacLeod, a Scotsman serving in the Dutch Colonial Army, played the roles of father, husband, and military officer. The ultimate exotic spy. 15-16. The source of the trouble always seemed to point to John MacLeod. [19], Mata Hari herself admitted under interrogation to taking money to work as a German spy. [7][8] Her father remarried in Amsterdam on 9 February 1893 to Susanna Catharina ten Hoove (1844–1913). Despite traditional assertions that Mata Hari was partly of Javanese, i.e. The Zelles were a well-to-do merchant-class family and Margaretha had a privileged childhood. Roles in the film were performed by legends of world cinema - Gérard Depardieu, Rutger Hauer, Christopher Lambert, and Russian stars - Maxim Matveev, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Viktoriya Isakova, Ksenia Rappoport, Alexander Petrov, Alexei Guskov, Anna Tsukanova-Kott and others. [24], In December 1916, the Second Bureau of the French War Ministry let Mata Hari obtain the names of six Belgian agents. Jeanne survived, but Norman died. The tragedy weighted heavily on an already strained marriage. Her relationships and liaisons with powerful men frequently took her across international borders. [26], Zelle's principal interrogator, who grilled her relentlessly, was Captain Pierre Bouchardon; he was later to prosecute her at trial. The divorce became final in 1906. 120-3, 190. Posted on May 9, 2011 by tinynoggin. On October 15, 1917, Mata Hari woke at dawn in a small corner of France. He relates the similar connection to Mata Hari but like most other writers believes that there was no relation between Mata Hari and Gertrude Banda, but says a woman named Banda did spy in Indonesia and was executed by the Chinese Communists, citing Howe, McCormick, and Ostrovsky as the basis for the Banda story. The Zelle family was fraught with issues. Her Roots Are Surprising. On August 10, 1919, she went to bed planning to take a ship the next day. The largest ever Mata Hari exhibition was opened in the Museum of Friesland on 14 October 2017, one hundred years after her death. Zelle admitted to Bouchardon that she had accepted 20,000 francs from a German diplomat in the Netherlands to spy on France, but insisted she only passed on to the Germans trivial information as her loyalty was entirely to her adopted nation, France. Mata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle (7 August 1876, Leeuwarden – 15 October 1917, Vincennes), a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy, although possibly innocent, who was executed by firing squad in France for espionage for Germany during World War I. She married Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod on July 11, 1895, at the age of 19 – her husband was 21 years older to her. The marriage enabled Zelle to move into the Dutch upper class and placed her finances on a sound footing. A full transcript of the interview is in Britain's National Archives and was broadcast, with Mata Hari played by Eleanor Bron, on the independent station LBC in 1980. "[28] Likewise, the British historian Julie Wheelwright stated: "She really did not pass on anything that you couldn’t find in the local newspapers in Spain. Tag Archives: Children of Mata Hari. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled breastplate and some ornaments upon her arms and head. When a friend asked Juana-Luisa what she thought of her mother, Juana-Luisa replied, "I can't talk about my mother the way I'd like to. In only a few weeks she created a new persona for herself that would become a European legend. To seek revenge on MacLeod it was believed the soldier poisoned the children. Her mother … Portrait of Mata Hari (public domain photo colorized by Olga Shirnina) Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876–1917) was born in in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, to Adam Zelle and his first wife Antje van der Meulen. As a Dutch subject, Zelle was thus able to cross national borders freely. She studied Indonesian traditions intensely for several months and joined a local dance company during that time. ", "Condemned spy Mata Hari glib during final interrogation: MI5 files", "New picture emerges of Mata Hari, who faced firing squad 100 years ago", "Sticklers, Sideburns and Bikinis: The military origins of everyday words and phrases", "5 historical figures whose heads have been stolen", "Geboortehuis Mata Hari als 'belevingscentrum' (Mata Hari's birthplace as information centre)", Multi-language (nl, fr, de, en) website on Mata Hari, Details of the disappearance of the corpse, "The Execution of Mata Hari, 1917," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2005), "Mata Hari," from History Magazine. Her father went bankrupt, her parents divorced, and her mother died all by the time Zelle wa… When their mother, Griet MacLeod, discovered the horror, a Dutch doctor was summoned but he could save the life only of Juana-Luisa - Norman, just two-and-a-half years old, was dead. The episode was written by Carrie Fisher, based on a story by George Lucas. [19] Maslov was part of the 50,000 strong Russian Expeditionary Force sent to the Western Front in the spring of 1916. Then, she dressed and was led outside to where a firing squad were waiting. Deacon reports that Banda never spoke of her mother, went to college and became a teacher, then went to the Dutch East Indies and passed on information she heard from the enemy Japanese to the Allies, fell in love with a Malaysian guerilla who was killed by "communists" before Banda met her fate with the Chinese communists, but Deacon points out there is no proof any of it happened. Margaretha Zelle's former husband was Captain Rudolf MacLeod. (Image source: WikiMedia Commons) “Eye of the Dawn” Entertainment of one kind or another was a mainstay of such affairs in those days, and so, one evening, murmuring in Malay and clothed in little more than half a dozen diaphanous silk veils, Zelle cavorted before an audience of dowagers and dilettantes in a riotously suggestive dance of her own invention. Joanna Bourke, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric, 'Mata Hari: Femmes Fatales' (2020), Waagenaar: Sie nannte sich Mata Hari, p. 258, EuroArts/Warner Classics 0880242616289 (DVD) 0880242616241 (Blu-ray), Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Mata Hari was a scapegoat, not a spy – biographer", "Why Mata Hari Wasn't a Cunning Spy After All", "Rare pictures of dancer and "spy" Mata Hari who was executed by firing squad", "The Dramatic Tale of Mata Hari Dancer, courtesan, scapegoat, spy? Mata Hari. Mata Hari - A Biography, Appleton Century, New York, 1965, pp. Newspaper announcing the death sentence of Mata Hari. At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod (1856–1928), who was living in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and was looking for a wife. While Griet realized her life with John MacLeod was over, she was desperate to find employment. Prior to World War I, she was generally viewed as an artist and a free-spirited bohemian, but as war approached, she began to be seen by some as a wanton and promiscuous woman, and perhaps a dangerous seductress. Despite traditional assertions that Mata Hari was partly of Javanese, i.e. In 2000, archivists discovered that it had disappeared, possibly as early as 1954, according to curator Roger Saban, during the museum's relocation. She posed as a Javanese princess of priestly Hindu birth, pretending to have been immersed in the art of sacred Indian dance since childhood. Richard Deacon details the story in his Spyclopedia under the title "Mata Hari's Daughter" citing authors Bernard Newman (whom Deacon calls a "highly conscientious source"), Singer, and Charles Franklin. However, by this time she had become a successful courtesan, known more for her sensuality and eroticism than for her beauty. Critics began to opine that the success and dazzling features of the popular Mata Hari were due to cheap exhibitionism and lacked artistic merit. Her life inspired a number of films, including: Mata Hari's life also inspired at least five stage musicals: In the 1992 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Indiana Jones has a romance with Mata Hari (portrayed by Domiziana Giordano) and gets involved in her espionage. With the passing of time her Mata Hari persona has assumed an elevated, almost mythical status as numerous films (such as Greta Garbo’s legendary 1931 portrayal), plays, and books have presented her as a mysterious and cunning femme fatale. In the end there seemed to be no effort on Juana-Luisa's part or her mother's to finally meet face to face. [27] The Canadian historian Wesley Wark stated in a 2014 interview that Mata Hari was never an important spy and just made a scapegoat for French military failures which she had nothing to do with, stating: "They needed a scapegoat and she was a notable target for scapegoating. Mata Hari was an immediate sensation, not least because her daringly sensual dancing involved throwing off the veils she was wearing, one by one, until she was naked but for a … He gave an account of this in his 1922 book Queer People, saying that she eventually admitted to working for the Deuxième Bureau. [6] She had three brothers. Here are 10 facts: 1. [8], Mata Hari's career went into decline after 1912. Zelle's father was a hat maker by trade, but having invested well in oil, he had enough money to spoil his only daughter. They had a total of 4 children. Free US shipping on orders of $25+ and low international shipping. There she was arrested and brought to London where she was interrogated at length by Sir Basil Thomson, assistant commissioner at New Scotland Yard in charge of counter-espionage. Zelle was awarded custody of Jeanne. Two weeks after Mata Hari had left Paris for a trip to Madrid, the double agent was executed by the Germans, while the five others continued their operations. Jeanne later died at the age of 21, also possibly from complications relating to syphilis. Shots were fired and she fell. Juana-Luisa, who had grown into a tall and beautiful young woman with an appearance that resembled her mother's, had graduated from teacher's college in The Hague and spent a year as a kindergarten teacher in Velp while she lived with her father in De Steeg and rode by streetcar to the school with her lunch stored in the Mata Hari biscuit tin. She was the only daughter of Adam Zelle and Antje van der Meulen. Mata refused a blindfold and stood unbound, staring directly at her executioners. Nonetheless, she bore him two children, and they returned as a family to his new posting in the colonies. [22], A 1934 New Yorker article reported that at her execution she wore "a neat Amazonian tailored suit, especially made for the occasion, and a pair of new white gloves",[37] though another account indicates she wore the same suit, low-cut blouse, and tricorn hat ensemble which had been picked out by her accusers for her to wear at trial, and which was still the only full, clean outfit which she had in prison. Margaretha Zelle was born 7 August 1876, in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. In the end there seemed to be no effort on Juana-Luisa's part or her mother's to finally meet face to face. [14], By 1904, Mata Hari began to win fame as an exotic dancer. [citation needed] Bouchardon used the very fact that Zelle was a woman as evidence of her guilt, saying: "Without scruples, accustomed to making use of men, she is the type of woman who is born to be a spy. Just a quick update today – a review or two to follow later this week. She defiantly blew a kiss to the firing squad. [19] The fact that the Crown Prince had, before 1914, never commanded a unit larger than a regiment, and was now supposedly commanding both an army and an army group at the same time should have been a clue that his role in German decision-making was mostly nominal. According to Singer, Banda develops … "[16] One journalist in Vienna wrote after seeing one of her performances that Mata Hari was "slender and tall with the flexible grace of a wild animal, and with blue-black hair" and that her face "makes a strange foreign impression. [1] Howe, Russell Warren. An original three-sheet movie poster (41" x 81") from 1970 for Children of Mata Hari. 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