A woman without limits - Mata Hari

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There are many women who with their actions, thoughts and cunning have managed to change the course of history, to such an extent that today they continue to be investigated, admired and respected despite the years that have passed since their birth. This is the case of our protagonist, a woman who with her intelligence managed to captivate a whole country, and unwittingly became a spy. Meet the story of the sensual, the one and only, Mata Hari. We suppose you are wondering:

Who is Mata Hari?

On August 7, 1876, a young girl named Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Holland, she was the eldest of four siblings, her family had few resources, her life was not at all pleasant since she was very young, she lived the consequences of her parents' divorce, some time later her mother died of an unknown disease. This led her to live with a godfather, because her father had remarried. As the years passed Margaretha developed a physique that attracted the attention of many men and she understood this. When she turned 16, she was placed in an educational center, and it was there where something began that would change her life forever.

She understood that her beauty gave her a power over any man, and that is how she began to take advantage of it, she became the lover of the Director of the study center where she was studying, something that cost her reputation and studies in that place, because she was expelled and the director was fired. This only managed to increase her ambitions, three years later she decided to change her life completely, she wanted to escape from the conservative and boring life of the Dutch society, her "luck" changed, when she read an advertisement, where a military man of Captain rank called Rudolf MacLeod, the most curious thing is that this man was twenty years older than her. So she agreed to MacLeod's request, and they had several dates, and at the end of the last one, she decided to marry the Captain. This military man was stationed on the Island of Java (present-day Indonesia), where Margaretha began a new life.

This marriage had two children, named: Norman and Louise Jeanne, although unfortunately the child Norman, died of unknown causes, some allege that it was due to syphilis, as the father was promiscuous and was constantly drunk. The truth is that the true cause of death of the little boy was never known. The days, months and years went by and Margaretha felt worse than when she was in Holland, due to the lack of attention she received from her husband, so she decided to take refuge in Balinese Folkloric dances and Oriental Sexual Arts. This earned her a new name Mata Hari.

In 1902 she decided to return to Holland, achieving with this divorce from Captain Rudolf, and trying to obtain full custody of her daughter Louise Jeanne, something that was impossible, because MacLeod did everything possible so that she would never see the girl again. Unfortunately Mata Hari fell into poverty and realized that her future was not in Holland, following in her footsteps as a teenager, again she decided to change her life this time in a successful way and set out on a trip to France, exactly Paris, where she intended to try her luck as a model or actress, something that unfortunately did not succeed. But she did not let this stop her from trying her luck, something played in her favor, and it was her oriental features, her face, her long black hair, as inherited from her mother, thanks to this she pretended to be a Java Princess, called Mata Hari, which meant (Eye of the day).

On March 13, 1905, she began to debut in one of the most famous places in Paris, the Guimet Museum, many experts agree that her acts were the first samples of what was a striptease show, quite erotic and sexual. Thanks to this, her fame was in a real increase, she revolutionized the city of love, so much so that she appeared in the artistic world of Paris, Belle Époque. Her little clothes on stage, her little prudence when dancing, and her sensuality made her popularity increase, to such an extent that she had several lovers, from politicians to stockbrokers and military, however time does not forgive, and her fame began to fall flatly, and the gray hair began to appear, many super younger and beautiful girls began to imitate her to the point of stealing the attention that she had harvested.But something happened that changed the world, the First World War began, and this led her to get a contract to dance in Metropol of Berlin.

Holland remained neutral in this armed conflict, and thanks to that Mata Hari managed to cross the borders, and use her Dutch citizenship to enter Germany, however to reach that country, she had to cross border by border, she traveled through Spain and Great Britain in this trip she met a Russian pilot, Vadim Maslov, with whom she had an arduous romance, as she was classified as a citizen of a neutral nation, she could move freely, however this did not allow her to be in the battle front, to be, she needed a special permit to visit her lover Maslov, when she requested it she was received by the Office of Deuxième - the Intelligence Service of the French Army. And the condition for giving her that permission was that she agreed to spy for France, so she accepted that condition.

In the following three years, Margaretha spied for France, but also for Germany, and she did not realize the trouble she was in, spying for two enemy nations, sleeping with soldiers from both sides, so in 1917, the Germans decided to sell her to the French, and Major Kalle transmits a message to Berlin where they describe a spy of code name H-2, coincidentally said her characteristics coincide with those of Mata Hari, the most curious thing is that the Germans knew that the French had intervened this channel of communication, that is why many believe that this was a revenge against Margaretha. General Walter Nicolai, who had the position of Chief of Intelligence of the German army, was the one in charge of selling her because he considered that Mata Hari only took advantage of Germany, and shared gossip from Paris but not real and concise information.

On February 13, 1917, it happened what many supposed, Mata Hari was arrested in the city of Paris, accused of espionage, her trial was quite irregular, the evidence presented was not concise and the sentence was direct, she was condemned to death, and that made her say a few brief words: "I love the military. I have always loved them and I would rather be the mistress of a poor officer than of a rich banker". Dressed in a black dress, well made up and wearing a big hat, she was shot at the age of 41 years old Mata Hari in a town near Paris called Vincennes. Her modus operandi was simple, she coaxed her lovers and extracted strategic military information about the enemies of each side. Today her death remains a mystery, because someone betrayed her, and it is not known who it was.