biography
| name: |
Mata Hari
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(Malay ‘sun’), pseudonym of Margaretha Geertruide MacLeod, née Zelle
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pronunciation:
[mahta hahree]
| sex:
| female
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| lived:
| (1876–1917)
|
| biography:
| Dancer and spy, born in Leeuwarden, N Netherlands. In 1895 she married Campbell MacLeod, a British-born captain in the Dutch army, but the marriage broke up. Billing herself as a Javanese dancer, she began to perform erotic dances for private gatherings (1905), adopting the stage name of Mata Hari. In 1907 she joined the German secret service, and became the courtesan of men in high military and governmental positions (on both sides during the war). Found guilty of espionage for the Germans, she was shot by the French in Paris. Her name has become synonymous with the alluring female spy. |
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