>
She was a temptress who is said to have used her beauty during World War I to ensnare the secrets of top Allied officers.
Enlisted to spy for France, Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by firing squad at age 41 after MI5 helped collect evidence that she was acting as a double agent for Germany.
She was murdered in 1917 after being found guilty of allegedly disclosing details about the Allies’ new weapon – the tank – to Germany.
It is known that Hari had allied military officers of different nationalities among her lovers.
Her alleged leaks allegedly resulted in the deaths of thousands of soldiers, although in recent years doubts have been raised about the extent of her guilt.
It was revealed this week that a Ukrainian teenage girl had repeated Hari’s exploits by using a dating app to track down Russian troops and reveal where they were based.
She was so successful that a soldier told her how he fought to earn money for a luxury car and sent her photos of a boarding school used as a military base.
Enlisted to spy for France, Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari was executed by firing squad at the age of 41 after she was convicted of also acting as a double agent for Germany. Above: the dancer posing in 1911
Hari was killed in 1917 after being found guilty of revealing details about the Allies’ new weapon – the tank – to Germany. Above: the dancer posing in 1906
Hari was born in 1876 as Margaretha Geertruida Zelle into a prosperous Dutch family.
She took on the name by which she would be forever known when she took on acting and dancing roles after moving to France.
Before leaving the Netherlands, she endured a difficult marriage with the hard-drinking Dutch army captain Rudolf MacLeod.
The couple had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Norman, was killed when he and his sister were poisoned by their nanny. Their daughter, Non, survived.
Hari and her husband separated in 1902 and the dancer moved to Paris, but had to leave her daughter with her former husband.
Once in France, Hari began performing in private homes, and stories of her seductive moments and nudity soon began to spread throughout Parisian high society.
In May 1914 she signed a contract to dance in Berlin for six months.
It meant that when war broke out in August of that year, she was trapped in Germany.
She then charmed a Dutch businessman to pay for her train ticket to Amsterdam.
Hari was approached Karl Kroemer, the German consul, who told her that he was recruiting spies and gave her 20,000 francs.
While she took the money, she reportedly wouldn’t actually spy for him, according to US academic Pat Shipman’s 2007 book.
She was stopped by MI5 as she traveled to France via Britain to avoid the frontline in the war.
She was considered suspicious by the intelligence services, partly because she spoke French, English, Italian, Dutch and probably German.
Shipman explained, “The problem wasn’t what Mata Hari said, but who she was. She was a woman traveling alone, clearly wealthy and an excellent linguist – too educated, too foreign.
Hari was born in 1876 as Margaretha Geertruida Zelle into a prosperous Dutch family. Above: The dancer is seen wearing a feather hat in 1900
Hari took on the name by which she would be known forever when she took on acting and dancing roles after moving to France
Hari is seen in 1900 posing for a portrait wearing a white dress. The dancer became famous all over Europe
“Worse, she admitted to having a lover. Such women were immoral and untrustworthy.’
A British intelligence officer in the Netherlands then made rumors about payments to her from the German embassy.
He added: “She is suspected of going to France on an important mission that will benefit the Germans.”
Once back in Paris, Hari resumed her glamorous life and had flirted with men in uniform. She was unaware that she was being followed by two secret police officers.
Her letters were steamed open, doormen were questioned, and waitresses and hairdressers gathered evidence about her love life.
An undated photo of Dutch dancer and glamorous spy Mata Hari who was executed by France in 1917
Hari poses in a white dress in 1905. She was arrested and executed in 1917 for alleged espionage
Then the head of French intelligence, Captain Georges Ladoux, forced her to promise to serve as a spy for France in exchange for allowing her to visit her Russian lover in the town of Vittel, which was in an area that was ravaged by fighting.
But Ladoux and Britain were still convinced she was a German spy.
After spending time with her lover in Vittel, she returned to Paris and was sent on a mission to German-occupied Belgium.
When Belgium proved impossible to reach, she went to Spain and turned her charms on a German intelligence officer.
After he told her secrets about German maneuvers in North Africa, she passed the information on to Ladoux.
But Ladoux used her encounters with Kalle to claim that she was passing on French secrets to the enemy.
It was revealed this week that a Ukrainian teenage girl had repeated Hari’s exploits by using a dating app to track down Russian troops and reveal where they were based. Above: The men targeted by the girl named Lisa
She was arrested, tried and found guilty of revealing information about the British construction of the then revolutionary tank.
Hari was sentenced to death by firing squad.
On the day she was shot, she donned black stockings, high heels and a velvet fur-lined cloak before declaring, “I’m ready.”
She was taken to an old fortress on the outskirts of Paris and was confronted by a firing squad made up of 12 French officers.
Hari is said to have declined the offer of a blindfold and stated: ‘Do I have to wear that?’