Today’s date in 1917, dancer, courtesan and alleged spy Mata Hari is executed for espionage by a French firing squad at Vincennes outside of Paris.
History.com
[. . .] It was in the City of Lights that Margaretha Zelle reinvented herself as an artist. Drawing on her experiences in the Dutch East Indies, she developed a “Hindu” dance act and began performing under the name “Lady Gresha MacLeod.” As part of each routine, she would cast off a series of colorful robes and veils until she was left nearly nude. “I never could dance well,” she later admitted. “People came to see me because I was the first who dared to show myself naked to the public.” To add to her mystique, Margaretha adopted the stage name “Mata Hari,” a Malay phrase meaning “eye of the day.”
She was a courtesan to famous men, one of the ways she supported herself. These included officers in a variety of country’s armies. This eventually got her into trouble in WWI, and a French policeman decided to nail her for espionage. Was she guilty? I think the evidence was thin, but you can decide for yourself. Nevertheless, she was convicted and executed.
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