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Mata Hari is a name that has for more than 100 years captured the public’s imagination. The woman behind the persona acquired her fame as an exotic dancer and courtesan living in Paris during the French Belle Époque.

Meaning “eye of dawn” in Javanese, Mata Hari would have had you believe that she was a Hindu princess born of a union between a Dutch adventurer and a Javanese temple dancer. As the story goes, she blossomed into a beautiful young lady and learned the sensuous and sacred temple dances from her mother. It was then her gift to bring these lithe routines to the Western world where she entertained, enthralled and seduced.

Yet, the character of Mata Hari was just that - an invention. According to biographer Pat Shipman, Mata Hari (real name Margaretha Zelle MacLeod) loved men, but she did not love the truth. Ultimately, the myth that she had created was turned against her as she faced a French firing squad. Convicted of being the most lethal and dangerous spy of World War 1 it was said that she was responsible for the death of 50,000 French soldiers.

Not surprisingly, the true story of Mata Hari, in so far as it can be ascertained, is far different from what both she and the French political elite of her day would have you believe.

This is the legend and the truth about Mata Hari, the naked spy.

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Primary sources (afiiliate links):

📕 Femme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata HariFemme Fatale: Love, Lies, and the Unknown Life of Mata Hari, Pat Shipman - https://amzn.to/3ThNjkS

📕 Mata Hari: The biography of an Exotic Dutch Courtesan and World War I spy, United Library - https://amzn.to/4a9Aujg

📕 The Fatal Lover, Julie Wheelwright - https://amzn.to/3vctIKR

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