Images and a Fragment of Footage of Mata Hari

Dutch-born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876-1917) lived for several years in Malaysia with her husband and came to Paris in 1905 to find fame as a performer of exotic Asian-inspired dances, using the music for example of the traditional East Javanese ‘Gandrung’.

She toured all over Europe, claiming she was born in a sacred Indian temple and taught ancient dances by a priestess who gave her the name Mata Hari, meaning ‘eye of the day’ in Malay. Regardless of her authenticity, she packed dance halls and opera houses from Russia to France, mostly because her show consisted of her slowly stripping nude.

She became a famous courtesan, and, with the outbreak of World War, her catalog of lovers began to include high-ranking military officers of various nationalities.

In February 1917, French authorities arrested her for espionage and imprisoned her at St. Lazare Prison in Paris. In a military trial conducted in July, she was accused of revealing details of the Allies’ new weapon, the tank, resulting in the deaths of thousands of soldiers. She was convicted and sentenced to death, and on October 15 she refused a blindfold and was shot to death by a firing squad at Vincennes.

There is some evidence that Mata Hari acted as a German spy, and for a time as a double agent for the French, but the Germans had written her off as an ineffective agent whose pillow talk had produced little intelligence of value. Her military trial was riddled with bias and circumstantial evidence, and it is probable that French authorities trumped her up as ‘the greatest woman spy of the century’ as a distraction for the huge losses the French army was suffering on the western front. Her only real crimes may have been an elaborate stage fallacy and a weakness for men in uniform.

Whatever the fictions and fantasies of the life of Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, the legend of Mata Hari fascinates today with its potent combination of oriental eroticism and wartime espionage.

I have used the music of the ‘Gandrung’ as the sound track to the images of this video.

Enjoy!

[simonac.]

in 1913, while working for Pathé, French film director Albert Capellani did film Mata Hari dancing a Hindu dance, according to Christine Leteux, in her book Albert Capellani, Pioneer of the Silent Screen (2015). The film, though, seems lost.

[SamanthaRAli]

She had a gorgeous figure an was beautiful...

[MarleneXtreme]

Cool Images, and Footage !She was quite a character in those days ! ;-))Thanks for sharing, Alex !Have a Happy Week ! :-))Warm Greetings !Irene.

[asthapurohit]

She was decent before getting married. Her husband tortured her so with passing time she changed and then one thing led to another.

[simaraft]

Maybe her allure was the allure of guts. Sounds like she was not governed by fear. Most impressive!

[simonac.]

But the clip is not at all Mata Hari, but really Mademoiselle Luce Saphir of the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The clip originally comes from a short fashion film by Gaumont dating from 1916:  La mode à Paris. Mademoiselle Luce Saphir, artiste au Theatre du Palais Royal

[IanClements-lm]

No wonder men found her captivating. She was quite wild for those days and very beautiful.
It’s sad she had such a tragic ending

[InisialZar]

hi John, I corrected a little. Mata Hari doesn't live in Malaysia, but in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). A few years left in East Java, a province in Indonesia. Mata Hari is the wife of a captain Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indische Leger (KNIL). After that, she's went to Paris ...

Sorry my English is bad. Thank you

[simonac.]

Mata Hari also appeared in a silent movie but that movie is lost

[CynFil]

Mata Hari(firing squad) the third known woman in French history who was executed. The first woman was Joan of Arc(burn at the stake) and the second woman was Marie Antoinette(beheaded by the guillotine).

[JohnRaymondHall]

@Lotte Ute Schmitt wirklich eine große Schönheit. Ja, es war ein großer Verlust, dass sie 1917 erschossen wurde – ich frage mich, wie ihr Leben gewesen wäre, wenn sie ein langes Leben geführt hätte. Und so schade, dass es nicht mehr als dieses winzige Filmfragment von ihr gibt.

[zibaa]

this is the most dutch woman i have ever seen

[thetakongpancake]

0:14 - Two Pillars One Black One White

[JohnRaymondHall]

Lotte Ute Schmitt - ja, eine große schönheit und eine große heldin - ich bewundere sie sehr

[anonymouse]

Java is Indonesian wdym she is on Malaysia? Correct it bro

[thewhiterunt]

No wonder they thought her Indian, she certainly has a Gujarati nose

[jsollien]

Gemma Arterton will play Mata Hari in the upcoming movie The King's man.

[lekkerplantje]

We got original photo of mata hari about 25 by 40 centimetres. With original stamp of the photographer. Right corner on the bottom

[odexche]

Intro musik di awal, mirip instrumen Bali (Indonesia?

[amyknorr]

MARGARET G. ZELLE AKA MATA HARI, CREATED, FOUNDED AND ESTABLISHED COLUMBIA RECORDS AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. SHE HELPED PLAN THE CITY OF HOLLYWOOD AND LATER FOUNDED COLUMBIA PICTURES. SHE LIVED UNTIL 1924.