Mata Hari: Good Spies Don’T Get Famous by Michael A

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Mata Hari: Good Spies Don’T Get Famous by Michael A Mata Hari: Good Spies Don’t Get Famous By Michael A. Stusser The Cheat Sheet is designed to give readers a After a nasty marriage to a Dutch mil- cult to tell if she was a double agent for quick overview of sophisticated topics, making itary officer, ending when both of her the French, a German lackey or just a Conversation Starters: you look smart without all that annoying, stu- • Mata Hari’s prosecutor, Andre dious effort. Use it as a conversation starter—all children were poisoned (perhaps from divorcee with an overactive imagina- a badly-treated servant), Margaretha Mornet, said in an interview 40 years you gotta do is keep a straight face. “Go get ‘em, tion. One thing’s for sure: Her courte- after her death: “There wasn’t enough Einstein!” dumped the chump and moved from san work didn’t pay the bills. Despite a (evidence) to whip a cat.” Java to gay Paris. Hoping for a new slew of wealthy patrons, Mata Hari Mata Hari: The name’s synonymous • Mata Hari met her husband through a with sexy femme fatales, but she was a life, she reinvented herself as exotic was coming up short each month, so to dancer Mata Hari in 1905 (kinda like personal ad in the newspaper (just terrible spy. Maybe if she’d been a bet- make ends meet, she made deals to think if there’d been online dating ter dancer…. when Prince became the Artist deliver information for cash. Formerly Known As Prince). back then…) • She never removed a cotton garment Namedropping: Margaretha quickly emerged as the EXTRA CREDIT: Madonna of her time—a talented, covering her chest—even with Hari, Mata (1876-1917) Not to be outdone by French or “clients”; a tattoo, perhaps? No, aka Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, world-famous dancer who could really German intelligence, the British gov- move her hips. according to her doctor, she was just nee Zelle ernment arrested Mata Hari, claiming shy about her small breasts. (pron. maw-ta har-ee) she was actually a spy named Clara • The French confiscated an unusual Benedix. They had to let her go not ointment from her apartment and The Basics: mental_floss presents: long after though, due to a complete tried to prove it was disappearing ink. Working under the guise of an exotic lack of evidence - a setback that didn’t The truth? Lab results confirmed it dancer, legend has it that Mata Hari stop the French from having her exe- was birth control. (her stage name, Malayan for “eye of cuted. • Mati Hari, like Elvis, had a reputation dawn”) joined the German secret serv- for turning up years after her death. In ice in 1907. She acquired military Legend has it that Mata Hari stopped reality, she was dissected at the secrets from Allied French officers by the firing squad in their tracks by University of Paris Med School. seducing them and betraying their unbuttoning her dress at “Aim!” In (Thankyouverymuch.) secrets to the Germans. (Talk about pil- actuality, she died bravely but was • Sometimes called the “second-oldest low talk.) Never fully trusting her, the the cocktail party cheat sheet never properly buried; no one had the profession” (Mata Hari practiced Germans eventually sold her out to guts to claim her body. both), spying has been going on since France where she was executed in Biblical times. 1917. In the years following Mata Hari’s • Speaking of heating up the oven, death, the dancer/courtesan/spy believe it or not Julia Childs had a Margaretha grew up in the In her late thirties, the dancing gave became a legend—“the world’s great- turn in the service. Prior to slicing Netherlands. Growing to a height of way to hooking, and Mata Hari slept est woman spy.” Greta Garbo, Marlene and dicing, Childs had a turn in the 5’10” she had long, thick black hair, with more than a few German military Dietrich, Sylvia Kristel and Jeanne OSS during World War II. olive skin, exotic looks, grace and officers. Lo and behold, it led to a mil- Moreau all portrayed her on screen. • Can’t get enough spy stories? Visit style. Imagine a Dutch Salma Hayek itary job. The facts about her espionage Secret agent or not, she makes for a The International Spy Museum in and you’ll get the picture. activities are a bit hazy, and it’s diffi- great story. Washington, D.C..
Recommended publications
  • Alice Pike Barney Papers and Related Material, Circa 1889-1995
    Alice Pike Barney Papers and Related Material, circa 1889-1995 Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives Washington, D.C. Contact us at [email protected] Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Historical Note.................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction....................................................................................................................... 2 Descriptive Entry.............................................................................................................. 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 3 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 5 Series 1: ALICE PIKE BARNEY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION............... 5 Series 2: THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS: SCRIPTS............................................... 6 Series 3: THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS: SELECTED SCENES AND ROLES.................................................................................................................... 11 Series 4: NON-THEATRICAL, LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS.................................. 12 Series 5: MUSICAL
    [Show full text]
  • The Chico Historian
    “I know of no time in human history where ignorance was better than knowledge.” -Neil deGrasse Tyson Cover Art & Design Illustration of Trinity Hall, 2018. Constructed in 1933, today it is the home of the CSU, Chico History Department. (Used with permission: “Trinity Hall,” Ricardo Vega, 2018). History Department California State University, Chico 400 West First Street Trinity Hall Room 223 Chico, California, 95929-0735 (530) 898-5366 The Chico Historian is an annual publication of the Alpha Delta Omicron Chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society and the California State University, Chico (CSUC) Department of History. It aims to provide students the opportunity to publish historical works, and to train editorial staff members in producing an academic journal. Issues are published at the end of each academic year. All opinions or statements of fact are the sole responsibility of the authors and may not reflect the views of the editorial staff. The authors retain rights to individual essays. Phi Alpha Theta’s mission is to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. The organization seeks to bring students, teachers, and writers of history together for intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical research and publication by our members in a variety of ways. Copyright © 2019 Alpha Delta Omicron, California State University, Chico. We dedicate this volume to John Boyle Retired CSUC professor of Asian history John Boyle, a scholar in the area of pre- and post-war Japan, taught courses in east Asian history at Chico State from 1968 until his retirement in 1997.
    [Show full text]
  • HUMANIORA BOOK REVIEW the Spy Author: Paulo Coelho Publisher
    HUMANIORA VOLUME 30 Number 2 June 2018 Page 215–218 BOOK REVIEW The Spy Author: Paulo Coelho Publisher: Penguin Random House LLC. Year of Publication: © 2016 ISBN 978-1524732073 Benedicta Neysa Nathania Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia Email: [email protected] There remains a burning question surrounding the In just a year after he spawned his tour de force, life of Margaretha Zelle: was she a double-agent spy, The Alchemist, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, one of or was she a mere victim of injustice? Through his the most celebrated authors of this era - also known latest published novel The Spy, Coelho spun out a for Brida, Aleph, and The Fifth Mountain – introduced biographical fiction based on the tale of the life of us to the life of Mata Hari, a look into her life seen Margaretha Zelle, therefore known by her self-chosen mostly from the Mata Hari’s own point-of-view. nom de guerre Mata Hari, told through the eyes of On the surface, we can see its representative Mata Hari herself as she awaits her fate behind prison cover page, presenting what Monsieur Clunet, Mata bars in Vincennes, France. Hari’s lawyer, claimed as Mata Hari’s most memorable Zelle, or Mata Hari, was a Dutch courtesan, picture. The picture – a legacy from her prime years famed dancer, and alleged emissary during the as a dancer – that of her donned in costume and snake tumultuous period of World War II. Born into a headdress, draws our attention straight away to its financially-sounding Dutch family in Leeuwarden, titular character – the ultimate focal point of this novel as Coelho noted, money was never a problem for her – who is none other than Mata Hari herself.
    [Show full text]
  • Salons by Robin Imhof
    Salons by Robin Imhof Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. Entry Copyright © 2002, glbtq, Inc. Mabel Dodge Luhan Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com (above) established a colorful salon in her Fifth Avenue Apartment in No one has disputed the significant contribution of women in the cultural history of New York City. salons, but what is often overlooked in mainstream publications on the topic is that Photograph by Carl van many of these salon hostesses and attendees were lesbian, bisexual, or gay. Vechten, April 12, 1934. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Parisian Salons Division. The tradition of literary gatherings began in Renaissance France and Italy, but it was in eighteenth-century Paris that the salon gained prominence for lively intellectual conversation in the fields of arts and letters. The hostesses of these events were typically women of some distinction, whether by title or personal wealth. The meetings were often referred to by the day of the week on which they were held. Topics of conversation ranged from (but were not limited to) matters of literary and social taste and, increasingly, political issues. Salon conversation was characterized by a blend of wit and oral brilliance. A notable salon hostess of eighteenth-century Paris was Madeleine de Scudéry. Famous for her "Saturdays of Sappho," she recreated salon society in her novels. What is striking about these assemblies is that they were presided over by women, a rare example of female control in a literary realm. During the nineteenth century, Paris salons became showcases for musicians such as Chopin and Liszt.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Saint-Lazare's Most Famous Prisoner: Mata Hari by Rev. Edward R
    Saint-Lazare’s most famous prisoner: Mata Hari By Rev. Edward R. Udovic, C.M., Ph.D. In its long history as a women’s prison, Saint-Lazare had no more famous inmate than the ill-fated Mata Hari. Executed by the French as a German spy in 1917, the dancer and courtesan remains an exotic and mythical figure in the history of modern espionage. Born in the Netherlands in 1876, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle married Rudolf John MacLeod in 1895. MacLeod was a Dutch army officer twice her age. The couple moved to the Dutch East Indies where MacLeod was stationed as a member of the colonial army. While in Indonesia, Margaretha adopted the stage name and persona of “Mata Hari.” She also studied local dance traditions. The couple had two children, returned to the Netherlands in 1902, and divorced soon after. Margaretha moved to Paris in 1903 where she eventually gained fame as an exotic orientalist performer in the city’s vibrant dance scene. Risqué semi-nude postcards were part- and-parcel of her carefully cultivated public image. She had a long string of prominent lovers, and a well-deserved continental reputation for a Bohemian lifestyle. During the war, as a citizen of a neutral country (the Netherlands), Mata Hari moved freely between the combatant countries. She conducted high-profile affairs with high ranking military officers, government officials, and diplomats on both sides of the conflict. In late 1916, French military intelligence intercepted German messages that identified a spy whose code name was “H 21.” British intelligence suggested that Mata Hari be considered a 1 prime suspect.1 On the morning of February 13, 1917, a surprised Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Plaza Hotel Athénée in Paris.
    [Show full text]
  • Life Story of Mata Hari
    68TH YEAR RICHMOND, VA., SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20,1918. l'RICE, SEVEN CENTS subject of coiivcr.su t ion ,turncic! in .! Kit tachcd to all foreign military, naval and women would be tried. In case one a crrave tone that at last he ha<l an v uip.omatio departments. fulled another. still another would be possible. I dressed up for the even- Willi These arc all essential jto .isslgnment for mo. which, if exceiitcn ing. and rchearued my pah as to how your per¬ tried until the victim was safely successfully, would invaluaoio to receive him forming the many missions with which bruught Into tho house. Then 11 was bring and how to engage him Mata Hari you will hooii he Intrusted. information t<> the Fatherland ami Ko Ih:tt he wo;iM not ho in haste to Life for Ottille to dca.1 with the Story of subject, un<l "Your studies will would amply repay Germany for the <¦.itcii iii<! earlier train for at'Er?3v.assi beam she knew every trick of international 40.000 marks she had l'aris. Germany's Greatest Woman or perhaps the day after. In to-moirow|the mean- espionage. already spent on True to his word, sharp ;it 0 In tho Spy time, .1 have a very important Sho look me. evening Captain l.vov Molikof present- engage- great pride In telling mc "And how many foreign agents must '¦>1 hiin.-'If at 1 w^ts ment for you tu exhibit your dances about bur many osp mane adventures 1 >orothoenntrasso.
    [Show full text]
  • Mata Hari's Dance in the Context of Femininity and Exoticism
    58 GÊNERO E RELIGIÃO NAS ARTES Mata Hari’s Dance in the Hari! Dancing barefoot is a thing of the past, the modern-day female artist is more revealing ...” Context of Femininity (anon. 1906: 9). As such contemporary reviews and Exoticism show, Mata Hari’s dances – many of which she performed in states of undress – were all the rage during the decade of her artistic career. When Mata Alexandra Kolb* Hari, née Margaretha Geertruida Zelle,1 entered the theatrical profession in 1905, she was already a ABSTRACT scarred woman – separated and estranged from her The Dutch dancer Mata Hari (alias husband, a Dutch officer, grieving the mysterious Margaretha Geertruida Zelle) has achieved an death of her young son and eking out a hand-to- th iconic status within 20 -century dance history, mouth existence because her husband failed to pay partly due to her execution as a German spy her alimony. Her stage career and abandonment of in 1917. Although she lacked significant her former bourgeois lifestyle was thus born out of dance training, she successfully performed her necessity rather than any real artistic inclination or works, primarily in eclectic oriental styles, indeed professional training. before European audiences. My discussion While Mata Hari’s excessive private lifestyle considers Mata Hari’s contributions against and scandalous execution as a German spy in the backdrop of the pre-WWI European dance France in 1917 have been very well-documented, scene. It specifically explores the ideological hardly any research has been invested in and aesthetic framework within which she contextualising her dance within the framework of was embedded as a female artist in the con- early 20th-century developments.
    [Show full text]
  • Heroes Or Villians
    LET'S LET'S TALK PAID TALK ABOUT IT! ABOUT IT! is U.S. Postage Permit No. 14 Nonprofit Org. Nonprofit Org. made IN Middlebury, Fall 2019 possible by: Fall 2019 - Friends of the Library Spies - Library Staff - Board of Trustees: Mary Hesser Heroes Jackie Landaw Barbara Lynch Carolyn Manley or Villians Megan Miller Don Shuler Kristopher Schlabach ◆ Middlebury Community Public Library Since 1987, the Middlebury Community Public Library has been hosting y y it one of the longest running r a un “Let’s Talk About It” r m b series in Indiana. i om L C y r This reading, lecture, and c li ebu book discussion program l dd is designed Fall 2019 Mi Pub for all who enjoy ABOUT IT! LET'S TALK enriching their lives Middlebury Community through literature. Public L i b r a r y 101 East Winslow P.O. Box 192 • Middlebury, IN 46540 574-825-5601 • www.mdy.lib.in.us Return Service Requested Middlebury, IN 46540 The Spy Who Came In Lecturer Monday, September 9 ~ 7:00 p.m. From the Cold Jonathan Nashel Professor of History LET'S by John Le Carré Indiana University South Bend New York Times Bestseller TALK ABOUT IT! In this spy novel classic, Alec Leamas is the head of British Intelligence in West Germany and oversees the spy missions in East Berlin. When his last agent is killed crossing the border into Fall 2019 Second Mondays West Berlin, Leamas returns to London to explain the situation to his boss, Control. Leamas expects to be fired but instead Control gives him a new and complicated mission to bring down the head of or Tuesdays this fall East German intelligence.
    [Show full text]
  • Mata Hari and "Madeleine" Noor
    History/Herstory: Mata Hari and "Madeleine" Noor Nilakshi Roy Associate Professor, Department of English Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai Preeta Nilesh Associate Professor, Department of History Vaze College, Mulund, Mumbai Abstract: New Historicism approaches history in a way that is more holistic than Old Historicism, but it tries to flatten out the differences in identity negotiation by its constant allusions to power politics. Feminists argue that power is not the only monolithic determinant in assessing history: gender can be studied with respect to identity, its intersection with other parameters and resistance. This paper interrogates how a historical subject is configured in history, especially if she is a woman. It takes up the points of view of feminist critics of New Historicism and investigates the history-literature interface of the lives of two women, Mata Hari and Noor Inayat Khan, perhaps spies involved in the two World Wars. In April 10, 2014 Britain released information on Mata Hari who was tried for causing the deaths of 50,000 soldiers, arrested and executed in 1917 in Paris. British official history of the Second World War informs us that Noor Inayat Khan was a wartime British secret agent code-named Madeleine, the first female operator sent to Nazi-occupied France by the Special Operations Executive (SOE), captured, tortured and executed. The paper examines the idea of embodiment; questions of identity formation of women as subjects in the masculine project of war itself are discussed, and pertinent questions of race are raised as well. It also interrogates whether historical accounts and fictional works offer different ways of understanding historical figures, like Mata Hari and Madeleine or Noor Inayat Khan.
    [Show full text]
  • Rebellion in Mata Hari the Spy (2016) by Paulho Coelho: a Feminist Analysis
    REBELLION IN MATA HARI THE SPY (2016) BY PAULHO COELHO: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS Submitted as a Partial Fulfilment of Requirements for Getting Bachelor Degree of Education in English Department by: Dera Ardhiana A320140023 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION SCHOOL OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION UNIVERSITAS MUHAMMADIYAH SURAKARTA 2018 i ii PRONOUNCEMENT Here with, I truthfully testify that there is no plagiarism of literary work in this publication article and this publication article. I submitted is really a work of mine, expect the written references which is mentioned in the references. Later, if it is proved that there is any plagiarism in this publication article, I will be fully responsible. Surakarta, 04 May 2018 Dera Ardhiana A320140023 iii REBELLION IN MATA HARI THE SPY (2016) BY PAULHO COELHO: A FEMINIST ANALYSIS ABSTRAK Penelitian ini menceritakan tentang seseorang yang bernama margaretha Zelle yang berperan sebagai mata-mata negara jerman dan memiliki nama rahasia H21 dan mempunyai nama panggung yaitu Mata Hari. Penelitian ini mendeskripsikan tentang bagaimana Paulo Coelho menggambarkan terjadinya pemberontakan didalam novel The Spy. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana terjadinya pemberontakan serta alasan penulis menggambarkan pemberontakan didalam novel ini. Penulis ini bersifat kualitatif dengan menggunakan metode deskriptif. Penelitian ini di analisis menggunakan teori Feminist. Analisis tersebut digunakan untuk mendeskripsikan dan menggambarkan terjadinya pemberontakan di dalam novel ini. Penelitian ini memiliki beberapa kesimpulan. Pertama, ada beberapa alasan terjadinya pemberontakan di novel the Spy dan yang kedua ada Prinsip Feminist yang terdiri dari empat bagian yaitu Kedudukan Wanita, Peran Wanita, Hak-hak wanita dan Partispasi wanita. Kata Kunci: Pemberontakan, Prinsip, feminis ABSTRACT This research describe about a person named Margaret Zelle who acts as a spy for the German state and has the secret name of H21 and has a stage name that is Mata Hari.
    [Show full text]
  • View Their Women Agents, As Well As How The
    Florida State University Libraries 2017 Setting Hollywood Ablaze: Remembering and Depicting Women Spies in Popular Media Haley McGuyre Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] McGuyre THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES SETTING HOLLYWOOD ABLAZE: REMEMBERING AND DEPICTING WOMEN SPIES IN POPULAR MEDIA By HALEY McGUYRE A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation with Honors in the Major Degree Awarded: Spring, 2017 McGuyre The members of the Defense Committee approve the thesis of Haley McGuyre defended on April 24, 2017. Dr. G. Kun Piehler Thesis Director dec Outside Committee Member Dr. Charles Upchurch Committee Member McGuyre Acknowledgements This project began with a small idea brought hesitantly to several professors, all of whom very enthusiastically took me on. My research plans were early in their formation, and changed shape during the first few months of the process. My committee gave guidance and offered support in a variety of different ways. When this thesis was pushed a semester longer, they were very cooperative and understanding, as they were during the entire process. For all of this and more, I must first thank Dr. Kurt Piehler, Dr. Whitney Bendeck, and Dr. Charles Upchurch. I gained a fair amount of guidance through their research alone, and their personal advice provided the rest needed to finish this project. They gave me plenty of space to work at my own pace and their patience followed through, for which I am especially grateful. I also need to thank the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program for giving me the experience and confidence to take on an Honors Thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Djuna Barnes and Experimental Narration
    The Woman's College of The University of North Carolina LIBRARY CQ ho. SkX COLLEGE COLLECTION Gift of David Walker Mallison - ABSTRACT MALLISON, DAVID WALKER. Djuna Barnes and Experimental Narration* A Study of Character-narration in the Poetry, Fiction, and Drama of Djuna Barnes With a Detailed Analysis of Its Use in Her Novel, Nlghtwood. (1968) Directed by: Dr. Robert 0. Stephens. Djuna Barnes is a writer who is unknown to a great number of readers. With the exception of her novel, Nlghtwood. most of her books are out of print and difficult to obtain. Nightwood remains her most mature work, yet its excellence has been ignored by scholars and critics of American literature. Djuna Barnes* life is also relatively obscure, especially during that time in the 1920*s when she was an expatriate in Paris. That there is a need for com- mentaries about her life and her writings is the supposition upon which this thesis was written. Chapter One deals with a presentation of women's salons in Paris in the 1920's, particularly the salon of Natalie Clifford Barney, a close friend of Djuna Barnes. Much of the information included within this discussion was obtained from the published memoirs and autobiographies of those who attended Natalie Barney's events. A survey of Djuna Barnes* poetry, prose, and drama follows; the themes of night, the dual nature of women, and lament are pointed out. In Chapter Two Nlghtwood is examined. The novel is seen to be unlike traditional modes of temporal narration; instead of consecutive sequences of action, its images, symbols, and themes are viewed spatially as they refer back and forth to each other while the novel is read.
    [Show full text]