Mata Hari

Mata Hari was born in Leeuwarden, Holland in 1876. She was a Dutch dancer and a spy in German service during WWI. Her real name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. She was born to a Dutch shopkeeper, Adam Zelle, and his Javanese wife, Ante van der Meulen. She was forced to leave the school for teachers that she was attending, having sex with the headmaster. At age 18, she got married to a Dutch naval officer who was twenty years older than her. Together, they moved to the Dutch East Indies and had two kids, Norman John and Juana Louise, but obtained a divorce in 1906. She went to Paris where…