The Mata Hari affair: Courtesan, spy, legend

Mata Hari was already a legend in her own lifetime. When she stepped into the Parisian limelight in 1905, she swept high society off its feet.

"She danced with veils and jewel-encrusted bustiers and almost nothing else," the Parisian press reported. "Never had anyone dared to appear unveiled before the gods with such trembling ecstasy. And what wonderful movements she made — both daring and demure at the same time."

Mata Hari had convinced audiences and the press that she was an exotic temple dancer — but the dark-haired performer was actually Dutch.

One of the hallmarks of the Belle Epoque era was a heightened fascination with cultures the Parisians deemed to be exotic. Driven by financial desperation, she exploited this demand by pretending to be Indian . To make her act more credible, she fabricated a backstory claiming to be the daughter of a highly esteemed Brahmin.

"My mother, first bayadere [dancer] of the Ranganathaswamy Temple, died at the age of fourteen, on the day I was born. After the temple priests cremated her body, they adopted me and named me Mata Hari, which means 'Eye of the Day [a Malay word, Hari means sun]."

She claimed to have learned the sacred temple dances from a young age. During her performances, one veil after another would fall away.  Later, she said, "I never danced well. The only reason people came to see me was that I was the first to dare to present myself naked to the public."

High society couldn't get enough of Mata Hari, unaware that her real name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle and that she came from the small Dutch town of Leeuwarden.

Born on August 7, 1876, Mata Hari was the daughter of a hatmaker who had become wealthy through stock market speculation. He often spoiled his daughter with lavish gifts. For her sixth birthday, he gave her a carriage drawn by goats.