Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876 - 1917)

Born 7 Aug 1876 in Leeuwarden, Friesland, Nederland

Ancestors

Wife of Rudolph Macleod — married 11 Jul 1895 (to 10 Jun 1907) in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland

Died 15 Oct 1917 at age 41 in Vincennes, Val-de-Marne, France

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Biography

Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" (Zelle) MacLeod was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland the Netherlands on August 7, 1876. ^[1] Her parents were Adam Zelle and Antje van der Meulen. She married in Amsterdam on July 11, 1895 with Rudolph Macleod, an officer in the KNIL (Royal Dutch Army in Nederlands Indië) [now=Indonesia]. ^[2] This marriage, from which one son and one daughter were born, was dissolved on 10-6-1907. ^[3] Margaretha was better known by the stage name Mata Hari. She was a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed October 15, 1917 by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.

Kinderen/Children

1. Norman-John MacLeod, 30 January 1897 in Amsterdam, Nederland.
2. Louise Jeane Macleod, 2 May 1898 in Malang, Java, Indonesië

Circus Rider, Model, Dancer, Spy

After her divorce, Margaretha, motivated by the need to earn a living, turned to several careers, a circus horse rider, a painter's model and exotic dancing, which led to her becoming a successful courtesan. The Deuxième Bureau offered her money to seduce the Crown Prince Wilhelm, which she was never able to accomplish. Then after supplying her with information that confirmed their belief that she was acting as a double agent, she was arrested, tried, and found guilty of espionage.^[4]

"Woman Dancer Shot by French As Spy"

"Mlle. Mata-Hari Suffers Penalty for Betraying Secret of 'Tanks' to Germans."^[5]

"PARIS, Oct. 15. -- Mata-Hari, the Dutch dancer and adventuress, who, two months ago, was found guilty by a court-martial on the charge of espionage, was shot at dawn this morning.

"The condemned woman, otherwise known as Marguerite Gertrude Zelle, was taken in an automobile from St. Lazare prison to the parade ground at Vincennes, where the execution took place at 6:15 am..^[6] Two sisters of Charity and a priest accompanied her."^[7]

Execution of Mata Hari, movie clip from the film

Framed?

May 1986, Russell Howe wrote an article, after reading a secret dossier on Mata Hari.

"After reviewing the files, this writer has come to his own conclusions: Mata Hari made only one effort at espionage and this took place in Madrid--for the French. She spent three afternoons with a German military officer who fed her inaccurate information and to whom she passed along gossip items from newspapers. She did receive money from the Germans but there is no evidence that she gave them any information in return. None of her actions provided evidence for eight counts of espionage. She was deliberately framed by the Germans, who used a cipher that they knew the French had already broken. All the German spymasters' memoirs and the official histories of German espionage in World War I seem to be in agreement: Mata Hari never was "one of ours.'"^[8]

In 2001, the town of Leeuwarden, birthplace of Margaretha, and the Mata Hari Foundation lodged an official plea at the French Ministry of Justice, in Paris, to review the 1917 trial.

"We can show that the elements that led to her condemnation do not hold together," said lawyer Thibault de Montbrial, stating that they had new evidence that showed she was found guilty with trumped-up evidence.^[9]

2017 marked the 100th anniversary of her death. Court files were opened. Perhaps we will know by locating and studying them.

Sources

Birth Certificate

• Geboorteakte/Birthcertificate Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, Leeuwarden, 8 augustus 1876. ^[1]
  • Margaretha Geeftruida, 07 Aug 1876. Netherlands Births and Baptisms, 1564-1910, database, FamilySearch : 12 December 2014), citing ; FHL microfilm 257,194.
• Huwelijksadvertentie/ Wedding announcement, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle en Rudolph MacLeod, Amsterdam, 11 Juli 1895] ^[2]
• Scheiding/Devorce Margaretha Geertruida Zelle en Rudolph MacLeod. ^[3]
• Source: Ministère de la Défense France- Margueritte Gertrude Zelle alias Mata-Hari Mata Hari dossier, Mata Hari files, Mata Hari Minute(s) de jugement et Dossier(s) de procédure
  Minute(s) de jugement:
  1. SHD/GR 9 J 873-7 - Conseil de guerre 4 pages
  2. SHD/GR 9 J 1201-3 - Conseil de révision Désiscion 4 pages
  Dossier(s) de procédure :
  3. SHD/GR 9 J 968 - Conseil de guerre Dossier 1275 pages

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Geboorteakte/Birthcertificate Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, Leeuwarden, 8 augustus 1876
   Leeuwarden, Geboorten 1875-1876 Familysearch image 374 of 468; Nederlands Rijksarchiefdienst, Friesland (Netherlands National Archives, Friesland).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Huwelijksadvertentie/ Wedding announcement, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle en Rudolph MacLeod, Amsterdam, 11 Juli 1895. WieWasWie.nl, Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie. Plaats instelling: Den Haag Collectiegebied: Nederland. Registratienummer: VFADNL089025-1, Registratiedatum: 11 juli 1895.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Scheiding/Devorce Margaretha Geertruida Zelle en Rudolph MacLeod, 10-06-1907. Archieven.nl Rheden, 0207 Burgerlijke stand Gelderland.
4. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Mata Hari," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (accessed November 19, 2016).
5. ↑ "The NY Times," newspaper, 16 Oct 1917, pg. 1, Headline
6. ↑ Image of death certificate at Archive of Val-de-Marne
7. ↑ The New York Times (New York, New York) 16 Oct 1917, Tuesday. Pg 13 Col 4. Download .pdf
8. ↑ Howe, Russell Warren. "Mournful fate of Mata Hari, the spy who wasn't guilty: new evidence indicates that the World War I siren was executed because her death was convenient to German and French intelligence." Smithsonian, May 1986, p. 132+. Student Resources in Context, Gale group Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
9. ↑ Schofield, Hugh. "Mata Hari 'was framed.' BBC News Tues 16 Oct 2001.

See also:

• De jeugdjaren van Mata Hari.
• Resources Huygens ING, information on Mata Hari (in Dutch).
• Wikipedia-bijdragers, "Mata Hari," Wikipedia, de vrije encyclopedie (accessed oktober 18, 2016). http://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mata_Hari&oldid=47749091
• The Bridgeport evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.), 14 Sept. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022472/1917-09-14/ed-1/seq-18/#words=Mata+Hari
• Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 15 Oct. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1917-10-15/ed-1/seq-1/#words=Mata-Hari
• The sun. (New York [N.Y.]), 07 April 1918. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1918-04-07/ed-1/seq-58/#words=Mata+Hari
• Richmond times-dispatch. (Richmond, Va.), 28 Sept. 1919. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045389/1919-09-28/ed-1/seq-58/#words=Mata+Hari
• Mata Hari (Character) IMDB.com. Accessed 29 Nov 2016. http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0027577/?ref_=fn_al_ch_1

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Martyn Grifhorst for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Martyn and others.