History Report for the General Meeting
October 15, 2010 C.Y. 6015
As presented by XNGH Kurt "Kurteous Maximus" Hexburg
"Mata"
In 1876 a girl was born in northern Holland. Her name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, but history remembers her as Mata Hari.
After a reasonably normal childhood, young Geertruida was at one time married to a Scottish born officer in the Dutch Colonial Army named Rudolph Macleod. Rudolph and his young bride had been stationed in Malaysia. A very different way of life was to be found in this far flung Dutch colony than what she knew in her Netherlander homeland. Unfortunately, the marriage was doomed to failure as Macleod was twice her age and had an active appreciation for other women.
She eventually left Rudolph for another Dutch officer and became fascinated with the culture and customs of the Malay people in particular. She learned about the art of exotic dance. This is also where she presumably formulated her famous stage name Mata Hari, which in the Malay language means “eye of the day”. This was the Malaysian way of describing the sun.
Upon returning to Europe she launched her new career. Prewar Europe was hungry for what Mata Hari had to offer. Billing herself as a far eastern princess, she began to tour the continent with her amazing act in which she would gracefully dance across the stage while removing all of her clothing. The movers and shakers of Europe were quite taken by this wild woman and she had numerous affairs with the era’s most powerful men. Her wanton promiscuity had a huge impact on her chosen profession. Everyone wanted to see what she was all about.
When the outbreak of WWI forced the countries involved to close their borders to all citizens of neighboring hostile countries, Mata Hari enjoyed traveling throughout Europe unimpeded, as she was a Dutch citizen and the Netherlands a neutral country. Her notoriety eventually would lead to her downfall, however.
In February of 1917 the French authorities arrested her and she was imprisoned for espionage at St. Lazare prison in Paris. She had been accused of passing secrets to the German high command that she had learned from French generals and other high officials while engaged in acts of debauchery. Her trial took place in July and the French government, who needed someone to take the fall for their inability to properly wage war, convicted and sentenced her to death by firing squad.
At the hour of her death, forty one year old Mata Hari refused the offer of a blindfold and bravely faced her executioners on October 15th, 93 years ago today.
What say the brethren?
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