ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190034
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEEUWARDEN, NETHERLANDS
SOURCE: Associated Press
ALMOST 80 YEARS after she was executed, an exhibit in her Dutch hometown tells her story.
The life of World War I spy and nude dancer Mata Hari is being unveiled by a museum here almost 80 years after a Paris firing squad brought the curtain down on her twin careers.
``People these days are still fascinated by her,'' exhibit curator Gerk Koopmans said Wednesday. ``There's a chemistry, a combination of mystery and sensationalism that makes her story interesting.''
Born in the northern Dutch farming town of Leeuwarden in 1876, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle gained great fame as a belly dancer in prewar Paris' nude venues and nightclubs under the stage name Mata Hari.
Following the outbreak of World War I, she seduced high-ranking military officers and passed on the pillow talk to Germany.
She was arrested in London in 1917 and executed by firing squad in a Paris suburb the same year, accused of spying for the Germans.
The exhibit at the Fries museum features larger-than-life photos of Mata Hari from her dancing days and other periods of her life.
Also on exhibit, in addition to her scrapbooks and other remaining possessions, are letters to her husband and daughter, which are being shown for the first time, Koopmans said.
Although none of the items sheds new light on Mata Hari, the museum thinks there's still plenty of interest in the dancer-turned-spy.
``Even on the Internet, you will find lots of information on her. Massive interest still exists for her,'' Koopmans said.
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