玛塔·哈丽原名玛格丽塔·格特鲁达·泽勒，出生于1876年8月7日，来自荷兰小镇莱瓦顿[1]。她通过打造异域舞蹈家的虚假身份在1905年巴黎成名[1]。一战爆发后，因经济困难沦为双重间谍，先为德国服务后被法国招募，代号特务H-21，获得20,000法郎费用[1]。
1917年2月13日，玛塔·哈丽在巴黎被逮捕[1]。同年10月15日，她因叛国罪在巴黎附近的文森城堡护城河被执行死刑，时年41岁[1]。据报道，她在临刑前的最后一句话是"谢谢你，先生！"[1]。英国情报部门文件表明，她提供的信息可能不足以影响第一次世界大战的进程[1]。
Mata Hari, born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle on August 7, 1876, in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden, rose to fame in Paris in 1905 by crafting a false identity as an exotic dancer [1]. When World War I erupted, financial pressures drove her to espionage, leading her to work as a double agent first for Germany and later for France [1]. She was arrested on February 13, 1917, on charges of treason [1].
On October 15, 1917, at age 41, Mata Hari was executed in the moat of Vincennes Castle near Paris [1]. Her final words were reported to be, "Thank you, sir!" [1]. Despite her notoriety as a spy, British intelligence files indicated that the information she provided was likely insufficient to have significantly altered the course of World War I [1].