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World Service,09 Jul 2010,10 mins

Spy and Femme Fatale Mata Hari

Witness History

Available for over a year

Mata Hari was the original femme fatale - a household name in Europe at the start of the 20th Century. The Dutch dancer took Paris by storm with her daring performances. But during the first World War, she started working as a spy and ended up being executed in 1917. But how did a Dutch housewife turn herself into Paris's best known erotic dancer? And why did she then turn to spying? Picture: Mata Hari, Credit: Hulton Archive

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