Or maybe just a pampered and promiscuous woman manipulated by the head of French Intelligence who needed an attention-grabbing case to prove the worth of his bureau and save his reputation?

How about a child/woman, indulged from early on by her doting father,  searching for a reliable man to love and support her in the style to which she had become accustomed?

Fleeing from a disastrous early marriage and the death of one of her two children, Margaretha Geertruida Grietje Zelle joined the circus as an equestrian.

It soon became evident to the owner that dancing was her real talent. “Her languid, graceful style of moving, her dark eyes and luxurious hair, telegraphed her sexuality to any male in her presence.”

At a time when the dancers at the Moulin Rouge flaunted only their knickers and breasts, Zelle thought nothing of discarding everything during the course of a performance except her jeweled bra. How scandalous in the early 20th century just before WWI?

Also, about this time, she adopted the stage name of Mata Hari (meaning sunrise or eye of the day) and suggested that her mother had been an Indian temple dancer or that she had grown up in a Java jungle.

A six-month contract to dance at the Metropole left her marooned in Berlin when war broke out (August, 1914) and her fur coats and money were seized. Reported to be recruiting spies, the German consul to Holland, Karl Kroemer, awarded her 20,000 francs and the code name H21.

Since taking money from a man for services rendered never troubled Mata, she poured out the invisible ink and went on her way. Traveling through Britain to avoid the front-line of fighting, the free-spirited exotic dancer was “thoroughly searched and nothing incriminating was found, she is regarded by police and military to be not above suspicion”.

Suspicion of what is the question?

According to a British Intelligence report, she “speaks French, English, Italian, Dutch and probably German. Handsome, bold type of woman”.

Could fluency in four, maybe five languages be the answer?

In Pat Shipman’s 2007 biography of Mata Hari, Femme Fatale, he argues, “The problem was not what Mata Hari said, but who she was”. Could a wealthy, well-educated, foreign-appearing woman traveling alone who openly admitted to having a lover be trusted? Apparently not in that day and time.

Often rumors found their way into her dossier. “One suspects her of having gone to France on an important mission that will profit the Germans.”

Back in Paris, two secret police steamed open her letters, questioned waitresses, porters and hairdressers. All information pointed to her life of promiscuity but not espionage.

Her mad life continued until Zelle faced off with the ambitious head of French Intelligence, Captain Georges Ladoux, over a travel permit. Ladoux viewed her as a prostitute. Mata thought him narrow-minded and coarse. Her promise to spy for France ended their battle of words.

Contending that the dancer’s notoriety made her a poor candidate for clandestine activities, Shipman states that she was frequently the center of attention with her comings and goings often reported in gossip columns. But in the case of Josephine Baker (see previous post), her celebrity status paved the way for espionage. Another similarity: neither lady shied away from exposing their feminine attributes for all to see.

A warrant issued for Mata’s arrest in February, 1917, contended that she had traded French secrets instead of German maneuvers in North Africa for one million francs. Subsequently tried and found guilty, Mata was shot by an early morning firing squad on October 15, 1917.

Was it a witch hunt conducted by small-minded men?

Were the rumors magnified by the anti-German spy mania prevalent in France with the Kaiser’s troops at its border?

Did Captain Georges Ladoux exploit Mata Hari to enhance his career?

Was she a resourceful courtesan who exchanged sexual favors and war secrets at the same time for money?

You be the judge!

(All quotations have been taken from Femme Fatale by Pat Shipman.)

A scene from one of those campy 1940s spy movies filmed entirely in black and white?

Not for some of the 4,500 women who actively engaged in espionage work for the OSS during WWII.

Josephine Baker

Spying for her adopted country of France, Josephine Baker personally carried confidential information throughout Europe.

Blinded by her stardom, passport checkers never once guessed that the famed entertainer’s sheet music carried secrets penned in invisible ink. When recruited by her agent’s older brother, Baker eagerly agreed to pass on any tantalizing bits of information overheard at cocktail parties.

Sipping martinis while idly chatting with high-ranking Japanese officials and Italian bureaucrats at embassy gatherings, the singer could easily contribute to the French Resistance movement.

Her other war efforts included: sending Christmas presents to French soldiers, hiding Belgian refugees at her house in Southern France and securing passports and visas for people dodging the Nazi regime.

Accompanied by her entourage, Baker smuggled information out of Spain by pinning it inside her underwear. Not only did the St. Louis native sing and dance for allied soldiers in North Africa, but she also entertained liberated inmates of Buchenwald too frail to travel.

Recognized as the first American women to receive the Croix de Guerre, France’s highest military honor, the St. Louis Walk of Fame and Hall of Famous Missourians also honor Baker’s accomplishments.

For more information regarding this world-famous, African-American entertainer read: Josephine Baker: The Hungry Heart by foster son, Jean-Claude Baker.

Julia McWilliams Child

Before achieving celebrity status as The French Chef, Julia McWilliams Child processed top-secret documents for the OSS, the forerunner of today’s CIA.

Too tall for the WACS or WAVES, this advertising copywriter worked for OSS Leader General William Donovan as a research assistant in the Secret Intelligence Division.

In those years before computers, her orderly mind came in handy when assigned the task of keeping track of 10,000 officers by typing each individual’s name on a white note card before adding their vital information.

In the Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section, Julia helped develop a signal mirror for downed pilots and “cooked up” a shark repellent to steer the sea creatures away from underwater explosives intended to blow up German U-boats.

Ripe for adventure, the California native volunteered for a posting in Ceylon where she handled highly classified papers dealing with the invasion of the Malay Peninsula.

Given top security clearances in Kumming, China, Julia personally examined every incoming and outgoing message for all the intelligence branches involved in war efforts.

Besides receiving the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service for her leadership in the OSS Secretariat in China, Julia McWilliams landed a husband who helped launch her star-studded culinary career after the war.

My Life in France chronicles the Child’s life after the war in Paris, Marseille, and Provence.

Virginia Hall

Considered “the most dangerous of all allied spies” by the Gestapo, Virginia Hall spent 15 months helping to coordinate the workings of the Underground in occupied France.

Called “the limping lady of the OSS,” Hall ducked behind enemy lines to map drop zones for necessary supplies and parachuting Allied forces . While working with the Underground, they cut  telegraph power lines disrupting vital German communications as the D-Day invasion played out.

The amputation of her left leg below the knee might have killed her chances for a diplomatic career but didn’t hamper Hall from training three battalions of Resistance forces in guerilla tactics for use against the Germans. Hobbling around on her wooden leg named Cuthbert, the operative continued to update reports of German troop movements until the Allies relieved her group.

In September 1945, Hall accepted A Distinguished Service Cross, the only one awarded to a woman in WWII. Previously in July 1943, British authorities had quietly recognized Hall as a Member of the Order of the British Empire fearing that a higher honor would ‘blow her cover’.

After marriage to OSS agent, Paul Goillot, the CIA requested her services as an intelligence analyst on French parliamentary affairs.

To learn more about Virginia Hall, read The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy by Judith L. Pearson.

Amy Elizabeth Thorpe

By all reports, the most controversial lady spy, Amy Elizabeth Thorpe exploited her beauty and seductive charms to secure valuable enemy data from admiring men in high places.

“Ashamed? Not in the least,” she retorted, “My superiors told me that the results of my work saved thousands of British and American lives.”

Under the code name, Cynthia, Thorpe procured cables, letters, files and accounts of embassy activities and personalities from her lover Charles Brousse, a French embassy official in Washington, D. C.  As his mistress, Thorpe exploited Brousse’s anti-Nazi sentiments and connections with the Vichy French government to her advantage.

Not afraid to scare off an inquisitive night guard by stripping down to her necklace and heels, Cynthia paved the way for the theft of  naval codes. In November, 1942, these ciphers proved to be extremely useful in planning the Allied invasion of  French-held North Africa.

The modern day Mata Hari remarked, “It involved me in situations from which ’respectable’ women draw back—but mine was total commitment. Wars are not won by respectable methods.”

Dubbed as one of the most successful spies in history, Amy Elizabeth Thorpe Pack Brousse also secured conclusive proof of Hitler’s plan to rip apart Czechoslovakia and linked the Polish and Allied efforts to break Germany’s enciphering machine, Enigma.

Some sources credit this translation of German ciphers with bringing an end to the European war two year earlier than previously expected.

The most accurate version of her life and service can be found in Sisterhoodof Spies – The Women of the OSS by Elizabeth P. McIntosh