Marthe Richer

Born Marthe Betenfeld in Blamont, France in 1889, the daughter of a brewer.

An excellent student, she excelled at languages, eventually learning to speak English, Spanish and German in addition to her native French. She was also adventurous, excelling as an aviator, almost unheard of for a woman at that time.

Married Henri Richer, a pilot serving in World War I, in 1914. Was approached by French counter-intelligence at about this time and was recruited for service based on her langiage skills as well as her daring personality. After her husband was killed in battel, Marthe distracted herself from her grief by travelling to Spain to undertake intelligence duties. Became a familiar face within the social elite of German society within Spain and was introduced to the acting chief of the Abwehr. He suggested to Richer that she should work as an agent of the Abwehr, returning to France and spying on behalf of the Germans. Richer told him that she would only consider doing so if the offer was extended by the head of the Abwehr in France himself. So eager were the Germans that they agreed and the offer was so extended. Fortuitously, the Abwehr chief in France, Baron Hans Kron. Kron, who was also the German naval attache in Madrid, fell in love with Richer and they became lovers soon thereafter.