Early Life
She was born Mabel Martine Los to Hendrik Cornelis "Henk" Los (Voorschoten, 27 April 1944 - Loosdrecht, 18 February 1978) and wife Florence Malde Gijsberdina "Flos" Kooman (b. 1944), in turn daughter of Anthonie Kooman (Maastricht, 15 June 1915 - 's-Hertogenbosch, 8 November 1979) and wife Antoinette Petronella van Woerkom. Her father died when she was 9 years old; when her mother married Peter Wisse Smit (15 October 1939 - Hilversum, 11 November 2000) in 1984, Mabel and her sister took their stepfather's surname. Princess Mabel has two younger sisters, Nicoline Los, later Nicoline Wisse Smit (b. 1970) and Eveline Wisse Smit (b. 1982). She grew up in Het Gooi in the central Netherlands.
She studied economics and political science at the University of Amsterdam, graduating summa cum laude in 1993. During her study she also finished internships at the United Nations, Shell, ABN AMRO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to Dutch, she speaks fluent English, Spanish and French and also learned Slavic languages during her work in the Balkans.
During her university years, she showed special interest in human rights situations around the world, and later specialised in Balkan diplomacy and international relations. In 1995 she was present at the peace conference in Dayton, Ohio.
Read more about this topic: Princess Mabel Of Orange-Nassau
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“In a period of a people’s life that bears the designation “transitional,” the task of a thinking individual, of a sincere citizen of his country, is to go forward, despite the dirt and difficulty of the path, to go forward without losing from view even for a moment those fundamental ideals on which the entire existence of the society to which he belongs is built.”
—Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818–1883)