Home » History » Inspirational Biographies » Eye of Dawn : The Story of Mata Hari, Part I

Eye of Dawn : The Story of Mata Hari, Part I

© Andrea Janel Kirk

She was the only girl born into a family of four boys. Her destiny was to indulge in games of piracy and adventure with her brothers that would lead to her inevitable fascination with the world of espionage. Her name was Margaretha Zelle and Leeuwarden, Holland was her first home. She was the second child of Adam Zelle and Antje van der Meulen.

Her father was extremely indulgent of his vivacious, brilliant daughter, with her sparkling black eyes and lustrous hair. He called her an "orchid among buttercups" and encouraged her flair for the melodramatic and natural impetuosity. She wove convoluted, mysterious plots of her ancestry, often telling schoolmates that her cradle stood "in Caminghastate". This was a mansion in Leeuwarden and the seat of a noble family. Her tales and outlandish behavior won her many admirers, enthralled by her personal magnetism.

When Margaretha turned 13 her father went bankrupt. His flourishing hat business had fallen like a house of cards due to his ill-advised forays into the stock market. The family had no choice but to sell off their elaborate furnishings and home and relocate to a shabby corner on "the other side of the tracks." Adam Zelle left his family to try his luck in Amsterdam. Antj became depressed upon her husband's desertion and died when her daughter was a mere fifteen.

Adam Zelle attended the funeral but could not, or would not, take his children. His offspring were summarily distributed amongst their relatives. M'greet, as she was called, went to live with her godfather in Sneek. She was immediately made to feel both an outsider and a charity case. Her height of 5"10 did not help matters in the least because she towered over almost everyone she encountered. At a distinct disadvantage in acquiring suitors her godfather, Heer Visser, suggested that she entertain the notion of becoming a kindergarten teacher. She realized that she would have to find a livelihood and entered a school for teachers run by Heer Wybrandus Hannstra in Leyde.

The school emphasized strict disciplinarianism and M'greet tended to treat her charges as kindred spirits. Struggling with the effort to keep her sympathetic tendencies under control she was swamped by indecision when the school's proprietor, Heer Wybrandus, confessed that she infatuated him. What he suggested was far from respectable and M'greet bore the brunt of the social disgrace and scandal that ensued.

She sought refuge in the home of her uncle, Heer Taconis. She performed various domestic chores in an effort to ingratiate herself to the family good enough to take her in.

The copyright of the article Eye of Dawn : The Story of Mata Hari, Part I in Inspirational Biographies is owned by . Permission to republish Eye of Dawn : The Story of Mata Hari, Part I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.