Isabella Simons (

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, 16 November 1694 - 17 January 1756) was a banker in the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

. She married Jan Baptist Cogels (1694-1733), son of the founder of the Cogels bank in Antwerp, Jan Baptist Cogels the Elder (1663-1734). After the death of first her spouse and then her father-in-law, she took over the management of the bank in 1734 and never remarried, as she could legally only have managed her own affairs as a widow. During her management, the bank focused on the financing of the national debt in the Austrian Netherlands. Her bank thrived during the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

. She had good relations with Empress

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

and managed to have her spouse ennobled posthumously in 1753. She left the bank to her son, Jan Baptist Cogels III.

References

*Petra Rebmann, Het Rivierenhof, vijf eeuwen parkgeschiedenis, Lanno, Tielt, 1997, {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Isabella 1694 births 1756 deaths Noblewomen from the Holy Roman Empire Bankers from the Holy Roman Empire Nobility of the Austrian Netherlands Businesspeople from Antwerp Businesspeople from the Austrian Netherlands Women bankers 18th-century Dutch businesswomen 18th-century Dutch businesspeople Women from the Austrian Netherlands

See also

References