Nanette Salomons Cohen (after marriage, Nanette Pressburg; c 1764 – 1833) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

citizen known for being the maternal grandmother of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

philosopher and economist.

Life

Nanette Salomons Cohen was born in 1764. Her parents were Salomon (1731–1804) and Sara Cohen-Chazzan (1736–1810) (sometimes called Barent-Cohen) in Amsterdam, the family belonging to Amsterdam's Jewish community. Her paternal grandfather was Barent Cohen, a wealthy merchant. In 1785, Nanette Cohen married Isaac Heymans Pressburg (1747–1832) of

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

. The Pressburgs were a prosperous family, Isaac working as a textile merchant. They were leading members of Nijmegen's

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community, Isaac acting as

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

of the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

where his father, Hirschl (or Chaim) Pressburg, had been the

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. They initially lived in Nonnenstraat near the synagogue, before moving to a larger house on Grotestraat in 1808. Nanette died in Nijmegen on April 7, 1833, at the age of 69, her husband having died the previous year.

Children and their legacy

Isaac and Nanette Pressburg had five children, three boys and two girls. The first, Hijam, was born on August 16, 1786; followed by Henriette on September 20, 1788; David on February 5 1791; Marcus Martin on November 22, 1793; and finally Sophie on November 15, 1797. In 1814, Henriette married Hirschel (later Heinrich) Marx in the Nijmegen Synagogue,Marx family documents: Henriette Presburg (1814) & Sophia Schmalhausen (née Marx) 1883.(Manfred Schöncke: Karl und Heinrich Marx und ihre Geschwister. pp 140–1 & 554. (In German) Köln 1993. ) the couple moving to Heinrich's home town of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

in the

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

, where Heinrich worked successfully as a lawyer. Their nine children included Karl Marx. In 1820, Sophie married the tobacco merchant

Lion Philips Lion Philips (29 October 1794 – 28 December 1866) was a Dutch tobacco merchant. He is the grandfather of Gerard and Anton Philips of Philips Electronics, and was an gait financial supporter of Karl Marx. Early life and family Lion ...

, moving to the Dutch town of

Zaltbommel Zaltbommel (), also known, historically and colloquially, as Bommel, is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. History The city of Zaltbommel The town of Zaltbommel was first mentioned as "Bomela" in the year 850. Zaltbommel received ...

. After Nanette's death, Lion Philips acted as trustee for her legacy on behalf of the family. Karl Marx, their nephew, occasionally visited the Philips family, and regularly corresponded with Lion. Lion and Sophie's son and grandson

Gerard Philips Gerard Leonard Frederik Philips (9 October 1858 – 26 January 1942) was a Dutch industrialist and co-founder, with his father Frederik Philips, of Philips as a family business in 1891. In 1912, Gerard and his younger brother Anton Philips conv ...

founded the

Philips Electronics Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...

Company in 1891. Although both daughters and their immediate families converted from Judaism to Christianity – Henriette in 1825 and Sophie in 1826 – they remained in regular contact with their mother,David McLellan. Karl Marx: A biography, pp 3-7. London 1973/1995 . one of Karl Marx's younger brothers being born in Nijmegen. Of the Pressburgs' sons, David became a lawyer in Amsterdam and later in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

in Surinam, while Marcus remained in Nijmegen in the tobacco trade.

References

Sources

*Genealogical information: :* :* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Nanette 1764 births 1833 deaths Dutch Jews Karl Marx Jewish women People from Amsterdam Cohen family