The eighteenth century witnessed the birth of the earliest modern economic theories and of the figure of the economist, a field almost exclusively dominated by men. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, handbooks aimed at educating women usually excluded any interest in economic activities. Nevertheless, there were exceptions. In Genoa, as many notarial records show, since the Middle Ages some women had been able to act in roles ranging from simple administrators of family property to real businesswomen, even if their activity was often carried out in the shadow of a guardian, maybe a facade (usually the father, a brother or the husband). Personal income and the willingness to dispose of it directly opened up unusual scenarios, particularly for women whose aptitude for risk allowed them to venture or consolidate their businesses in sectors traditionally male-dominated, such as high finance. This attitude to risk and the freedom to invest her own money are particularly evident in the case of Isabella de Mari Doria (1708-1785). She was a member of the Genoese aristocracy, heiress and widow at a young age, involved in a circuit of European investments, and also in a large gambling network in the homes of the main Genoese patricians of her time. The analysis of her private letters, containing instructions sent from 1760 to 1763 to her correspondents in Rome, Genoa, Paris, Vienna, etc. can help to reconstruct the entrepreneurial environment in which she operated, her approach to business and the extent to which it was influenced by her status as a woman and as a widow.

Isabella De Mari Doria, a Female Investor and Gambler in the Genoese Aristocracy

Iodice, Antonio
2024-01-01

Abstract

The eighteenth century witnessed the birth of the earliest modern economic theories and of the figure of the economist, a field almost exclusively dominated by men. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, handbooks aimed at educating women usually excluded any interest in economic activities. Nevertheless, there were exceptions. In Genoa, as many notarial records show, since the Middle Ages some women had been able to act in roles ranging from simple administrators of family property to real businesswomen, even if their activity was often carried out in the shadow of a guardian, maybe a facade (usually the father, a brother or the husband). Personal income and the willingness to dispose of it directly opened up unusual scenarios, particularly for women whose aptitude for risk allowed them to venture or consolidate their businesses in sectors traditionally male-dominated, such as high finance. This attitude to risk and the freedom to invest her own money are particularly evident in the case of Isabella de Mari Doria (1708-1785). She was a member of the Genoese aristocracy, heiress and widow at a young age, involved in a circuit of European investments, and also in a large gambling network in the homes of the main Genoese patricians of her time. The analysis of her private letters, containing instructions sent from 1760 to 1763 to her correspondents in Rome, Genoa, Paris, Vienna, etc. can help to reconstruct the entrepreneurial environment in which she operated, her approach to business and the extent to which it was influenced by her status as a woman and as a widow.
2024
9783031642807
9783031642814
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11567/1212416
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