Madame Therese

She operated one of the largest and most famous brothels of her time in Amsterdam, with a reputed international list of powerful clients, and was often caricatured in the press.

[2] Few details of Therese's own background are known, but she is believed to have been from the Southern Netherlands and to have been a prostitute herself before becoming a procurer and the manager of a brothel.

[3] Madame Therese and her brothel were widely reputed in Europe and often used in the press and literature, which made her well known also in later Dutch history.

[4] She was caricatured by Jacob Campo Weyerman, and a concept of her profession as a procurer by her nicknames, such as for example "The Grandmother of Destruction".

[1] According to satirical pamphlets, Prince Eugene of Savoy[5] and the British Consul Louis Renard was among her international clients.