When in 1873 Agnetha van Marken set up the Maison Neuve perfume factory in Delft (The Netherlands), she did this under her husband's name. She could scarcely have done otherwise; in those days, women officially had 'no legal capacity to act'. Nonetheless, Agnetha's 'capacity to act' proved to be remarkable; her contemporaries described her as an intelligent, purposeful, erudite and conscientious woman. A woman who was receptive to new ideas and was herself full of initiative. A successful woman, both socially and in business.

Agnetha met Jacques van Marken for the first time in 1865, the following year they got engaged. In 1867 Van Marken graduated from the Delft Polytechnic, which was later to become the Delft University of Technology. He was the institute's first technology graduate. He subsequently went to Austria/Hungary to study the production process for yeast. In their correspondence during this period, the two lovers not only discussed poetry but also exchanged their views on "the employer-employee relationship". Around this time Agnetha took up a job, and was perhaps one of the few women in the country to sit at a desk. In 1869, Agnetha and Jacques got married and set up Nederlandsche Gist- en Spiritusfabriek (Netherlands Yeast and Methylated Spirits Factory). Their marriage was to be childless.

Jacques and Agnetha van Marken-Matthes

In 1878 Agnetha van Marken won a bronze medal at the World Exhibition in Paris for one of her perfumes and at the International Exhibition in Austalia she won a first prize. In the early 1880s, Jacques was taken ill and had to go to a health resort. On his return home he commissioned a park to be built next to the factory. The park was to be called Agnetha Park. This unique amenity, designed by the well-known landscape architect Zocher even prompted a royal visit; the official opening was performed by Queen Emma and Princess Wilhelmina.

The early 1890s were marked by severe winters, with temperatures dropping to minus 16 degrees Celcius and threatening the lives of the Delft poor. Agnetha responded to the situation by setting up a Poor Relief Fund, a charity meant to support all poor people regardless of their religious beliefs or political convictions.

When Jacques once again fell ill and Agnetha opened his mail, she found a letter from a certain Maria van Eringaard urging Jacques to send her the alimony due to her as soon as possible. It appeared that Van Marken was the father of three children, the result of a fifteen-year-old clandestine relationship. Agnetha big-heartedly made an adequate financial arrangement. A year later when Maria van Eringaard died, the Van Markens took the children into their family.

In 1906 Van Marken died. The Paris-based Society for the Study of Profit Sharing Schemes posthumously awarded him a gold medal, which Agnetha received on his behalf. She was admitted to La Société de l'Économie Sociale. In 1909 this remarkable woman died.