Esther Koplowitz, Marquise of Cubas

Esther Koplowitz Maria ( born 1953 in Madrid) ( Marquise of Cuba and Casa Peñalver ) is a Spanish businesswoman and majority owner of Fomento de Construcciones y Spanish construction Contratas ( FCC). She is considered one of the richest women in Europe.

Life

She is the daughter of Ernst Koplowitz, a German Jew and Esther Romero de Juseu y Armenteros, daughter of the Marquise of Casa Peñalver. She has a younger sister named Alicia. Ernst Koplowitz, who was born in Silesia, founded the family business. He was forced to flee during the Second World War against the Nazi regime.

Due to its modest knowledge of the Spanish language, he represented as a sales representative after the Second World War in Spain German company and distributor of their products (eg AEG). Esther attended the French Gymnasium in Madrid and initially showed no interest in the little company of his father. She married in 1969, Alberto Alcocer. Her husband joined the company of her father seriously, the developed favorably from that point on.

In 1990, their marriage broke up with Alberto Alcocer. Meanwhile, the former small company of her father developed under her leadership one of the largest construction groups in Europe with around 92,000 employees and annual sales of 12.7 billion euros in 2009. Koplowitz involved with her Esther Koplowitz Foundation - in various social projects, grants scholarships to students and operates homes for the elderly including Madrid.

Esther Koplowitz has three children Esther, Alicia and Carmen from his marriage to Alberto Alcocer and operates the hobby of hunting.

Other offices

• Supervisory Alpine Holding in Linz

Awards

• Gran Cruz del Mérito Civil
• Medalla de Oro de la Comunidad de Madrid
• Premio del Año Empresaria ( Business Leader of the Year )