Helena Rubinstein

Helena Rubinstein was a Polish and American businesswoman, art collector, and philanthropist. She was born in Kraków, Poland, in 1872, as the eldest of eight daughters of a Jewish shopkeeper. She emigrated to Australia in 1896, where she started selling her own beauty cream made from lanolin. She soon opened a salon in Melbourne and expanded her business to other cities. In 1908, she married Edward William Titus, an American journalist, and moved to Paris. There, she established her first European salon and began to create a global cosmetics empire. She introduced many innovations to the beauty industry, such as waterproof mascara, sunscreens, and hormone-based products. She also marketed her products to women of different skin types and ethnicities, and promoted the idea of beauty as a science. She divorced Titus in 1938 and married Prince Artchil Gourielli-Tchkonia, a Georgian nobleman, the same year. She became known as Princess Gourielli and adopted a glamorous and extravagant lifestyle. She was also a generous patron of the arts and a collector of modern paintings and African sculptures. She supported various causes, such as the fight against fascism, the creation of Israel, and the education of women. She died of a heart attack in New York City in 1965, at the age of 92. She left behind a legacy of a successful cosmetics company, a remarkable art collection, and a philanthropic foundation.