Maksymilian Faktorowicz

Max Factor, Sr was a Polish-American businessman, beautician, entrepreneur and inventor. He was born in 1877 in Zduńska Wola, Poland, to a Jewish family. He started his career as a wig maker and cosmetician in Łódź, and later worked in Berlin, Moscow, and Paris. He immigrated to the United States in 1904, and settled in Los Angeles, California, where he opened a cosmetics shop and salon. He soon became famous for his make-up products and services for the film industry, and developed a loyal clientele of movie stars. He also invented many cosmetic devices and techniques, such as the beauty micrometer, the lip gloss, the pancake makeup, and the term "make-up" itself. He founded the cosmetics giant Max Factor & Company, which was later run by his sons and grandsons. He received an honorary Academy Award in 1929 for his contributions to the film industry. He died of a heart attack in 1938, at the age of 60. He was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. He is widely regarded as the father of modern cosmetics, and his legacy lives on in the Max Factor brand and museum.