Diana, Princess of Wales was the most charismatic and publicly adored member of the British royal family. From 1981 to 1996, she was the first the wife of Prince Charles of Wales, heir to the British throne. She was widely known as Princess Diana, Lady Diana and Lady Di. In 2002, according to the survey, Diana took the third place in the list of one hundred greatest Britons in history. She became the most photographed woman in the world.
Diana, Princess of Wales was born Diana Frances Spencer on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham, Norfolk. She was the third of the Lord and Lady Althorp’s four children. Her parents got divorced when she was very young. In 1976 the Earl Spencer married Raine Legge, the daughter of British romance novelist Barbara Cartland. His children and their stepmother had a stormy relationship. Diana went to a private girls’ school in Switzerland. When she returned to England, she worked as a kindergarten teacher.
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Max Factor is often called the father of modern make-up. He was an American businessman of Jewish origin, who came from the Russian Empire.
Maximilian Abramovich Faktorowicz (his real name) was born on September 15, 1872 in Lodz, Poland, near the Russian border. He was one of ten children. At the age of eight Max was placed in an apprenticeship to a pharmacist. At the age of nine he became an apprentice to wig manufacturer, at thirteen – a pupil of the famous Berlin hairdresser. At the age of fourteen he moved to Moscow and joined the Bolshoi Theatre as an assistant of make-up artist.
Max opened his own shop in a suburb of Moscow, selling hand-made cosmetics. “Health and beauty products” became an important business for him. Soon Max became the official cosmetic expert for members of the Russian court, the Imperial Grand Opera and the Ballet.
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Leni Riefenstahl was a German film director and photographer, as well as an actress and dancer. Riefenstahl is one of the most famous filmmakers who worked during the period of National Socialist rule in Germany. Her documentary Triumph of the Will and Olympia made her an active promoter of the Third Reich.
Helene Berta Amalie Riefenstahl (her real name) was born on August 22, 1902 in Berlin. Her brother Heinz was born two and a half years later. Their father, Alfred Riefenstahl, was an experienced businessman and owned a large company.
Since childhood Leni took music lessons. The girl successfully performed at school concerts. Leni was gifted in music and painting, but had a real passion for dance. Italian musician F. Busoni saw her dancing and composed Waltz-Caprice special for the girl. Later it became one of her most popular performances.
At the age of 12 Leni joined the swimming sports club Mermaid, where she participated in competitions and received prizes. Once she fell from a five-meter diving tower and had to leave the club.
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Eva Peron was the first lady of Argentina, the second wife of the 29th and 41th President Juan Peron.
Maria Eva Duarte was born on May 7, 1919 in a small village in Argentina. She was the youngest of five illegitimate children of Juan Duarte, owner of a small cattle farm, and his servant Juana Ibarguren, came from a poor family, a Basque immigrant. Since her childhood Eva wanted to be a famous actress. When she was 15 years old, she convinced a tango singer to take her to Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. There she became well known as an actress on the radio.
In 1943 Eva met Colonel Juan Peron who was Vice President and Minister of War. They immediately fell in love. He was 48 years old and she was 24.
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Anita Roddick was a British businesswoman, a human rights activist and environmentalist, best known as the founder of the Body Shop, a cosmetics company. Body Shop became the first major European company, focusing on the ethical side of the business. Her cosmetic is produced from natural ingredients and components that are not tested on animals.
Roddick took an active part in many human rights and environmental protection campaigns.
In 1990 Roddick founded the charitable organization Children on the edge to help disabled children affected by armed conflicts and natural disasters in Eastern Europe and Asia.
In 1991, Roddick together with John Bird founded street newspaper The Big Issue in London, which has become one of the leading social enterprises in the UK and one of the most popular street newspapers in the world.
She was born Anita Perella on October 23, 1942 in Littlehampton into the family of Italian immigrants. In 1970, Anita married a Scottish traveler Gordon Roddick. They had two daughters.
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Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was the wife of President John F. Kennedy. Jacqueline became pop-culture icon. She was creative, elegant, intelligent, and ambitious.
Jacqueline was born on July 28, 1929. Her mother was Janet Lee Bouvier, and her father, though named John Vernon Bouvier III, was known by all as Black Jack. Her parents divorced in 1940, but her mother married wealthy Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, which permitted Jacqueline and her sister Lee to live on in wealth.
She studied at Vassar College, at the University of Grenoble and the Sorbonne, and graduated from George Washington University.
While working as a photographer for the Washington Times Herald Jacqueline met John F. Kennedy.
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Helena Rubinstein was the famous entrepreneur, founder of the cosmetics line and chain stores in the US, France and the UK.
In 1950, she was one of the richest women in the world. She had no money, no education, and no one to help her. All she had were 12 jars of face cream and a lot of energy and ambition. She turned these into a cosmetics empire.
Helena (her real name was Chaja Rubinstein) was born on December 25, 1872 in Krakow. She was the oldest of eight girls. Helena’s father wanted her to be a doctor. But she hated medicine and left school. Then he wanted her to get married, but she refused. In 1902, she went to Australia, to live with a cousin and an uncle. Helena didn’t speak English, had no money and no plans. She had beautiful skin and told some of the women about the face cream.
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