Anita Roddick – Body Shop founder
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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