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{{short description|American businesswoman (1908-2004)}} {{short description|American businesswoman (1908-2004)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2023}} {{Use American English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
|name = Estée Lauder | name = Estée Lauder
|image = Estee Lauder NYWTS.jpg | image = Estee Lauder NYWTS.jpg
|caption = Lauder with a customer in 1966 | caption = Lauder (left) with a customer in 1966
|birth_name = Josephine Esther Mentzer | birth_name = Josephine Esther Mentzer
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|07|01}}<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908" /> | birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|07|01}}<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908" />
|birth_place = ], New York City, U.S. | birth_place = New York City, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|04|24|1908|07|01}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|04|24|1908|07|01}}
|death_place = ], New York City, U.S. | death_place = New York City, U.S.
|occupation = Businesswoman | occupation = Businesswoman
|known_for = Co-founder of ] | known_for = Co-founder of ]
|spouse = {{plainlist| | spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Joseph Lauder|1930|1939|end=div}} * {{marriage|Joseph Lauder|1930|1939|end=div}}
* {{marriage|<!-- Joseph Lauder -->|1942|1983|end=died}} * {{marriage|<!-- Joseph Lauder -->|1942|1983|end=died}}
}} }}
|children = {{hlist|]|]}} | children = {{hlist|]|]}}
|relatives = {{plainlist| | relatives = {{plainlist|
* ] (grandson) * ] (grandson)
* ] (granddaughter) * ] (granddaughter)
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}} }}


'''Estée Lauder''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|s|t|eɪ|_|ˈ|l|ɔː|d|ər}} {{respell|EST|ay|_|LAW|dər}}; {{née|'''Josephine Esther Mentzer'''}}; July 1, 1908<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908" /> – April 24, 2004) was an American businesswoman.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1460329/Estee-Lauder.html|title=Estee Lauder Obituary|work=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/from-a-kitchen-in-corona-estee-lauder-built-an-empire/article_2377883d-9d03-5794-ae0d-cb3ba941d4e4.html|title=From A Kitchen in Corona, Estee Lauder Built An Empire|work=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/est%C3%A9e-lauder-founder-of-cosmetics-empire-and-epitome-of-gracious-living-1.1138733|title=Estée Lauder Founder of cosmetics empire and epitome of gracious living|newspaper=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref> She co-founded her ] with her husband, Joseph Lauter (later Lauder).<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html|title=Estee Lauder|work=]|publisher=AETN UK|access-date=June 22, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714122203/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref> Lauder was the only woman on '']'' magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.<ref>Timothy Williams, '']'', November 30, 1998</ref> '''Estée Lauder''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|s|t|eɪ|_|ˈ|l|ɔː|d|ər}} {{respell|EST|ay|_|LAW|dər}}; {{née|'''Josephine Esther Mentzer'''}}; July 1, 1908<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908" /> – April 24, 2004) was an American businesswoman.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1460329/Estee-Lauder.html|title=Estee Lauder Obituary|work=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/from-a-kitchen-in-corona-estee-lauder-built-an-empire/article_2377883d-9d03-5794-ae0d-cb3ba941d4e4.html|title=From A Kitchen in Corona, Estee Lauder Built An Empire|work=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/est%C3%A9e-lauder-founder-of-cosmetics-empire-and-epitome-of-gracious-living-1.1138733|title=Estée Lauder Founder of cosmetics empire and epitome of gracious living|newspaper=]|access-date=February 4, 2019}}</ref> She co-founded her ] with her husband, Joseph Lauter (later Lauder).<ref name=bio>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html|title=Estee Lauder|work=]|publisher=AETN UK|access-date=June 22, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714122203/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html|archive-date=July 14, 2014}}</ref> Lauder was the only woman on '']'' magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.<ref>Timothy Williams, '']'', November 30, 1998</ref>


==Early life and education== ==Early life and education==
Lauder was born in ],<ref name="NYTimes-EsteeLauder-Obit-2004">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/nyregion/estee-lauder-pursuer-of-beauty-and-cosmetics-titan-dies-at-97.html |title=Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97 |work=] |date=April 26, 2004 |access-date=May 9, 2010 |first=Richard |last=Severo}}</ref> New York City,<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908">{{cite web |title=Josephine Esther Mentzer – New York, New York City Births |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27Y8-BWH |website=] |access-date= January 3, 2016 }}</ref> the second child born to Rose Schotz<!-- divorced from Rosenthal by this point --> and Max Mentzer.<ref name="Kent2003">{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7j8VefeqUk4C&pg=PA149 |title=Business Builders in Cosmetics |first=Jacqueline C. |last=Kent |publisher=The Oliver Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-881508-82-X}}</ref><ref name="evan">{{cite web |url=http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/626/The-Makings-of-a-Beauty-Tycoon-Estee-Lauder-is-born.html |website=EvanCarmichael.com |title=The Makings of a Beauty Tycoon: Estee Lauder is Born |last=Lauder |first=Estee |access-date=August 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017233419/http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/626/The-Makings-of-a-Beauty-Tycoon-Estee-Lauder-is-born.html |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her parents were ] immigrants;<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVM3-4MB |title=Population Schedule |year=1920 |work=Fourteenth Census of the United States |publisher=US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census |via=FamilySearch.com |access-date=August 29, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4PK-1F2 |title=Population Schedule |year=1930 |work=Fifteenth Census of the United States |publisher=US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census |via=FamilySearch.com |access-date=August 29, 2016 }}</ref> on the mother's side her grandmother was from ] and her grandfather from {{lang|hu|Gelle}} (now ], ]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/celebrities/lauderestee.html |title=Estée Lauder |last=Votruba |first=Martin |work=Slovak Studies Program |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |access-date=January 14, 2017 |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122160447/http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/celebrities/lauderestee.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> while her father had ] ancestry. Lauder's claims of descent from European aristocracy were discredited in a biography, ''Estée Lauder: Beyond the Magic'' (1985) by ];<ref>{{cite news| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19860408&id=uQI-AAAAIBAJ&pg=4709,2042456&hl=en| title= Empress with a finger in every pot of cream| work= ] | date= April 8, 1986| page= 10| access-date= August 29, 2016}}</ref> her ''New York Times'' obituary observed 'she was a New Yorker and not an aristocrat at all', notwithstanding 'the mythmaking that is so much of the magic of the beauty industry'.<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/nyregion/estee-lauder-pursuer-of-beauty-and-cosmetics-titan-dies-at-97.html| title= Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97| work= ] | date= April 26, 2004| access-date= March 7, 2019}}</ref> Her 'favourite story was that she had been brought up by her Viennese mother in fashionable Flushing, Long Island, in a sumptuous home with stables, a chauffeured car and an Italian nurse.'<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG3354813/You-couldnt-make-it-up.html|title=You couldn't make it up |website=fashion.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> Lauder was born Josephine Esther Mentzer in ],<ref name="NYTimes-EsteeLauder-Obit-2004">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/nyregion/estee-lauder-pursuer-of-beauty-and-cosmetics-titan-dies-at-97.html |title=Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97 |work=] |date=April 26, 2004 |access-date=May 9, 2010 |first=Richard |last=Severo}}</ref> New York City,<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908">{{cite web |title=Josephine Esther Mentzer – New York, New York City Births |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27Y8-BWH |website=] |access-date= January 3, 2016 }}</ref> the second child born to Rose Schotz<!-- divorced from Rosenthal by this point --> and Max Mentzer.<ref name="Kent2003">{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7j8VefeqUk4C&pg=PA149 |title=Business Builders in Cosmetics |first=Jacqueline C. |last=Kent |publisher=The Oliver Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-881508-82-X}}</ref><ref name="evan">{{cite web |url=http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/626/The-Makings-of-a-Beauty-Tycoon-Estee-Lauder-is-born.html |website=EvanCarmichael.com |title=The Makings of a Beauty Tycoon: Estee Lauder is Born |last=Lauder |first=Estee |access-date=August 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017233419/http://www.evancarmichael.com/Famous-Entrepreneurs/626/The-Makings-of-a-Beauty-Tycoon-Estee-Lauder-is-born.html |archive-date=October 17, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Her parents were ] immigrants.<ref name="FamilySearch-NYCBirths-1908"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVM3-4MB |title=Population Schedule |year=1920 |work=Fourteenth Census of the United States |publisher=US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census |via=FamilySearch.com |access-date=August 29, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4PK-1F2 |title=Population Schedule |year=1930 |work=Fifteenth Census of the United States |publisher=US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census |via=FamilySearch.com |access-date=August 29, 2016 }}</ref> Her maternal grandmother was from ] and her maternal grandfather was from {{lang|hu|Gelle}} (now ], ]),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/celebrities/lauderestee.html |title=Estée Lauder |last=Votruba |first=Martin |work=Slovak Studies Program |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |access-date=January 14, 2017 |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122160447/http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/celebrities/lauderestee.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> while her father had ] ancestry. Lauder's claims of descent from European aristocracy were discredited in a biography, ''Estée Lauder: Beyond the Magic'' (1985) by ].<ref>{{cite news| url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19860408&id=uQI-AAAAIBAJ&pg=4709,2042456&hl=en| title= Empress with a finger in every pot of cream| work= ] | date= April 8, 1986| page= 10| access-date= August 29, 2016}}</ref> Her ''New York Times'' obituary observed "she was a New Yorker and not an aristocrat at all", notwithstanding "the mythmaking that is so much of the magic of the beauty industry".<ref>{{cite news| url= https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/26/nyregion/estee-lauder-pursuer-of-beauty-and-cosmetics-titan-dies-at-97.html| title= Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97| work= ] | date= April 26, 2004| access-date= March 7, 2019}}</ref> Her "favourite story was that she had been brought up by her Viennese mother in fashionable Flushing, Long Island, in a sumptuous home with stables, a chauffeured car and an Italian nurse."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG3354813/You-couldnt-make-it-up.html|title=You couldn't make it up |website=fashion.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>


In actuality, her mother Rose emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1898 with her five children to join her husband, Abraham Rosenthal.<ref name="Kent2003"/> But, in 1905, she married Max Mentzer, a shopkeeper who had also immigrated to the United States in the 1890s.<ref name="Kent2003"/> When their daughter was born, they wanted to name her {{lang|hu|Eszti}}, after her mother's favorite Hungarian aunt, but decided at the last minute to keep the name "Josephine", which they had agreed upon. However, the baby's nickname became "Estee", the name she would grow up using and responding to. Eventually, when she launched her perfume empire with her husband, she added an accent mark to make her name look French and began pronouncing it the way her father had in his Hungarian accent.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lauder |first=Estee |title=Estee Lauder |magazine=New York |volume=18 |issue=41 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HccBAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22the+woman+behind+the+name%22&pg=PA31 |date=October 21, 1985 |issn=0028-7369}}</ref> In actuality, her mother Rose emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1898 with her five children at the time to join her first husband, Abraham Rosenthal.<ref name="Kent2003"/> In 1905, Rose married Max Mentzer, a shopkeeper who had also immigrated to the United States in the 1890s.<ref name="Kent2003"/> When their daughter was born, they wanted to name her {{lang|hu|Eszti}}, the diminutive form of the Hungarian first name Eszter,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/culture_society/estee_lauder_queen_of_cosmetics_extraordinary_life_hungarian_ancestry/|title=The Extraordinary Life of Estée Lauder, the Queen of Cosmetics|website=HungarianConservative.com|date=July 2023 }}</ref> after her mother's favorite Hungarian aunt, but decided at the last minute to keep the name "Josephine", which they had agreed upon. However, the baby's nickname became "Estee", the name she would grow up using and responding to. Eventually, when she launched her perfume empire with her husband, she added an accent mark to make her name look French and began pronouncing it the way her father had in his Hungarian accent.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lauder |first=Estee |title=Estee Lauder |magazine=New York |volume=18 |issue=41 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HccBAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22the+woman+behind+the+name%22&pg=PA31 |date=October 21, 1985 |issn=0028-7369}}</ref>


Lauder graduated from ] in ], New York, and much of her childhood was spent trying to make ends meet. Like most of her eight siblings, she worked at the family's ], where she got her first taste of business, ]ship, and what it takes to be a successful ]er. Her childhood dream was to become an actress with her "name in lights, flowers and handsome men".<ref name="evan"/><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Majoroszog Journal|date=May 2012|first=Edwin|last=Herzog|title=Estée Lauder profile}}</ref> Lauder spent much of her childhood trying to make ends meet. Like most of her eight siblings, she worked at the family's ], where she got her first taste of business, ]ship, and what it takes to be a successful ]er. Her childhood dream was to become an actress with her "name in lights, flowers and handsome men".<ref name="evan"/><ref>{{cite journal|journal=Majoroszog Journal|date=May 2012|first=Edwin|last=Herzog|title=Estée Lauder profile}}</ref>


] ]
] in 1986]] ] in 1986]]
When Lauder grew older, she agreed to help her uncle, Dr. John Schotz, with his business. Schotz was a chemist, and his company, New Way Laboratories, sold beauty products such as creams, ]s, ], and fragrances. She became more interested in his business than her father's. She was fascinated watching her uncle create his products. He also taught her how to wash her face and do facial massages. After graduating from high school, she focused on her uncle's business.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} When Lauder grew older, she agreed to help her uncle, Dr. John Schotz, with his business. Schotz was a chemist, and his company, New Way Laboratories, sold beauty products such as creams, ]s, ], and fragrances. She became more interested in his business than her father's. She was fascinated watching her uncle create his products. He also taught her how to wash her face and do facial massages. After graduating from ] in ], New York, she focused on her uncle's business.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}


==Career== ==Career==
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In 1953, Lauder introduced her first fragrance, Youth-Dew, a ] that doubled as a ]. Instead of using French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women began using Youth-Dew by the bottle in their bath water. In the first year, it sold 50,000 bottles; by 1984, the figure had risen to 150 million.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html| title= estee lauder Biography| url-status= dead| website= thebiographychannel.co.uk |access-date= August 29, 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121025130656/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html| archive-date= October 25, 2012}}</ref> In 1953, Lauder introduced her first fragrance, Youth-Dew, a ] that doubled as a ]. Instead of using French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women began using Youth-Dew by the bottle in their bath water. In the first year, it sold 50,000 bottles; by 1984, the figure had risen to 150 million.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html| title= estee lauder Biography| url-status= dead| website= thebiographychannel.co.uk |access-date= August 29, 2016| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121025130656/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/estee-lauder.html| archive-date= October 25, 2012}}</ref>


Lauder was a subject of a 1985 TV documentary, ''Estée Lauder: The Sweet Smell of Success''. Explaining her success, she said, "I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."<ref name="financial-inspiration.com"/> Lauder was the subject of a 1985 TV documentary, ''Estée Lauder: The Sweet Smell of Success''. Explaining her success, she said, "I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."<ref name="financial-inspiration.com"/>


==Awards and honors== ==Awards and honors==
Lauder received the Knight class of the ] from the Consul General of France, Gerard Causer. She was the first woman to receive the Chevalier Commendation this year, on January 16, 1978.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/estee-lauder-was-honored-by-the-government-of-fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/531036564|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202020528/http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/estee-lauder-honored-by-french-govt-estee-fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/531036564|url-status=dead|title=Estee Lauder was honored by the Government of France. She received...|archive-date=February 2, 2017|website=Getty Images}}</ref> She was inducted to the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1988. She received the ] in 2004. Lauder received the Chevalier (]) class of the ] from the Consul General of France, Gerard Causer, on January 16, 1978. She was the first woman to receive this honor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/estee-lauder-was-honored-by-the-government-of-fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/531036564|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202020528/http://www.gettyimages.es/detail/fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/estee-lauder-honored-by-french-govt-estee-fotograf%C3%ADa-de-noticias/531036564|url-status=dead|title=Estee Lauder was honored by the Government of France. She received...|archive-date=February 2, 2017|website=Getty Images}}</ref>
She was inducted to the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1988. She received the ] in 2004.


==Personal life== ==Personal life==
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==Death== ==Death==
Lauder died of ] on April 24, 2004, aged 95,<ref name="death"/> at her home in ].<ref name="death">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/12/national/main611403.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205165436/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/12/national/main611403.shtml|archive-date=February 5, 2007|title=Cosmetics Mogul Estee Lauder Dies|date=April 25, 2004|work=]|access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> Lauder died of ] on April 24, 2004, aged 95,<ref name="death"/> at her home in ].<ref name="death">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cosmetics-mogul-estee-lauder-dies/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205165436/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/12/national/main611403.shtml|archive-date=February 5, 2007|title=Cosmetics Mogul Estee Lauder Dies|date=April 25, 2004|work=]|url-status=live|access-date=August 8, 2008}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
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] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 21:32, 18 December 2024

American businesswoman (1908-2004)

Estée Lauder
Lauder (left) with a customer in 1966
BornJosephine Esther Mentzer
(1908-07-01)July 1, 1908
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 24, 2004(2004-04-24) (aged 95)
New York City, U.S.
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known forCo-founder of The Estée Lauder Companies
Spouses
Joseph Lauder ​ ​(m. 1930; div. 1939)
​ ​(m. 1942; died 1983)
Children
Relatives

Estée Lauder (/ˈɛsteɪ ˈlɔːdər/ EST-ay LAW-dər; née Josephine Esther Mentzer; July 1, 1908 – April 24, 2004) was an American businesswoman. She co-founded her eponymous cosmetics company with her husband, Joseph Lauter (later Lauder). Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Lauder was born Josephine Esther Mentzer in Corona, Queens, New York City, the second child born to Rose Schotz and Max Mentzer. Her parents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her maternal grandmother was from Sátoraljaújhely and her maternal grandfather was from Gelle (now Holice, Slovakia), while her father had Czech-Jewish ancestry. Lauder's claims of descent from European aristocracy were discredited in a biography, Estée Lauder: Beyond the Magic (1985) by Lee Israel. Her New York Times obituary observed "she was a New Yorker and not an aristocrat at all", notwithstanding "the mythmaking that is so much of the magic of the beauty industry". Her "favourite story was that she had been brought up by her Viennese mother in fashionable Flushing, Long Island, in a sumptuous home with stables, a chauffeured car and an Italian nurse."

In actuality, her mother Rose emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1898 with her five children at the time to join her first husband, Abraham Rosenthal. In 1905, Rose married Max Mentzer, a shopkeeper who had also immigrated to the United States in the 1890s. When their daughter was born, they wanted to name her Eszti, the diminutive form of the Hungarian first name Eszter, after her mother's favorite Hungarian aunt, but decided at the last minute to keep the name "Josephine", which they had agreed upon. However, the baby's nickname became "Estee", the name she would grow up using and responding to. Eventually, when she launched her perfume empire with her husband, she added an accent mark to make her name look French and began pronouncing it the way her father had in his Hungarian accent.

Lauder spent much of her childhood trying to make ends meet. Like most of her eight siblings, she worked at the family's hardware store, where she got her first taste of business, entrepreneurship, and what it takes to be a successful retailer. Her childhood dream was to become an actress with her "name in lights, flowers and handsome men".

Estée and Joseph Lauder in 1971
Lauder (left) with Ivana Trump in 1986

When Lauder grew older, she agreed to help her uncle, Dr. John Schotz, with his business. Schotz was a chemist, and his company, New Way Laboratories, sold beauty products such as creams, lotions, rouge, and fragrances. She became more interested in his business than her father's. She was fascinated watching her uncle create his products. He also taught her how to wash her face and do facial massages. After graduating from Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, she focused on her uncle's business.

Career

Lauder named one of her uncle's blends Super Rich All-Purpose Cream, and began selling the preparation to her friends. She sold creams like Six-In-One cold cream and Dr. Schotz's Viennese Cream to beauty shops, beach clubs and resorts. One day, as she was getting her hair done at the House of Ash Blondes, the salon's owner Florence Morris asked Lauder about her perfect skin. Soon, Estée returned to the beauty parlor to hand out four of her uncle's creams and demonstrate their use. Morris was so impressed that she asked Lauder to sell her products at Morris's new salon.

In 1953, Lauder introduced her first fragrance, Youth-Dew, a bath oil that doubled as a perfume. Instead of using French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women began using Youth-Dew by the bottle in their bath water. In the first year, it sold 50,000 bottles; by 1984, the figure had risen to 150 million.

Lauder was the subject of a 1985 TV documentary, Estée Lauder: The Sweet Smell of Success. Explaining her success, she said, "I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard."

Awards and honors

Lauder received the Chevalier (Knight) class of the Legion of Honour from the Consul General of France, Gerard Causer, on January 16, 1978. She was the first woman to receive this honor.

She was inducted to the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1988. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004.

Personal life

Estée met Joseph Lauter when she was in her early twenties. On January 15, 1930, they married. Their surname was later changed from Lauter to Lauder. Their first child, Leonard, was born March 19, 1933. The couple separated then divorced in 1939 and she moved to Florida, but they remarried in 1942. Their second son, Ronald, was born in 1944. Estée and Joseph Lauder remained married until his death in 1983, and she later regretted her divorce, saying that she married young and assumed that she had missed out on life but soon found out that she had the "sweetest husband in the world".

Leonard became the chief executive of Estée Lauder and then chairman of the board. Ronald was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration and was U.S. Ambassador to Austria in 1986–87. As of 2021, he is the president of the World Jewish Congress.

Death

Lauder died of cardiopulmonary arrest on April 24, 2004, aged 95, at her home in Manhattan.

See also

References

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  2. "Estee Lauder Obituary". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  3. "From A Kitchen in Corona, Estee Lauder Built An Empire". Queens Chronicle. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  4. "Estée Lauder Founder of cosmetics empire and epitome of gracious living". The Irish Times. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  5. ^ "Estee Lauder". The Biography Channel. AETN UK. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  6. Timothy Williams, Gates Among Time's Top 20 20th-Century Business Titans Seattle Times, November 30, 1998
  7. Severo, Richard (April 26, 2004). "Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  8. ^ Kent, Jacqueline C. (2003), Business Builders in Cosmetics, The Oliver Press, ISBN 1-881508-82-X
  9. ^ Lauder, Estee. "The Makings of a Beauty Tycoon: Estee Lauder is Born". EvanCarmichael.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  10. "Population Schedule". Fourteenth Census of the United States. US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 1920. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via FamilySearch.com.
  11. "Population Schedule". Fifteenth Census of the United States. US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 1930. Retrieved August 29, 2016 – via FamilySearch.com.
  12. Votruba, Martin. "Estée Lauder". Slovak Studies Program. University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  13. "Empress with a finger in every pot of cream". The Glasgow Herald. April 8, 1986. p. 10. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  14. "Estée Lauder, Pursuer of Beauty And Cosmetics Titan, Dies at 97". The New York Times. April 26, 2004. Retrieved March 7, 2019.
  15. "You couldn't make it up". fashion.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. "The Extraordinary Life of Estée Lauder, the Queen of Cosmetics". HungarianConservative.com. July 2023.
  17. Lauder, Estee (October 21, 1985). "Estee Lauder". New York. Vol. 18, no. 41. p. 32. ISSN 0028-7369.
  18. Herzog, Edwin (May 2012). "Estée Lauder profile". Majoroszog Journal.
  19. ^ "Estee Lauder biography". financial-inspiration.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2008.
  20. "estee lauder Biography". thebiographychannel.co.uk. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  21. "Estee Lauder was honored by the Government of France. She received..." Getty Images. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017.
  22. "Leonard Lauder". Cityfile.com. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2010.
  23. "Cosmetics Magnate Estee Lauder Dies at 97". Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  24. Mirabella, Grace (December 7, 1998). "Beauty Queen: Estee Lauder: She turned cosmetics into a big business by making the experience at the sales counter a personal one". Time. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  25. "Cosmetics mogul Estee Lauder dies". CNN. April 26, 2004. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  26. "Just Who Was Our Envoy to Vienna". The New York Times. July 27, 1989. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  27. ^ "Cosmetics Mogul Estee Lauder Dies". CBS News. April 25, 2004. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007. Retrieved August 8, 2008.

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