Rubinstein, Helena (1872-1965), was a Polish-born American business executive who founded an international cosmetics company. She also established an important philanthropic (charitable) organization called the Helena Rubinstein Foundation.
Rubinstein was born Chaja Rubinstein on Dec. 25, 1872, in Kraków, Poland. She later began using the name Helena. As a young woman, she briefly studied medicine before leaving Poland to live with an aunt in Vienna. She next went to Australia to live with an uncle. When she moved to Australia, Rubinstein took with her a supply of face cream her mother had used in Poland. Australian women admired Rubinstein’s fair complexion, and she decided to develop her own cream to sell. In 1903, she opened a beauty salon in Melbourne. There, she sold her face cream and other beauty products and gave advice on skin care.
In 1908, Rubinstein opened a salon in London. That same year, she married Edward Titus, an American journalist in London. With her success in Australia and England, Rubinstein next moved to Paris and opened a salon there. She moved to New York City with her husband and two young sons soon after the outbreak of World War I (1914-1918). Rubinstein again opened a beauty salon.
After the war, Rubinstein expanded her business in major cities across the United States and around the world. She sold her company to Lehman Brothers in 1928, before the stock market crash of 1929. But during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, she bought the company back for far less than she had originally sold it.
After divorcing her first husband in the mid-1930’s, Rubinstein married Artchil Gourielli-Tchkonia, a Georgian prince, in 1938.
In 1953, Rubinstein established the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, which operated until 2011. The foundation supported a variety of programs in the arts, particularly education, community services, and health.
Rubinstein continued working for her cosmetics company until the end of her life. She died in New York City on April 1, 1965.
