The wife of billionaire cosmetics scion Leonard Lauder, Evelyn is a philanthropist and part of the reason why women pin those pink ribbons to their lapels.

Evelyn Hausner was born in Vienna and arrived in the U.S. with her family following World War II. She was 18 when she met Leonard Lauder on a blind date. The couple married in 1959 and Evelyn initially worked as an elementary school teacher before joining the cosmetics company. She held the title of senior vice president at the company for decades, but is better known for the philanthropic work.

After Lauder received successful treatment for breast cancer in 1989 from Memorial Sloan-Kettering, she founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 1993. The group has been at the forefront of the disease ever since, raising more than $150 million and dispensing more than 80 million pink ribbons. Her philanthropic work earned her the Legion d'Honneur in 2002. She passed away in 2011 due to complications from nongenetic ovarian cancer. [Image via Getty]