By Chana Pollack December 26, 2013

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, a weekly photo feature in which we sift 116 years of Forward history to find snapshots of women’s lives.

Khaye Rubinstein, founder of the eponymous and enormously successful cosmetics firm Helena Rubinstein Inc. was born on December 25, 1870, in Krakow Poland, the eldest of eight daughters. She briefly dabbled in medicine before immigrating to Australia, where her milky complexion and sense of style was noted by local women.

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That, in turn, led to her first selling off her personal stash of beauty cream brought from home, and eventually to creating her own brand. By her death in 1965 Rubinstein, who stood 4 foot 10 inches, had created a vast enterprise and was considered the first self-made female multimillionaire.

Photo credit Forward Association

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