Evelyn Lauder, Founder of Pink Ribbon, Dead at 75, of Non-Genetic Ovarian Cancer

Evelyn Lauder, founder of pink ribbon for cancer awareness, died at age 75 from complications of non-genetic ovarian cancer, which had been diagnosed in 2007, at her home in New York City, the Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (ELC) announced today. Her family is said to have been at her bedside as she passed away.

In her long career as an executive at cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Cos., the company founded by her mother-in-law, Lauder worked with many shades of red, peach, bronze and even blues, but pink was her color and the hue that changed her life.

So in 1992, Evelyn worked with her friend Alexandra Penney, the former editor-in-chief of Self magazine, to create the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness. It started small with Lauder and her husband, Leonard, largely financing the little bows given to women at department store makeup counters to remind them about breast exams.

As the campaign evolved, there were fundraising products, until Congress designated October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The campaign raised over $330 million in donations, of which $50 million came from Estée Lauder and associates. The donations went to "The Breast Cancer Research Foundation", founded by Evelyn Lauder.

Born Evelyn Hausner in 1936 in Vienna, Austria, she fled Nazi-occupied Europe with her parents, and they settled in the U.S. She attended public schools in New York City and Hunter College, part of the City University of New York.

As a college freshman, she met her husband, the elder son of Estee Lauder and whose family owned what was then a small cosmetics company.

"We had five products in the line, we only had two or three colors in our lipsticks," she told cable news channel NY1 in 2005. "It was a baby company."  Evelyn came up with the name of its popular Clinique brand during the 1960s. Most recently, she held the title of senior corporate vice president.

Leonard and Evelyn married in 1959. Leonard Lauder is now chairman emeritus of the company. Estee Lauder died in 2004 at 97.

Evelyn Lauder is survived by Leonard A. Lauder, Chairman Emeritus of the Estée Lauder Companies, William Lauder, Executive Chairman of the same company, Gary Lauder, Managing Director of Lauder Partners LLC, and five grandchildren.

Photograph: Estée Lauder Companies Inc.