Estée Lauder

Birth Name: Josephine Esther Mentzer

Date of Birth: July 1, 1908

Place of Birth: Corona, Queens, New York City, New York, United States

Date of Death: April 24, 2004

Place of Death: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Estée Lauder was an American businessperson. She co-founded cosmetics company Estée Lauder with her husband, Joseph Lauter/Lauder. Estée Lauder is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of skin care, make-up, fragrance, and hair care products. Estée was her nickname.

Her parents, Rose/Rosie (Schotz) Rosenthal and Max/Mose Mentzer, a shopkeeper, were Hungarian Jews. Her father was from Holice. Her mother was from Sátoraljaújhely. While Estée was sometimes said to have had a French grandparent, usually a grandmother, this does not appear to be accurate.

Estée was married to Joseph Lauter, later Lauder, until his death. The couple had two children, billionaire, philanthropist, and art collector Leonard Lauder, and businessperson, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist Ronald Lauder, who has been U.S. Ambassador to Austria, from April 16, 1986 to October 27, 1987, and President of the World Jewish Congress, since June 10, 2007. Her grandson, Leonard’s son, is billionaire businessperson William P. Lauder, who is executive chairman of The Estée Lauder Companies. Her granddaughters, Ronald’s daughters, are billionaire heiresses and businesspeople Aerin Lauder, who is married to private equity financier Eric Zinterhofer; and Jane Lauder, who is married to financier and bank executive Kevin Warsh.

Estee’s maternal grandfather was named Israel Moritz Schatz. Israel was from Gelle, now Holice, Slovakia.

Estee’s maternal grandmother was Betti Grosshandler (the daughter of Jakob Grosshandler and Rebekka Stern). Betti was from Sátoraljaújhely.

Sources: Birth record of Estée Lauder – https://www.familysearch.org

Genealogy of Estée Lauder (focusing on her mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com

Estée Lauder/Josephine Esther Mentzer on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org