About Anita Roddick
Dame Anita Lucia Roddick (née Perella; 23 October 1942 – 10 September 2007) was a British businesswoman, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, The Body Shop International Limited, a cosmetics company producing and retailing natural beauty products which shaped ethical consumerism. The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of products being tested on animals in some of its products and one of the first to promote fair trade with developing countries. Roddick was involved in activism and campaigning for environmental and social issues, including involvement with Greenpeace and the newspaper The Big Issue. In 1990, she founded Children on the Edge, a charitable organisation which helps disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. She believed that business should offer a form of moral leadership, being a more powerful force in society than religion or government. Roddick opened her first Body Shop in Brighton, England in 1976, with the goal of earning an income for herself and her two daughters while her husband was away in South America. By 1991, the Body Shop had 700 branches, and Roddick was awarded the 1991 World Vision Award for Development Initiative.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.