雅诗兰黛女掌门过世 生前救人无数

    上周六，雅诗兰黛掌门人伊芙琳•兰黛因非遗传性卵巢癌引发的并发症与世长辞。她一生结交了无数挚友。但是，周一参加葬礼的许多好友之前竟全然不知她即将离世。

    伊芙琳堪称女性典范。周一上午，华盛顿著名游说家利斯•罗宾斯在参加葬礼前用早餐时向笔者透露：“她从不关注自己。她只关注别人。” 据悉，出席伊芙琳的葬礼只有受到邀请的挚友。

    关于伊芙琳•兰黛为癌症研究所做的贡献，读者可从大量的新闻报道中获悉：她创立了乳腺癌研究基金会（The Breast Cancer Research Foundation），自1993年以来，该基金会募集的资金已经超过3.5亿美元。她创造了粉红丝带标志，旨在提升全球乳腺癌意识。她在曼哈顿成立美国纽约斯隆凯特琳记忆研究所（Memorial Sloan-Kettering），为乳腺癌患者提供全程服务——罗宾斯两年前身患癌症时曾在该研究所接受治疗。罗宾斯说：“她总是在帮助朋友们，帮助那些她根本不认识、只是朋友们提起的陌生人，她一直在造福人类。”数周前，罗宾斯还与伊芙琳•兰黛通过电话，但她并未察觉到兰黛已经生命垂危。

    雅诗兰黛（Estee Lauder）董事会成员琳恩•罗思柴尔德补充道：“在过去四年半中，我们都不知道她的病情有多重。”

    兰黛，享年75岁，虽出身卑微，却最终成为世界顶级人物。她出生于奥地利的维也纳，在二战时期的伦敦大轰炸中幸存下来，为逃离纳粹统治，她跟随父母乘船到达纽约。伊芙琳18岁时成为亨特学院（Hunter College）的大一新生，后来在一次相亲活动中认识了雅诗•兰黛的儿子伦纳德•兰黛。后来他们结了婚，共同生活了52年。挚友口中的“艾维”（Evie）后来辞去了纽约公立学院的教师工作，加盟雅诗兰黛，帮助开发了倩碧（Clinique）和雅男仕（Aramis）等品牌，后担任高级副总裁和全球香水业务发展负责人。

    笔者最后一次见到兰黛是在《财富》杂志2010年最具影响力女性峰会（Fortune’s 2010 Most Powerful Women Summit）上。兰黛的企业管理方法严格，但是她最伟大的遗产在于她曾经救人无数。E. L.罗斯柴尔德公司（E.L. Rothschild Ltd.）CEO罗斯柴尔德自2000年以来一直是雅诗兰黛的董事，昨天，他向笔者回忆了他在内曼马库斯百货（Neiman Marcus）购买雅诗兰黛旗下公司芭比布朗（Bobbi Brown）化妆品时和一位女店员的一番对话。他询问这位女店员在芭比布朗工作感觉如何。罗斯柴尔德回忆道：“女店员对我说，‘如果你问我对雅诗兰黛有何感想？我想说，我欠雅诗兰黛一条命。二十年前，我被诊断出患有乳腺癌。当时，我的主管在参加集团公司会议，可能在与伊芙琳•兰黛女士的谈话中，把我的情况告诉了她。兰黛女士根本不认识我，但她却亲自打电话给我。她跟我谈了好几个小时，并让她的私人医生与我的医生联系。我可以肯定地说，是她救了我。’”

    罗斯柴尔德说：“这就是伊芙琳•兰黛。她挽救人们的生命，却从不要求回报。”

    译者：乔树静/汪皓

    Evelyn Lauder, who died of complications from non-genetic ovarian cancer on Saturday, had a swarm of close friends throughout her life. Yet many close friends who attended her funeral today did not have a clue that she would die so soon.

    Classic Evelyn. "It was never about her. It was always about you," Liz Robbins, a prominent Washington lobbyist, told me this morning over breakfast before she headed to the invitation-only funeral for her good friend.

    You can read the news reports about Evelyn Lauder's contributions to cancer research: She founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which has raised more than $350 million since 1993. She created the Pink Ribbon as a symbol to raise awareness about breast cancer around the world. She built, at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan, a full-service haven for women with breast cancer--which Robbins used when cancer struck her two years ago. "She was constantly helping friends, helping people she didn't even know but heard about through friends, and she helped mankind," says Robbins, who spoke with Lauder by phone a few weeks ago and didn't realize that was dying.

    "None of us knew how ill she was over the last four and a half years," adds Estee Lauder (EL) board member Lynn Forester de Rothschild.

    Lauder, who was 75, had moved into a world of privilege from humble beginnings. She was born in Vienna, Austria, survived the London Blitz during World War II, and arrived in New York by boat with her parents, who were escaping Hitler's occupation. At 18, Evelyn was a freshman at Hunter College when she met Leonard Lauder, Estee Lauder's son, on a blind date. They married and were together for 52 years. "Evie," as people close to her called her, left a teaching job in New York's public schools to join Estee Lauder, where she helped develop brands such as Clinique and Aramis and rose to senior corporate VP and head of fragrance development worldwide.

    Lauder, whom I last saw at Fortune's 2010 Most Powerful Women Summit, had serious business chops, but her greatest legacy will be the countless people she helped. De Rothschild, who is CEO of E.L. Rothschild Ltd. and has been an Estee Lauder director since 2000, told me a story yesterday about shopping for Bobbi Brown cosmetics at Neiman Marcus and asking a saleswoman how she liked working for Bobbi Brown, which is an Estee Lauder company. As de Rothschild recalls, "The saleswoman said to me, 'How do I feel about Estee Lauder? I owe my life to Estee Lauder. Twelve years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My supervisor was at a group-wide company meeting and somehow in a conversation with Mrs. Evelyn Lauder, my supervisor informed her of my condition. Mrs. Lauder did not know me from Adam, and yet I received a call from her. She talked to me for hours. She had her personal doctors consult with mine. And I am sure she saved my life.'"

    "That was Evelyn Lauder," as de Rothschild says. "She saved lives and never asked for anything in return."