Lillian Vernon

Born in Leipzig, Germany in 1927, Lillian Vernon is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in history. In 1951, while four months pregnant, she decided to design monogrammed handbags and belts from her kitchen table for mail order, a modest venture for extra income that unexpectedly bloomed into a multimillion-dollar corporation. As a philanthropist, she launched the Lillian Vernon Foundation and has made major donations in education, the arts, women's rights, and literacy. Updated 2014