Short Biography

Florence Nightingale Graham (December 31, 1878 - October 19, 1966) - who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden - was a Canadian businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. Arden was born in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada, where she lived until the age of 24. In 1909, Florence Nightingale Graham dropped out of nursing school in Toronto. She then joined her elder brother in New York City, working briefly as a bookkeeper for the E.R. Squibb Pharmaceuticals Company. While there, she spent hours in their lab, learning about skincare. She then worked - again briefly - for Eleanor Adair, an early beauty culturist, as a "treatment girl". In 1915 she married Thomas J. Lewis, a banker, thus becoming an American citizen. Arden`s drive for success cost her marriage to Lewis. They divorced in 1934. A second marriage to a Russian prince only lasted 2 years.

Arden died in New York City in 1966 and was interred in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York under the name Elizabeth N. Graham. At the time of her death, her estate was worth $30 to $40 million (US) and she had over a hundred salons worldwide.

Miscellaneous Information

Friends and Family

Gene Markey [Friend]

Who's Dated Who content is contributed and edited by our readers. Please report errors or omissions on this page.