Ruth Marianna Handler 1916 - 2002

Ruth Handler (née Mosko) was a co-founder of the toy company Mattel (with her husband, Elliot). She served as the president of the company between 1945 and 1975. In 1959, she invented the Barbie doll, named after her daughter, Barbara. Handler resigned from Mattel in 1975, following the discovery of fraudulent finacial reporting at Mattel under her leadership.

Handler suffered from breast cancer, and underwent a mastectomy to treat the disease. Inspired by her difficulty in finding a breast prosthesis she liked, she manufactured one herself through her new company, Ruthton Corp.