Dame Anita Lucia Roddick DBE (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, now The Body Shop International Limited, a cosmetics company producing and retailing natural beauty products which shaped ethical consumerism.

[3] She believed that business should offer a form of moral leadership, being a more powerful force in society than religion or government.

[4] In the late 1990s, she became involved in advocating for the Angola Three, African-American prisoners at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who had already been held in solitary confinement for decades.

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.

She wanted to provide quality skincare products in refillable containers and sample sizes, all marketed with truth rather than hype.

[10]In 1997, Roddick developed the Body Shop's most successful campaign ever, creating Ruby, the size 16 doll, who was thought to bear a passing resemblance to Barbie.

[3] She created COTE to help manage the crisis of poor conditions in the overcrowded orphanages and worked to de-institutionalise the children over the course of their early life.

In the late 1990s, Roddick became involved in the case of the Angola Three, African-American men who had been held for more than two decades in solitary confinement at Louisiana State Penitentiary.

"[15] Between 2009 and 2014, the Roddick Foundation gave four grants totalling £120,000 to CAGE, an organisation led by Mozzam Begg, that aimed "to raise awareness of the plight of the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay and other detainees held as part of the War on Terror".

[19] Lord Carlile, formerly the British Government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation, said: "I would never advise anybody to give money to CagePrisoners.

The judicial review heard testimony that a British Cabinet Minister and US intelligence had applied pressure on the charity commission to investigate CAGE.

The Littlehampton College also hosts 'Roddick Days' such as 'Day of Action' and 'One World'; these events allow students to give something back to their local community and learn about what is happening around them.

[citation needed] In 2004, Roddick was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis due to long-standing hepatitis C. She did not reveal her illness until 14 February 2007.

[24] Roddick explained that her hepatitis C was unexpectedly diagnosed in 2004, following a blood test that was part of a medical examination needed for a life insurance policy.

Roddick died of a massive stroke at about 6:30pm on 10 September 2007, after being admitted to St Richard's Hospital, Chichester the previous evening suffering from a severe headache.