Violet Van der Elst (4 January 1882 – 30 April 1966)[1] was a British entrepreneur and campaigner best remembered for her activities against the death penalty.
She was born Violet Anne Dodge, the daughter of a coal porter and a washerwoman, she herself worked as a scullery maid.
[2] She developed cosmetics including Shavex, the first brush-less shaving cream and became a successful businesswoman.
After her first husband died on 15 November 1927, she married Jean Julien Romain Van der Elst, a Belgian who had been working for her as a manager but was also a painter.
[6] She gained publicity from her vocal campaigns against capital punishment, and stood three times, unsuccessfully, as an independent candidate to be a Member of Parliament.