Leona Helmsley

Leona Roberts Helmsley (born Lena Mindy Rosenthal; July 4, 1920 – August 20, 2007) was an American businesswoman. After allegations of non-payment were made by contractors hired to improve Helmsley's Connecticut home, she was investigated and convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989. Although having initially received a sentence of 4 years, she was required to serve only 19 months in prison and two months under house arrest. During the trial, a former housekeeper testified that she had heard Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes." This quote was identified with her for the rest of her life. Helmsley's flamboyant personality and reputation for tyrannical behavior especially towards her employees earned her the nickname Queen of Mean.





== Early life ==

Helmsley was born Lena Mindy Rosenthal in Marbletown, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrants, Ida Popkin, a homemaker, and Morris Rosenthal, a hatmaker. Her family moved to Brooklyn while she was still a girl, and moved six more times before settling in Manhattan. After dropping out of Abraham Lincoln High School to seek her fortune, she changed her name several times over a short period—from Lee Roberts, Mindy Roberts, and Leni Roberts—before finally going by Leona Mindy Roberts and having her surname legally changed to Roberts.

Roberts' first husband was attorney Leo Panzirer, whom she divorced in 1952. Their only son was Jay (1940–1982), who had four children with his wife, Mimi.