Women have been recognized for their beauty throughout the ages, sometimes even more so than for their intelligence. Get inspired by this list of phenomenal women, who have been known not only for their beauty, but for their beautiful minds as well.
1. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Impeccable clothes, cat-eye sunglasses and an intelligence that transcends her from beyond just being a style icon, Jackie O graduated from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French literature. During her senior year she won the Prix de Paris Contest, sponsored by Vogue, where she would spend six months in the magazine’s Paris office working as a junior editor and another six in New York. In her application essay, the renowed poet Charles Baudelaire, writer Oscar Wilde, and ballet producer Serge Diaghilev were the three people Onassis mentioned as people she would like to meet. She apparently gave up this opportunity, influenced by her mother, who did not want her to be far away. Instead, she started working as a photographer at the Washington Times Herald, where her job consisted of photographing and interviewing mainly important persons in politics; Richard and Pat Nixon, for example. She also took classes in American History and was fluent in Spanish and French. Plus, she made speeches in Italian and Polish. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy and retiring from the public eye, this literature lover became a book editor at Viking Press and then at Doubleday. 2. Natalie Portman When someone says brains and beauty, the Star Wars actress instantly comes to mind. After graduating from high school with 4.0 GPA and skipped her Star Wars l: The Phantom Menace premiere, where she played Queen Amidala, because finals were coming and she needed to study. This responsibility towards her education led her to Harvard University and where she pursued a psychology degree. Professor Stephen Kosslyn, Ph.D said that Portman was “a joy to have her in class” and described her as a leader and a successful student. Scientific journals published two articles she co-authored; “A Simple Method to Demonstrate the Enzymatic Production of Hydrogen from Sugar” and a study on memory called “Frontal lobe activation during object permanence: data from near-infrared spectroscopy”. In 2004 she returned to her birth country, Israel, and enrolled in graduate courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. To finish off, she’s also a devotee of foreign languages and has studied French, Japanese, German, and Arabic. 3. Lisa Kudrow Before captivating people’s hearts in Friends as Phoebe Buffay, Kudrow was trying to pursue a career in the science field. After graduating from Vassar College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, considered one of the most selective institutions, she was participating in medical research with her father, a headache specialist. Her investigations advance her to co-author a paper in a scientific journal, published by coincidence the same year Friends aired. Kudrow was invited in 2010 to deliver an address to the graduating class of 2010 at Vassar’s 146th commencement and she’s currently part of their Board of Trustees.
4. Audrey Hepburn Star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and all-time winner of the eyebrow game, Audrey Hepburn, also dedicated her life to humanitarian work. After her outstanding Hollywood career, the Academy Award winner became goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and started to raise awareness of children in need. She made several trips to Asia, Africa, and Central and South America on her efforts and visited places with poor sanitation conditions. “I’m glad I’ve got a name, because I’m using it for what it’s worth. It’s like a bonus that my career has given me,” said Audrey in a press conference after her first field-trip assignment to Ethiopia. When she got to South America her mission consisted of aiding street children and education, she even studied projects designed to help them and witnessed communities receiving water systems for the first time. This philanthropist personality is the result of her experience during World War ll, during which Hepburn suffered from anemia, respiratory problems and edema and was a victim of malnutrition. 5. Alexandra Lúgaro Independent candidate for governor in Puerto Rico, Alexandra Lúgaro, has more to offer than just her looks. She enrolled at University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus at the young age of 15 years and completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business administration with triple concentration in Marketing, Finance and Economy. She holds a Juris Doctor and is about to finish her doctorate degree from the Madrid Complutense University. Her campaign consists of renegotiating the island’s debt; legalize marijuana and same-sex marriage; and revitalizing the education system. She is primary worried about the misuse of federal funds and is aware of the current emigration of young Puerto Ricans. 6. Emma Watson Recognized by her role in the Harry Potter movies as Hermione, Emma Watson has now become the new face of feminism. In her role as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador and the launch of the “#HeForShe” campaign, last year she gave a remarkable speech encouraging gender equality and the involvement of men in this cause. She also clarified the misunderstanding of the term “feminism”, that tends to be synonym of “man-hating” and indicated that by definition it’s just: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.” Apart from this, Watson has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, during which she took a two semesters off due to her acting work. On top of this she’s a fully trained yoga and meditation instructor. 7. Penelope Cruz Star of Vicky Cristina Barcelona is another actress that took advantage of her Hollywood status and joined poverty causes. After volunteering with Mother Teresa during one week in a leprosy clinic, Cruz founded a non-government organization designed to raise money for impoverished children around the globe. This life-changing experience also motivated her to donate her salary, from the movie The Hi-Lo Country, to Maria Theresa’s cause. She’s also been involved in in World Food Programme, (RED) Campaign and ALDO Fights AIDS. Additionally, her love for animals was reflected in 2012 on the PETA anti-fur campaign, in which she posed for one of their well-acclaimed ads.