caused by the catastrophic defeat of her Armada which tried to invade England, the invincible Spanish Empire collapsed. For several years, during the mid-medieval ages and Renaissance time,  The Vatican lost influence over the European Catholic populace and monarchs of the Christian kingdoms because of escalating exorbitant expenses and financial difficulties.  Then, what happened?  The great painters, architects and artists of Florence, Venice and Rome who were in the service of the Holly Seat lost their jobs and became waiters and storytellers in the cheapest inns and taverns in Italy. No more money means no more frescos, no more masterpieces, no more paintings!

Catherine de Medicis, Maria Callas, Carthage’s Didon and Empress Eugenie went though hell and almost suffered public humiliation when their wealth began to show sign of weakness and degradation of financial might. Money has been everything since the dawn of humanity and civilization, and perhaps since humanity commenced to put a tag price on intelligence, productivity, creativity, trade and social influential. I used to tell my students: "Among the most perfect inventions in history were the tools which preserved our heritage, culture and wisdom, such as the music scale, Alphabet and the terracotta tablets/stones which recorded memorable events of world history...And perhaps, the smile of the woman I love. Among the worst inventions of humankind were: War materiel, biased jurisprudence, Medieval torture tools and the minting of monetary coins. The same thing applies today in America. We will always talk about the famous and the rich. Wealth and money are status symbol. When you have money, people think you are bright and successful. When you lose your assets, social power and position, you become yesterday’s news. You might get lucky and be remembered here and there, but you are no more a headliner. You become like Australia. Everybody talks about Australia but nobody wants to visit Australia. We tried to incorporate in our list, famous women who made it big. Some are in the entertainment business, others flourished in other  fields such as opera, soccer, taxes and finances, cabaret, politics and even in the military. They think differently, they look very different from each other and have achieved divergent or convergent goals, but all of them cashed big time on their successes and fame. Those amazing and powerful women have many things in common, to name a few: Money, fame (Whether regional or global), talent, a lot of luck, influence, shrewd tough-cookie savoir-faire, and above all “individuality”.

No doubt, there is a big difference in the personality and character of Mrs. Allot-Marie, Secretary of Defense of France and Jennifer Lopez. There is a sharp contrast in how the magnificently intelligent and bright Monica Crowley and flashy-dashy-scandalous Britney Spears perceive life, relationships and define priorities. Life, experience, good times and bad times taught us that the most illustrious women in history who remained vivid in our memory, are those who either directly influenced our life, science, welfare, culture, society and future such as Madame Curie, Golda Meier, Ida Lupino, Mother Teresa, Emperor Constantine mother’s Helene, or immensely amused, entertained and intrigued us like Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Marie-Antoinette, Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, Eva Peron, Mata Hari, Marlene Dietrich and even Mae West, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears!!  Many of the famous ladies on our list encompass those qualities, characteristics and “features”. In some instances, we have selected a nominal number of ladies who are not universally known, yet, they have succeeded  in causing their seal and cementing their mark of excellence and superior quality in their fields. Ladies like Linda de Marlor, one of the world’s most flamboyant and experienced tax experts; Nancy Grace and Monica Crowley who are on the top of the list of the brightest and most magnificent women in America. Dr. Crowley and Counselor Grace are almost perfect; Barbara Cook, the great diva of American concert-halls who is well-known to music lovers in America, yet completely unknown in many parts of the civilized world. Those ladies of excellence who are not worldwide famous were selected, simply, because they are excellent!! Pamela Anderson’s breast is far more famous and “clicked on” than Emma Lazarus’         “Give me your tired, your poor…Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” .This should tell you a lot about the criteria and requisites of world fame and how human mediocrity helps make somebody famous and super rich. Pity!!

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