Her mom died when she was just five years old. Her father was nearly blind after a factory accident.

So at age 16, she dropped out of school and went to work in a factory, making lenses for watches.

“I worked from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m., and sometimes until 2 a.m.,” she later recalled. “There were no shifts, just a few dozen people, and we all polished glass.…