Reita Faria
Reita Faria | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Faria after winning the Miss World 1966 | |
| Born | Reita Faria 23 August 1943 |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Spouse |
David Powell (m. 1971) |
| Children | 2 |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss Bombay 1966 Eve's Weekly Miss India 1966 Miss World 1966 |
| Major competition(s) | Miss Bombay 1966 (Winner) Eve's Weekly Miss India 1966 (Winner) Miss World 1966 (Winner) (Best in Eveningwear) |
Reita Faria Powell[1] (née Faria; born 23 August 1943)[2] is an Indian physician, former model and the winner of the Miss World 1966 pageant. She is also the first Miss World winner to be qualified as a physician.[3]
Personal life[edit]
Faria currently lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband, endocrinologist David Powell, whom she married in 1971. She has two daughters.[4]
Career[edit]
Faria was born in Bombay. Soon after winning the Miss Bombay Crown, she won the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest 1966 competition (not to be confused with the Femina Miss India, won by Yasmin Daji).
During the Miss World 1966 contest, she won the sub-titles 'Best in Swimsuit' and 'Best in Eveningwear' for wearing a saree. She eventually went on to win the Miss World 1966 crown at the climax of the event, beating 51 competing delegates from other countries.[5]
After her one-year tenure as Miss World, she began receiving various offers to act in films. Faria refused lucrative modelling and acting contracts, and instead concentrated on medical studies. She was a student at the Grant Medical College & Sir J. J. Group of Hospitals, where she completed her M.B.B.S. degree. Thereafter she went on to study at King's College Hospital, London. She married her mentor David Powell, in 1971, and in 1973, the couple shifted to Dublin, where she started her medical practice.[6]
Reita was a judge at Femina Miss India in 1998, and has come back to judge the Miss World competition on a few occasions. She was a judge along with Demis Roussos at the Miss World final of 1976 held in London where Cindy Breakespeare was crowned Miss World.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Makers of India - Women of Fame". Indian Mirror. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- ^ Goa Miscellania
- ^ "Not Just a Pretty Face: Reita Faria, the first Asian to win Miss World and even qualified as a physician". Indian Express. 18 November 2018.
- ^ "The first Indian to win the Miss World title". Rediff News. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ "51 Years Before Manushi, Reita Faria Was India's First Miss World". The Quint. 18 November 2018.
- ^ "Lost and found: Thirty newsmakers from the pages of Indian history and where they are now: Cover Story". India Today. 3 July 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
External links[edit]
Miss World 1966 contestants | |
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Miss India winners in the Big Four international beauty pageants | ||
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| Miss Universe |  | |
| Miss World | ||
| Miss International |
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| Miss Earth | ||
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- Medical doctors from Mumbai
- Medical doctors from Goa
- Femina Miss India winners
- Miss World winners
- Miss World 1966 delegates
- Living people
- 1943 births
- Indian beauty pageant winners
- Indian emigrants to Ireland
- Indian women medical doctors
- 20th-century Indian women scientists
- 20th-century Indian medical doctors
- University of Mumbai alumni
- Alumni of King's College London
- Women scientists from Goa
- Female models from Goa
- 20th-century women physicians