Reita Faria

Reita Faria Powell,[1] born on 23 August 1943[2] to Goan parents in British Bombay (now Mumbai), is an Indian physician and former model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss World title in 1966, making her the first Asian woman to win the event. She is also the first Miss World winner to be qualified as a physician.[3]

Reita Faria
Born
Reita Faria

(1943-08-23) 23 August 1943
Bombay, British India
Alma mater• Grant Medical College & Sir J. J. Group of Hospitals, Bombay
• King's College Hospital, London
OccupationModel, physician
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
TitleMiss Bombay 1966
Eve's Weekly Miss India 1966
Miss World 1966
Spouse(s)Dr. David Powell (m.1971)
Children2
Beauty pageant titleholder
Major
competition(s)		Miss Bombay 1966
(Winner)
Eve's Weekly Miss India 1966
(Winner)
Miss World 1966
(Winner)
(Best in Eveningwear)

Career

Faria was born in Goa. 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.[4]

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.[5]

Reita was a judge at Femina Miss India in 1998, and has come back to judge the Miss World competition on a few occasions. For instance 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.

Personal life

She now lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband, endocrinologist David Powell, whom she married in 1971.[6] They have two children (Deirdre and Ann Marie) and five grandchildren (Patrick, Cormac, David, Maria and Johnny).[7]

See also

References
  1. "Makers of India - Women of Fame". Indian Mirror. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. Goa Miscellania
  3. "Not Just a Pretty Face: Reita Faria, the first Asian to win Miss World". Indian Express. 18 November 2018.
  4. "51 Years Before Manushi, Reita Faria Was India's First Miss World". The Quint. 18 November 2018.
  5. "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.
  6. "The first Indian to win the Miss World title". Rediff News. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  7. "Miss World 1966 - Reita Faria - India". Miss World. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.

Sources
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