Reita Faria

Indian physician and Miss World 1966 (born 1943)

Reita Faria Powell
Faria photographed upon arriving at the Entebbe International Airport, Uganda, in 1966.
Born
Reita Faria

(1943-08-23) 23 August 1943 (age 80)
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
(present-day Mumbai, Maharashtra, India)
Alma mater
Occupations
David Powell
​
(m. 1971)​
Children2
Beauty pageant titleholder
TitleMiss 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 Miss World 1966 pageant. She is the first Miss World winner to be qualified as a medical doctor.[3]

Early life

Reita Faria was born in the Matunga locality of Mumbai (then British India’s Bombay) on 23 August 1943.

Her parents were Goan Catholics, her father John was from the village of Tivim and his wife Antoinette was from Santa Cruz.[4] Faria was the couple's second daughter after their eldest, Philomena. The family was middle class, with her father working in a mineral water factory and her mother running a beauty salon.[5]

Growing up, Faria, with an adult height of 5 feet 8 inches, was unusually tall for an Indian girl and made fun of by schoolboys who nicknamed her ‘mommy long legs’. Nevertheless Faria used her tall and lean build to her advantage in sports, playing ‘everything from throwball, netball and badminton’. Her first newspaper headlines were for scoring hat-tricks in hockey.[4]

Career

In pageants

Faria was born in British Bombay (now Mumbai), and thereby participated in the Miss Bombay contest, which she won. She subsequently won the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest in 1966 (not to be confused with the Femina Miss India, won by Yasmin Daji in 1966). This made her eligible to represent India at Miss World 1966.[6]

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.[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.[6]

Medical career

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, Ireland, where she started her medical practice.[7]

Personal life

Faria lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her husband, endocrinologist David Powell, whom she married in 1971. She has two daughters,[8]

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 and even qualified as a physician". Indian Express. 18 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b Monteiro, Lisa (4 December 2016). "Reita Faria walks down memory lane in Goa". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  5. ^ Bose, Shohini; Sanpui, Rahul (17 November 2021). "She The First | Reita Faria: Won Miss World, Rejected Film Offers To Be a Doctor". TheQuint. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "51 Years Before Manushi, Reita Faria Was India's First Miss World". The Quint. 18 November 2018.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "The first Indian to win the Miss World title". Rediff News. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2010.

External links

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