Reita Faria


Reita Faria Powell, born on 23 August 1943 to Goan parents in British Bombay, 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 who became a physician.

Career

Faria was born in Goa. After winning the Miss Mumbai Crown, she won the Eve's Weekly Miss India contest 1966 competition.
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 end of the event, beating 51 delegates from other countries.
After her one-year tenure as Miss World, she began receiving various offers to act in films. Faria refused modelling and acting 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.
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. They have two children and five grandchildren.