Georgina Rizk ( ar, جورجينا رزق, Jūrjīnā Rizq, born 23 July 1953) is a Lebanese model, socialite, and beauty queen. She represented Lebanon at the
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...
pageant and won, making her the first Lebanese and
Middle Eastern
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...
/
West Asian
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...
woman to win that title. Prior to this, she was crowned Miss Lebanon 1970 and represented
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
at the
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
competition but failed to place.
She is currently a main beauty pageant judge for the
Miss Lebanon
Miss Lebanon ( ar, ملكة جمال لبنان, Malikat Jamāl Lubnān, Queen of Beauty of Lebanon) is the national beauty pageant in Lebanon. The current Miss Lebanon is Yasmina Zaytoun who was crowned on 24 July 2022.
History
Miss Lebanon ha ...
contest and is the current wife of Lebanese singer and actor
Walid Toufic
Walid Toutanji ( ar, وليد توفيق; also known as Walid Toufic; born April 8, 1954), is a Lebanese singer and actor.
Biography
Walid Toufic, born Walid Toutounji, grew up with his Sunni family in Tripoli, Lebanon. He later relocated to we ...
.
Biography
Rizk was born in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
in a Christian household to a Lebanese father and
Hungarian mother. Prior to marrying Rizk's father, her mother had been married to an Italian by the name of Rossi. That union produced a daughter (Rizk's half-sister), fashion designer Felicina Rossi.
She was crowned Miss Lebanon 1970 and represented Lebanon at the Miss World pageant but failed to place. Months later, on 24 July 1971, she represented Lebanon at the Miss Universe pageant and was crowned
Miss Universe 1971
Miss Universe 1971 was the 20th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on 24 July 1971.
At the end of the event, Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico crowned Georgina Rizk of Lebanon as Mis ...
in
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...
, United States. She was the first woman from the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, the fourth woman from
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
overall and the first from
West Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Ana ...
to win the title. In the pageant, she made a memorable fashion statement by wearing a very revealing top and
hotpants
Hotpants or hot pants are extremely short shorts. The term was first used by ''Women's Wear Daily'' in 1970 to describe shorts made in luxury fabrics such as velvet and satin for fashionable wear, rather than their more practical equivalents th ...
.
The 1972 Miss Universe pageant was held in Cerromar Beach Hotel in
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Dorado () is a town and municipality in the northern coast of Puerto Rico, west of San Juan and is located in the northern region of the island, bordering the Atlantic Ocean, north of Toa Alta, east of Vega Alta, and west of Toa Baja. Dorado ...
. On 30 May 1972, a month before the pageant telecast, 17 Christian pilgrims from
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
, along with other victims, were killed during an attack at the
Lod Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is the ...
in Israel (now Ben Gurion International Airport). The
massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
was perpetrated by three members of the
Japanese Red Army
The was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active i ...
on behalf of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary soci ...
(PFLP). Due to fear of possible retaliation for the massacre of the Puerto Ricans, Rizk was not allowed to attend the Miss Universe Pageant to crown her successor in Puerto Rico.
Personal life
Prior to winning the pageant and at the time of her crowning, she dated a French university chemistry student named Philippe Duc. She stated at a press conference in 1971 that she approved of
pre-marital sex
Premarital sex is sexual activity which is practiced by people before they are married. Premarital sex is considered a sin by a number of religions and also considered a moral issue which is taboo in many cultures. Since the Sexual Revolution ...
, stating "we must have lots of experience" and that "marriage is not a simple thing". Rizk would later claim that her comments were misquoted: what she really meant was that she approved of pre-marital sex but only with someone one loved or planned to marry.
Rizk's first husband was
Muharram Fouad
Moharam Fouad also known as Muharram Fouad (24 June 1934 – 27 June 2002) was a famous Egyptian singer and movie star.
Fouad was born on 24 June 1934 in Cairo, Egypt.
Fouad's introduction to the screen came in 1959 with the film Hassan and Na ...
, the Egyptian singer and actor whom she married for a short period in 1975. Rizk later married
Ali Hassan Salameh
Ali Hassan Salameh ( ar, علي حسن سلامة, ; 1 April 1941 – 22 January 1979) was a Palestinian militant who was the chief of operations (code name Abu Hassan) for Black September and founder of Force 17. He was assassinated by Mossad ...
, a Palestinian who was chief of operations for
Black September
Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...
and founder of
Force 17
Force 17 ( ar, القوة 17) was a commando and special operations unit of the Palestinian territories, Palestinian Fatah movement and later of the Office of the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Chairman of the Palestinian Authorit ...
. The couple spent their honeymoon in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and then stayed at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...
. When Rizk got pregnant, she returned to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
. Salameh was killed in 1979 by the
Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
. Salameh, identified as a key participant in the 1972
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...
, was killed as part of
Operation Wrath of God
Operation "Wrath of God" ( he, מבצע זעם האל ''Mivtza Za'am Ha'el''), also known as Operation "Bayonet", was a covert operation directed by Mossad to assassinate individuals involved in the 1972 Munich massacre in which 11 members of t ...
. Rizk, six months pregnant when Salameh was assassinated, gave birth to son Ali Salameh (b. 1979).
She later married the renowned Lebanese singer
Walid Toufic
Walid Toutanji ( ar, وليد توفيق; also known as Walid Toufic; born April 8, 1954), is a Lebanese singer and actor.
Biography
Walid Toufic, born Walid Toutounji, grew up with his Sunni family in Tripoli, Lebanon. He later relocated to we ...
in 1990. She has two children with him.
She has been a judge for the
Miss Lebanon
Miss Lebanon ( ar, ملكة جمال لبنان, Malikat Jamāl Lubnān, Queen of Beauty of Lebanon) is the national beauty pageant in Lebanon. The current Miss Lebanon is Yasmina Zaytoun who was crowned on 24 July 2022.
History
Miss Lebanon ha ...
pageants.
Her sister was jailed in Syria for murdering her own husband.
In addition to Arabic, she can speak English, French, and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
. Rizk has said she learned Italian from her Italian half-sister, fashion designer Felicina Rossi.
Rizk has a Canadian maternal nephew, actor
Ty Wood
Tyson Wood (born September 17, 1995) is a Canadian actor. He has had several roles including his role as Tim Cherry in the biographical television drama '' Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story'' and in the role of Billy Campbell in the h ...
.
Role in the Arab-Israeli conflict and Lebanese civil war
Even though Rizk was a model who became a popular figure in Lebanon for her achievements, she never had any interest or aspirations to be involved in politics. However, Rizk was often involuntarily drawn into the regional conflict. This was largely due to the current political events at the time, with her country
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
caught up in the
Arab-Israeli war
The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...
and strategically positioned near the heart of the conflict.
When she was competing in the
Miss Universe 1971
Miss Universe 1971 was the 20th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on 24 July 1971.
At the end of the event, Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico crowned Georgina Rizk of Lebanon as Mis ...
contest based in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, she was reportedly on friendly terms with the
Miss Israel
Miss Israel ( he, מַלְכַּת הַיֹּפִי, , ) is a national beauty pageant in Israel. The pageant was founded in 1950, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. The pageant was also existing to send delegates to Miss World, Miss I ...
contestant Etty Orgad, whom she "met and enjoyed knowing" according to Rizk. She responded to criticism by stating that "this is a beauty contest, not politics" and that the conflict "is the government's worry, not mine."
In 1972, at the
Lod Airport Massacre
The Lod Airport massacre"They were responsible for the Lod Airport massacre in Israel in 1972, which was committed on behalf of the PFLP." Jeffrey D. Simon, ''The Terrorist Trap: America's Experience with Terrorism'', Indiana University Press, ...
in Israel, 17 Puerto Rican tourists, among others, were murdered by Palestine militant terrorists under the banner of the
PLO. As a result, Rizk was forbidden to attend the
Miss Universe 1972
Miss Universe 1972, the 21st Miss Universe pageant, was held on 29 July, 1972 at the Cerromar Beach Hotel in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Kerry Anne Wells earned Australia's first Miss Universe crown. Georgina Rizk of Lebanon, was not allowed to crown ...
in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
to crown her successor due to fear of a revenge attack. She stated that she herself was afraid to attend the beauty pageant in fear of what might happen.
At the dawning and height of the
Lebanese civil war
The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...
in the mid 1970s, she was again drawn into the conflict when she began a romantic relationship with Palestinian
PLO militant and intelligence official Ali Hassan Salameh, who was nicknamed "The Red Prince" due to his lavish lifestyle, playboy persona, and bloodlust. (Salameh was allegedly still married to his first wife Um Hassan when their affair began.) The date on which the couple was married is widely disputed.
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
was said to disapprove of their
pre-marital relationship because it clearly violated the traditional conservative Arab status quo, and he remained hostile to Georgina Rizk due to that.
After her marriage, in keeping with Salameh's traditional Muslim background and conservative Palestinian culture, Rizk quit her modeling and film careers, staying mostly at home. The couple were said to only be known to socialize with fellow wealthy Lebanese and Palestinians.
References
External links
Saudi Aramco World article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizk, Georgina
1953 births
Lebanese female models
Lebanese beauty pageant winners
Lebanese Maronites
Lebanese people of Hungarian descent
Lebanese socialites
Living people
Miss Universe 1971 contestants
Miss Universe winners
Miss World 1970 delegates