Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Born |
Rina Messinger February 16, 1956 Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel |
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Hair color | Dark blonde |
Eye color | Blue |
Title(s) | Malkat HaYofi 1976 Miss Universe 1976 |
Major competition(s) |
Miss Israel 1976 (Winner) Miss Universe 1976 (Winner) |
Children | Sharona Goder (born 1984), Daniela (born 1986) |
Rina Mor-Goder (Hebrew: רינה מור; born Rina Messinger; February 16, 1956) is an Israeli lawyer, writer and beauty queen who won Miss Universe 1976.
She is from Kiryat Tiv'on, near Haifa, her father was a mechanic and a pilot in the Israeli Air Force and her mother was a kindergarten teacher. Rina Mor-Goder became a lawyer and mother of two daughters.
Upon her proclamation as the winner, she remarked, "I'm no politician. I think my being Miss Universe will show people that Israel has another side, not only war." Extensive security precautions were taken as she began her world tour with a stop in Bangkok. The first Miss Israel ever to win the crown, Messinger answered the contest question as to which country would she most like to visit? Her immediate response: "An Arab one."
After her reign as Miss Universe, Rina Messinger stayed in New York City, where she worked in Public Relations for the Jewish Agency and the Bonds. After four years she returned to Israel and continued working in Public Relations for a big business company. There she met her soon-to-be husband, a very successful businessman. They had two daughters.
In 1991, she decided to fulfill her dream and started studying law in the Tel-Aviv University. After completing her bachelor's degree with honours, she and her family left for the Netherlands, where her husband had his business, and Rina completed her master's degree, specializing in family law. In 2002 after six years in the Netherlands, the family returned home to Israel, Messinger is a family lawyer in Tel Aviv, working on her doctorate and appearing every week in the morning show of Channel 10, where she gives advice in family law. In 1981, she wrote a book on her experience as Miss Universe. in the years 1989 and 2004 she was a judge in the Miss Israel contest.