Kiki Divaris
{{Short description|Greek fashion designer and war hero}}
Vasilliki Babaletakis "Kiki" Divaris (c. 13 September 1925 in Sparta{{cite web |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201206120705.html |title=Zimbabwe: Kiki, Thank You but It's Time to Rest |website=Allafrica.com |date=11 June 2012 |access-date=6 March 2017 }} – 5 December 2015) was a Greek fashion designer, model and the first white woman to have been declared a liberation war hero in Zimbabwe.
Early life
Divaris grew up in Cape Town.{{cite news|last1=Thornycroft|first1=Peta|title=Greek model and beauty industry expert becomes liberation war hero in Zimbabwe|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/zimbabwe/12037962/Greek-model-and-beauty-industry-expert-becomes-liberation-war-hero-in-Zimbabwe.html|accessdate=23 December 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=7 December 2015}}
Career
Divaris was a close friend of Robert Mugabe, his first wife Sally, and current wife, Grace. She created the Miss Zimbabwe beauty pageant. In 2012, at 88, she still ran the event.{{cite web |url=https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2012/07/29/i-still-have-the-capacity-says-kiki-divaris/ |title=I still have the capacity, says Kiki Divaris |website=Thestandard.co.zw |date=29 July 2012 |access-date=6 March 2017 }} In 2013, she handed over the Miss Zimbabwe business to Mary Mubaiwa.{{cite web |url=https://www.dailynews.co.zw/articles/2013/07/24/miss-zim-struggles-to-get-contestants |title=Miss Zim struggles to get contestants |website=Dailynezs.co.zw |date=24 July 2013 |author=Sharon Muguwu |access-date=6 March 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Death
Divaris died in her sleep on 5 December 2015, at the Borrowdale Clinic Trauma Centre, Harare, Zimbabwe, from pneumonia.{{cite news|last1=Mugugunyeki|first1=Moses|title=Kiki Divaris dies|url=http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2015/12/06/kiki-divaris-dies/|accessdate=23 December 2015|work=The Standard|date=6 December 2015}} She was 90.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Divaris, Kiki}}
Category:Greek women fashion designers
Category:Zimbabwean people of Greek descent
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Zimbabwe
Category:People from Cape Town
{{Greece-bio-stub}}