“A long and heroic fight against illness”: Edna Tepava, the first Polynesian Miss France, died at the age of 69

Edna Tepava est morte à l'âge de 69 ans. Instagram @miss_tahiti_official

La première Miss France polynésienne, Edna Tepava, est décédée ce dimanche 6 octobre 2024, à l’âge de 69 ans.

“The world of Miss is in mourning”. The one who was a symbol and much appreciated by French Polynesia passed away this Sunday, after a long and difficult battle against illness, indicates La 1ere France Info. The funeral of Edna Tepava, who was 69, will take place in a few days.

A Miss Appreciates

The one who grew up in Punaauia, French Polynesia, became Miss Tahiti in 1973 when she was only 18. A year later, Geneviève de Fontenay awarded her the title of Miss France and became the first Polynesian woman to win the beauty contest in 1974.

Edna Tepava was particularly popular in the casting of the French beauty contest. “She never spoke of her title. And even Madame de Fontenay, when we met in Paris, asked me for news of Edna. Madame de Fontenay really loved Edna… I was really unhappy [to learn of her death]. “I loved her a lot” , says Moea Faugerat, also a former Miss, quoted by France info.

“A long and heroic fight against illness”

“Her journey, her beauty and her spontaneity have marked the history of our fenua, making French Polynesia shine throughout the world. She passed away in France at the age of 69, after a courageous fight against illness”, wrote the Miss Tahiti committee on Instagram. “Her ashes will be repatriated to Tahiti in accordance with her last wishes, and a mass will be celebrated in Papeete in her honor”, he added.

Suffering from cancer, it is the disease that took the first Tahitian Miss France and her relatives have saluted "a long and heroic fight against the disease", marked in recent years by chemotherapy.

Edna Tepava's funeral will take place in the church of Rochefort in a few days. The mass planned in Papeete will be held jointly with the mainland, notes the local channel.