Dovima: the rise and fall of the first supermodel (9 photos)

Dovima... Some kind of mystical word that doesn’t even look like a name. This is true. In fact, this incredibly beautiful girl with a difficult fate was named Dorothy Virginia Margaret Jaba.





She came up with the nickname herself when the need arose, combining the first letters of the names. But the Queens native, who was born in 1927, did not think about anything like that. The girl's only concern until the age of 10 was her health: Dorothy suffered from a severe form of rheumatism and practically did not get out of bed. Because of this, I hardly studied. She will subsequently be repeatedly reminded of her lack of education in the media.



By the age of 18, the girl felt much better. She married a neighbor guy and got a job selling sweets in a small store on Fifth Avenue. And then a fateful acquaintance took place: Dorothy was waiting for the elevator and accidentally crossed eyes with a man. Irving Penn turned out to be a Vogue photographer and was captivated by the young woman's grace and understated beauty. Penn offered to take part in the photo shoot.

And the very next day Dovima became a model for the Ford agency and starred for magazines such as Glamor, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazaar. Very soon the girl became the muse of Christian Dior and Jacques Fath. And she was the first in history to receive the super-prefix.



The highlight of his career was Richard Avedon's Dovima with Elephants. The frame became one of the best and most expensive in the history of photography of the last century. In 2010, the photograph was sold at Christie’s for a record $1,151,976.

By the way, the laconic outfit on the model is the result of the first independent work of young Yves Saint Laurent.



By the age of 30, her modeling career had reached its peak. But the marriage broke up. Dovima did not remain alone for long: Allan Murray became her new chosen one, and the couple had a daughter.



It was her husband who encouraged the star to raise the filming rates to a record $75. Nobody could afford this price, and they stopped inviting the model to filming and shows. The fortune melted away at cosmic speed, because the family lived in grand style. And the woman decided to try her luck in Hollywood, took her daughter and moved to Los Angeles.

Her ex-husband by that time regarded this as an escape and filed a lawsuit against Dovima. The result of the proceedings was full custody of the child and a substantial fine. According to one version, the woman never saw her daughter again in her life.



At the age of 35, the supermodel announced her retirement from her career, which, however, was already almost over. The directors were not interested in the woman, and the attempt to open her own modeling agency failed.

Dovima moved to Florida to live with her elderly parents and got a job as a waitress in a pizzeria. Here she married her childhood friend and lived for another 11 very happy years.



The woman was greatly affected by the death of her husband. The former supermodel became depressed and fell ill. In 1990, her life was cut short by cancer. No one showed interest in the event. Only on the wall in the pizzeria where she worked in recent years, a photo of the waitress appeared - “Dovima and the Elephants.”