Did you know that the first beauty queen in Iraq was Jewish? In 1946, Renée Rebecca Dangoor was crowned Miss Baghdad, and she became Miss Iraq the following year, making her the first and only Jewish woman to hold these titles.
Renée was born to a Jewish Baghdadi family in December 1925. Her father, Moshe Dangoor, was the son of Ezra Dangoor, a prominent rabbi in Iraq.
Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities, tracing their roots back to the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE. By 1948, Iraq was home to approximately 150,000 Jews. Today, nearly all have been forced to leave the country because of their Jewish identity.
