Petra Nemcová - Czech Super Model and Tsunami Survivor

Petra Nemcová (born 24 June 1979 in Karviná, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is a model

television host, and philanthropist. She is also the founder and president of Happy Hearts Fund. In December 2004, she was injured in Thailand by a tsunami resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; her then-fiancé, photographer Simon Atlee, was killed in the tsunami.

Her father was a mason and her mother, a teacher. She became a model after being spotted at the age of 16 during a national talent search.

She was featured on the cover of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue but appeared also in the editions of 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. She has also modeled for Victoria’s Secret, and for many other companies in the women’s clothing market. In addition to working with world class photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object/subject of Joanne Gair’s body painting work. On 3 June 2004, she was one of the telecast judges during the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition in Quito, Ecuador.

Glamour magazine awarded Nemcová a “Survivor Award” in 2005 for the way she picked up her life following her tsunami ordeal; her comeback being complete with her appearance in the 2006 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She also appeared in the 2007 British FHM calendar as Miss May. She is now the host of TLC’s A Model Life.

She wrote Love Always, Petra (ISBN 0446579130) published December 2005, which tells of her early life under Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, her entrance into the field of fashion and modeling, and her breakthrough into Sports Illustrated, which was her springboard to becoming a supermodel. She also tells of her life with Simon Atlee and how they fell in love and became engaged to marry.

Nemcova has also moved on romantically, briefly dating British singer James Blunt in 2006.

On 7 July 2007 she was a presenter at the American leg of Live Earth and appeared in the music video ‘Misfit’ by American indie group Elefant. She is currently working with HP computers to produce a multi-million dollar TV and web campaign.

In July 2007, Nemcová became a vegan after learning about the planet’s rapidly depleting fish stocks. The Czech Republic-born model gave up meat and dairy in February of that year.

Also in July 2007, Nemcová partnered with New York City power broker Ron Schnackenberg to form a luxury boutique real estate firm Aglow Properties, which specializes in representing high net-worth/high profile clients in a very discreet manor. Aglow Properties has been linked with several high priced New York City apartment transactions.

On 12 November 2007 Nemcova visited Haiti alongside Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean as part of a charity-sponsored event. The inauguration of a computer lab and an eatery in the slums of Port-au-Prince were funded and sponsored by Jean’s Yéle Haïti foundation and Nemcova’s Happy Hearts Fund.

Nemcová is signed to Chic Management in Sydney, Australia. Recently she traveled in Mykonos island to attend a party in honor of De Grisogono jewels and she also did a fashion shooting for the Greek edition of Hello! magazine. Nemcova is also signed to Next Models Management.

Source [ Wikipedia ]

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