Biography

European Union Ambassador

for Humanitarian Causes

Tasha de Vasconcelos was born in Beira, in Mozambique, the daughter of engineer, Fernando João de Vasconcelos Mota e Cunha, a descendant of King Alfonso III de Leäo, member of one of Portugal’s oldest families, and her British mother, Jacqueline, a descendant of a King of Scotland of the XI century, and of a family from the north of France.

However at only 8 years old, Tasha had to face the cruelty of the civil war and a revolution, which tore her country apart, followed just five years later by that of Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – where they had fled. At 13 she and her family moved first to Portugal, and then on to Canada.

First student at the University of British Columbia, she began her supermodel carrier in New York where she started working with Michel Comte, Peter Lindbergh, William Klein, Albert Watson, Patrick Demarchelier and Steven Meisel. They immortalize for the covers of major international magazines: Vogue, Elle, and Tatler, Paris Match, or campaigns (qui font le tour du monde): Calvin Klein, Balenciaga, Van Cleef & Arpels, Dolce & Gabbana perfume… and catwalks forLacroix, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent…

But Tasha’s true vocation is in her humanitarian work. After special missions in 1996 for the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund in South Africa, UNICEF named her Goodwill Ambassador, first for children suffering from malnutrition in Bolivia in 1999, then for childhood victims of war in Algeria. As Special Campaigner for Children she worked in Mozambique withUNAIDS,in 2006, campaigning against HIV/AIDS in Africa, and in recognition of her humanitarian work she has received a special UNESCO award, in 2005.

In 2006, she created her own organisation AMOR – Aide Mondiale Orphelins Réconfort (Global Aid and Help for Orphans) supported by Prince Albert II de Monaco. On the 15th April 2009 Tasha opened Amor’s first project, a maternity unit in Malawi, financed, built and equipped entirely by AMOR.

In 29th April 2009 Tasha de Vasconcelos was named as the official Ambassador of Pasteur Institute (2009) – Download the press release – the Pasteur Institute – a first for this renowned international leader in medical research.

On the 8 Mars 2010 (International Women’s day), President José Manuel Barroso gave to Tasha de Vasconcelos her new mission as ambassador for  European Union for humanitarian causes. Her mandate lasts through until 2015.

2010 saw the publication of her autobiography « Beauty as a Weapon » published by Michel Lafon and she was also the subject of a documentary “La belle humanitaire” devoted to her and her humanitarian work.

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