Aliki Diplarakou, Lady Russell, (Greek: Αλίκη Διπλαράκου, 28 August 1912 - 30 October 2002) was the first Greek contestant to win the Miss Europe title after winning the "Miss Hellas" (Μις Ελλάς) title at the Miss Star Hellas Pageant. Her name has been spelled in various ways, from Alice Diplarakou to Aliki Diplearakos and Aliki Diplarakos.
She was a daughter of Georgios Diplarakos and his wife, the former Elena Nicolessi or Nicolessis. She had three sisters, Nada Diplarakos who married the French Diplomat André Rodocanachi, Cristina Diplarakos, who was married to Henri Claudel, a son of Paul Claudel,[1] and Edmee Diplarakos who married Spiros Vassilopoulos.
Although the Diplarakou family lived in Athens, they originally were Maniots from Krini in the Peloponnese. The original family name was Vavouli (Βαβούλη) but it was changed to her paternal grandmother's maiden name of Diplarakou.
Aliki Diplarakou was married twice; the first time was on 31 October 1932 to aviator Paul-Louis Weiller (fr), a wealthy French director of the Gnome et Rhône conglomerate, a son of Lazare Weiller (fr) and wife Alice Javal (fr). Guests at the event included author Paul Morand, poet Paul Valéry, and diplomat Philippe Berthelot. They had one child, Paul-Annick Weiller (Paris, 28 July 1933 - Geneva, 2 November 1998). He married in Rome, at Santa Maria in Trastevere, on 26 June 1965, Donna Olimpia Emmanuela Torlonia di Civitella-Cesi (b. Lausanne, Mont Choisi, 27 December 1943). They became parents of Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg.
Her second marriage took place on 15 December 1945 to Sir John (Jack) Wriothesley Russell (23 August 1914 - 3 August 1984), an English aristocrat who was descended from John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. The Russells had two children, Georgiana Alexandra Russell and Alexander Charles Thomas Wriothesley Russell.
In 1929 Diplarakou entered the "Miss Hellas" pageant as Miss Athens. Her biggest competitor was Miss Thessaloniki Roxani Stergiou (Ρωξάνη Στεργίου), who came in second. Diplarakou won the title and represented Greece at the Miss Europe event in Paris, where she was crowned Miss Europe on 6 February 1930.
That same year the 18-year-old brunette beauty was once more given the chance to represent her country and Europe in the Miss Universe Contest. The event was held on 13 October 1930 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Diplarakou was a runner-up.
She can be seen as a pioneer in the beauty contest world. In an era when it was believed that pageant winners with intelligence did not exist, she proved them wrong. She toured the United States giving lectures on ancient and modern Greek culture. Aside from her native Greek language, she also spoke fluent English, French and Italian. She made headlines in the 1930s when she dressed up in men's clothes and smuggled herself into the monks' sanctuary on Mount Athos which had stood "inviolate" since the time of the Byzantine Empire, save for harbouring female refugees twice in the past.
When asked by reporters on how she became Miss Europe, she was quoted in Time magazine as saying:
She also tried her skills in theater, her first appearance being in Prometheus.
On 13 July 1953, she was a featured item in a Time article, "The Climax of Sin,"[2] which discussed the transformation of women's role throughout history. Diplarakou was mentioned in regard to her escapades of dressing up as a man and sneaking into Mount Athos where no women were allowed.