Sonia Rolland was born on 11 February, 1981, in Kigali, Rwanda, to a Rwandan mother and a French father, Rolland and her family fled the country due to safety concerns with the Rwandan genocide, especially since her mother is Tutsi. In 1990 they moved to the neighboring country of Burundi. She is a French actress and was Miss France in the year 2000. She was also a contestant in the Miss Universe competition. She was the first African-born winner of the Miss France pageant.
In October 1999, Sonia won the “Miss Burgundy” beauty contest that allowed her to compete for the Miss France 2000 title and at the age of 18 she was the first woman of African descent to win. At the Miss Universe 2000 pageant, which took place in Cyprus, Rolland was a top 10 semi-finalist, placing 9th overall.
Rolland’s first book was published in 2007 titled “Les gazelles n’ont pas peur du noir” which in English translates to “Gazelles are not afraid of the dark”.
Rolland’s philanthropic work is mostly concentrated in Rwanda where she focuses a lot on education, as it is one of the things children survivors of the Genocide have missed on.
