Armi Helena Kuusela (born August 20, 1934 in Muhos) is a Finnish beauty queen. On May 24, 1952 she won the national beauty contest Suomen Neito and was presented with a trip to the United States to participate in the first-ever Miss Universe pageant, becoming its first titleholder in history.
Fifty-four years ago today, a beautiful 17-year-old girl from Finland was crowned (by Hollywood actress Piper Laurie) the first Miss Universe at a glittering ceremony at The Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, with a court of honor composed of Hawaii’s Elza Kananionapua Edsman (first runner-up), Greece’s Daisy Mavraki (second runner-up), Hong Kong’s Judy Dan (third runner-up) and Germany’s Renate Hoy (fourth runner-up).
1st runner-up Elza Kananionapua HAWAII
2nd runner-up Daisy Mavrali GREECE
3rd runner-up Judy Dan HONG KONG
4th runner-up Renate Roy GERMANY
SEMI FINALISTS:
Olga Llorens Perez Castillo MEXICO
Catherine Edwina Higgins SOUTH AFRICA
Anne Marie Tistler SWEDEN
Gladys Rubio URUGUAY
Jackie Loughery USA
Twenty-nine contestants participated in the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952 held in Long Beach, California.. Though only 18 years old, Armi still captured the Universe.. The pageant, even at its onset was not without controversy as many accused favoritism as the 1952 Olympic Games were held in Helsinki, Finland that same year. A year after her reign, Armi married Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario and brought up a family of 5 children. She remarried upon Hilario's death in 1977 and has moved to La Jolla, California. She is still active in her community as she involves herself in Cancer research.
No comments:
Post a Comment