Who won the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952?
Answer
Armi Kuusela
Who won the first Miss Universe pageant in 1952? Armi Kuusela won it for Finland.
The inaugural Miss Universe pageant was held on June 28, 1952, at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in California. Kuusela, then 17, competed among 30 contestants after winning Finland’s Suomen Neito national title.
Her prizes included a car, a Universal Studios movie contract, and the Romanov Imperial Nuptial Crown, which was decorated with hundreds of diamonds. She also became a goodwill ambassador for the new international pageant.
A common mix-up is confusing Kuusela with later winners such as Gladys Zender or Miriam Stevenson. Kuusela later relinquished the crown shortly before her reign ended to marry Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario in 1953, but she remains recognized as the first Miss Universe.