History of beauty pageants. The first international beauty contest in history: how the most beautiful girl in the world was chosen in the 19th century

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with

Susana Duijm, Venezuela

Miss World - 1955

Venezuela is the champion of the competition in terms of the number of winners. In total, representatives of this country won the competition 6 times, and Susana was the very first of them. Subsequently, the title of beauty queen helped her to make a career as an actress and presenter on Venezuelan television.

Penelope Coelen, South Africa

Miss World - 1958

The 18-year-old girl, a secretary by profession, delighted the audience with her beauty and became the first winner from Africa. She later returned to South Africa, got married and to this day remains a well-known society lady in her country. She has five sons and three grandchildren. Köhlen is a photographer and owner of a beauty salon. A variety of roses, Rosa Penny Coelen, is named after her.

Ann Sidney, UK

Miss World - 1964

Ann Sidney became the second representative of her country to win the competition. After a year of winning, Ann landed many small roles on television, including episodes on The Avengers and Thank You for Your Purchase. She also starred in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice in a cabaret scene.

Madeline Hartog-Bel, Peru

Miss World - 1967

Jennifer Hosten, Grenada

Miss World - 1970

Cindy Breakspeare, Jamaica

Miss World - 1976

Cindy Breakspear left her modeling career to devote herself to music. She has three children, including a son from Bob Marley Damian, who followed in his father's footsteps and became a successful reggae musician, and four grandchildren.

Sarah-Jane Hutt, UK

Miss World - 1983

Another representative of the UK, who won the title of the most beautiful girl in the world. Sarah-Jane the Hutt's victory so angered the less fortunate contestants that they did not hesitate to criticize the choice of judges out loud, and one of them even refused to attend the coronation ball.

Linda Pétursdóttir, Iceland

Miss World - 1988

Aishwarya Rai, India

Miss World - 1994

Aishwarya Rai is a famous actress, model and beauty ambassador for L'Oreal, fluent in 5 languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Tulu. Since 2007, she has been married to Abhishek Bachchan, the son of the famous actor Amitabh Bachchan, and in 2011 they had a daughter.

Priyanka Chopra, India

Miss World - 2000

Priyanka is a talented singer, actress and model. In addition, she is active in public activities: she participates in charitable events in India and the United States, is a Goodwill Ambassador for the CAF Charitable Foundation and the Confederation of Indian Industry CII, and also takes part in the programs of these organizations to combat illiteracy.

Azra Akın, Turkey

Miss World - 2002

Azra Akın is a well-known model, actress and dancer, winner of The Games and Yok Boyle Dans (Turkish analogue of Dancing with the Stars). Fluent in Turkish, Dutch and English.

Rosanna Davison, Ireland

Miss World - 2003

Rosanna Davison is a model, actress, singer and author of the bestselling cookbook Eat yourself beautiful. Rosanna's father, the famous musician Chris de Burgh, dedicated a song to her called For Rosanna.

The first Soviet beauty contest was the contest "Moscow Beauty - 88", and the first "officially" recognized domestic beauty was the tenth grader Masha Kalinina.

Post sponsor: cheap Meowlody & Purrsephone dolls

As conceived by the organizers, the main task of the competition was to show that in our country in a Soviet woman they appreciate not only purposefulness, determination and strength, but also beauty.

Among the six finalists of the competition was twenty-year-old Oksana Fandera (pictured left) - the future actress and wife of director Philip Yankovsky. Despite the sympathy of the jury members, the lack of a Moscow residence permit prevented Oksana from winning the competition - Fandera came from Odessa to conquer the capital. Nevertheless, the girl became one of the winners of the competition.

With another finalist of the competition, Irina Suvorova (pictured), an even bigger incident came out - she was married and with a child. It was no longer possible to remove her from the competition - after all, one of the finalists, but it was impossible to give her the crown of the winner. Initially, it was planned to name the contest "Miss Moscow", so the jury did not dare to give the victory to "Mrs."

A cruel joke with one of the finalists - Elena Durneva - was played by her last name. According to the memoirs of Marina Parusnikova, the organizer of the first beauty contest in the history of the USSR, the jury did not dare to proclaim Lena Durneva (pictured) the first Moscow beauty, largely because of the dissonant surname.

Liked? Do you want to be aware of updates? Subscribe to our page

1st and 2nd prize winners Marta Sucare and Angela Delroza

On September 19, 1888, the first ever international beauty contest took place in the Belgian resort town of Spa. 350 participants claimed the title of the most beautiful girl in the world, 21 of which reached the final. And the ideas about beauty, and the principles of selection, and the rules for holding a competition in the 19th century differed significantly from modern standards.

The winner of the competition on the cover of the magazine and a cartoon for the first world beauty pageant. Caption under the picture: contestants; judges; blonde or brunette?

In the summer of 1888, an advertisement appeared in the newspapers for a beauty contest to be held in September in the spa town of Spa in Belgium. Anyone wishing to claim the title of the most beautiful girl on the planet was offered to send their photo by mail with brief information about themselves. The editorial office of the newspaper received 350 applications - from Austria, America, Algeria, Hungary, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey, France and Sweden. Of these, the jury chose 21 girls - they had to personally continue to participate in the competition in the Spa. The participants were not allowed to appear in public - they were settled on a separate floor in a hotel, from where they traveled in closed carriages only to the casino salon where the competition was held. Prior to the awarding of prizes, no one had the right to see the participants. All expenses for moving and living for the girls were covered by the casino.

The organizer of the competition was Hervé du Lorrain, 10,000 francs were allocated by the casino for the issuance of prizes to the winners. The most beautiful girl was chosen by a jury of eight men, among whom were artists, sculptors and other representatives of creative professions. The competition was held for 12 days. Every day, the girls defiled in front of the jury in the casino salon. At the same time, they were all dressed in long dresses, and the men present in the hall were in tailcoats.

The winner of the first ever international beauty pageant Marta Sucare

On the 12th day, the winners of the competition were announced. The most beautiful girl on the planet was named 18-year-old Creole from Guadeloupe Martha Sucare, she was awarded the first prize in the amount of 5,000 francs. The second prize of 2,000 francs went to the Flemish Angela Delrose. Third place and 1,000 francs were given to a native of Vienna, Marie Stevens. After the awards ceremony, the casino arranged a big ball for the participants, the jury, local authorities and the press.

3rd and 4th prize winners Marie Stevens and Olga Nadiaska

Even the first ever beauty contest was not without curiosities and scandals. One of the participants so impressed everyone with her beauty that the jury unanimously decided that she was out of the competition. It was the Algerian girl Fatma. The resourceful entrepreneur demanded an entrance fee from those wishing to see her. And when the jury announced the winner of the competition, one of the participants, annoyed by such a result, approached the lucky woman and ... spat in her face!

The dress code of the first beauty contest was significantly different from modern ones.

The winners of the beauty contest received not only impressive cash prizes, but also worldwide popularity: Marta Sukare received more than a hundred marriage proposals within the first three days after the announcement of the results. But she rejected them, declaring her desire to pursue an acting career. Unfortunately, there is no information about her future fate.

In 1908, thousands of spectators gathered at the hippodrome in the English city of Folkestone to see an amazing spectacle - the most beautiful girls from England, Ireland, Austria, France and the USA parading in evening dresses and swimsuits.

It is logical that the first place and the crown of the first beauty went to a local resident. 18 year old Nelly German when asked to say something for the fans, she barely uttered, stammering with excitement: “My most ardent desire is world peace. And I also want a pig for my dad.” It sounded sweet and direct, the girl was applauded.

A year later, the city authorities again held the same competition. And this time the event became truly significant: it was covered by the press of many countries, the whole world followed the development of the competition.

And on April 15, 1951, the first ever Miss World pageant was held in London. This was the reason for the new status of the capital of England: it was now called the world capital of beauty. The event was attended by 30 girls from different countries. At some stage, they appeared in bikini swimsuits, which were just coming into fashion. This created a real sensation among enthusiastic spectators.

Robert Forsyth - the "father" of beauty pageants

In the form in which we know beauty contests now, they were created by Robert Forsyth- Manager of the wharf of the English city of Folkestone. He was the first to catch new trends in society, realized that another time had come, and decided: it's time!

In 1908, this man announced an international beauty contest at the city hippodrome and invited everyone to take part. There were 6 contestants. The best was chosen by the viewers who received special coupons to fill in (this is how they voted for their favorites). And so the competition turned out to be perhaps the most democratic in history.

However, even under such conditions, it was not without scandals. One of the journalists published his article in the newspaper that the Englishwoman won unfairly, because, they say, the local viewers voted for "their own", which means that the foreigners had no chance of winning.

In addition, a wave of indignation was caused by several stern feminists who sat in the front row of the hippodrome and demanded that women be judged only by women. In their opinion, such contests humiliate the dignity of girls, especially if men choose the most beautiful one.

Be that as it may, the winner of the world's first beauty contest received fame and the main prize - an excellent piano, which at the beginning of the 20th century every girl from a good family could play. And thanks to the initiative of Robert Forsythe, such contests quickly became popular, and today they already look more like bright spectacular carnivals than a modest defile in front of the audience of several embarrassed girls 110 years ago.

How the cunning Barnum convinced prudes to show their beauty

Of course, 1908 is called the year of the first beauty contest only conditionally. In fact, beauties were evaluated at competitions before. Another thing is that everything happened quite differently.

In 1850, a famous showman of that time Phineas Barnum held a "curiosity exhibition" in New York: viewers could admire the most beautiful creatures of nature, from flowers and decorative dogs to small children.

Five years later, thousands of onlookers gathered for a children's beauty contest. Barnum was going to arrange the same competition for girls, but could not convince the ladies brought up in severity to flaunt themselves like prize horses or thoroughbred poodles. Even the prize offered by Barnum did not help - a precious tiara adorned with diamonds.

Yet Barnum wouldn't be a legendary showman if he didn't come up with a way to get around puritanical morality and get women to showcase their beauty. He invited them to participate not personally, but with the help of photographs, which were then placed at the exhibition.

Ten finalists had to decorate the Parisian "International Magazine of Women's Beauty" with their photographs. That is, the event received the status of a cultural event that stood several steps above the vulgar mass entertainment. And the women couldn't resist.

Photo Contests

Another 30 years have passed. A beauty contest was organized in Belgium - again through photographs. In total, 350 participants were recruited, of which 21 girls reached the final. They were already evaluated not only by pictures, but also “live”, however, not by the general public, but by a small jury, consisting of competent men in tailcoats.

Ladies living in secluded conditions were brought to the venue of the defile in closed carriages. In a word, everything was covered with a veil of mystery. The most beautiful was named 18-year-old Creole Berta Sucare. She was awarded the main prize - 5 thousand francs.

I must say that the women liked the idea of ​​photographs. She allowed both to observe decency and satisfy her ambitions. In general, in the 19th century, it was difficult for women to let go of their desires and do something unexpected. Their whole life, according to the opinion of society, should have flowed between the family and the ladies' charitable committees. Even those women who allowed themselves to travel were not approved: they had to stay at home, period!

So the ladies, who decided to show themselves (albeit in the photo) to the general public, showed serious courage, challenging a strict society.

However, the society also changed gradually. The laws of capitalism came to the fore. In order to attract as many entrepreneurs as possible, the authorities of small towns began to hold beauty contests by publishing photos in local newspapers. The winner was declared the "Queen of the Fair" of a particular town.

Ambitious girls warmly responded to the offer to participate in such an event. In St. Louis, for example, in 1905, 40,000 photographs were submitted to the competition! All this made the annual fairs incredibly popular.