Miss Universe Titleholders from 1952 to 1960

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Armi Helena Kuusela Miss Universe 1952 from Finland

The first ever pageant was won by Armi Helena Kuusela of Finland. Armi defeated 29 other contestants to clinch the coveted title of Miss Universe 1952. Armi was only 17 when she won the crown. Immediately after her winning there was a Finnish movie made of her, called Maailman kaunein tyttö (World's most beautiful girl) where she played herself.

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Christiane Martel Miss Universe 1953 from France

Christiane Martel became the first French woman to win the Miss Universe pageant. And until Iris Mittenaere, Christiane was the only Frenchwoman holding the Miss Universe title. The finale of Miss Universe 1953 saw few controversies, when Miss Peru complained that judges picked only one Latina among the Top 5. Also, Miss Italy was furious as she did not like France’s legs, and thought she didn’t deserve to win. She made few television appearances at the Miss Universe pageants in 1989, 1993, and 2007 that were held in Mexico. She was a celebrity judge at the Miss Universe 1978 pageant. Her last television appearance was on 3 December 2011 at the Miss France pageant.

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Miriam Stevenson Miss Universe 1954 from USA

Miriam Stevenson became the first Miss USA to win Miss Universe title. The finale was a memorable one as Miriam’s win over Brazil’s Martha Rocha was memorable for there was a tie between the two women for the crown. Catalina was the major sponsor of the pageant in its early years. So, the tie-breaking judgment finally came down to who had the better physical figure, and it went in Miriam's favour.

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Hillevi Rombin Miss Universe 1955 from Sweden

Swedish beauty Hillevi Rombin won the fourth edition of Miss Universe pageant. After winning the pageant, she left Sweden for Hollywood to fulfill her acting contract with Universal Pictures, part of the prize package as Miss Universe. Hillevi indeed had the most perfect body in the pageant, beside her extremely graceful personality.

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Carol Morris Miss Universe 1956 from USA

Carol Morris became the second Miss USA to win the Miss Universe pageant, and was the fifth titleholder of Miss Universe. Standing tall at 5’7”, Carol Morris competed against 29 women to win the title. A parade was organized in her honour, including Iowa's Governor Leo Hoegh, and the 4 foot high Miss Universe trophy. In 1956 and 1957, Carol appeared as a mystery guest on “What's My Line” and “To Tell the Truth”, respectively. Again the finale came to a controversial end as Latinas, who were the crowd’s favourite, were furious for not making the cut. They even claimed that the pageant was rigged, and that they have been discriminated against.

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Gladys Zender Miss Universe 1957 from Peru

Gladyz Zender is a Peruvian model and beauty queen who became the first Latin American woman to win the Miss Universe title. After being crowned, it was revealed that she was only 17 years old, a few months under the contest's minimum age requirement. But pageant officials decided that she could keep the crown, after they were told she was considered to be 18 in Peru. During the pageant, she was called as “Miss Socialite” for coming from an elite family.

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Luz Marina Zuluaga Miss Universe 1958 from Colombia

Luz Marina Zuluaga became the first Colombian to win the Miss Universe pageant. And she was the only Colombian to win the title, until Paulina Vega ended the drought in Miss Universe 2014. After Zuluaga was announced as the new Miss Universe, the only television station and most radio stations in Colombia at the time stopped their regular programming to report the breaking news. Zuluaga died on December 2, 2015 at the age of 77 at her home in Manizales.

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Akiko Kojima Miss Universe 1959 from Japan

The first Japanese to clinch the Miss Universe title was Akiko Kojimo. She defeated four strong finalists from Norway, the USA, England, and Brazil to clinch the title. Akiko, however, broke many pattern, for instance she did not have the perfect body. But, she was so elegant that there could have been no better choice than Akiko for the title. She was amazing throughout her reign and gained much popularity in the Asian countries.

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Linda Bement Miss Universe 1960 from USA

Third Miss USA to be crowned Miss Universe was Linda Bement. The 1960 pageant was the first Miss Universe pageant to be televised nationwide. In 1962, Linda married the Panamanian-born future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racing jockey, Manuel Ycaza. The couple had two children before they divorced in November 1969.