Miss Peru

Peru has been competing in the Miss Universe pageants for over 50 years. Their first representative was Ada Gabriela Bueno in 1952. Five years later, It became the first Latin American and Spanish-speaking country to win the Miss Universe crown when Gladys Zender became Miss Universe 1957. As of the new century, Peru started to shine back into the international beauty pageant scene. Claudia Ortiz De Zevallos was a semi-finalist in the 2003 Miss Universe competition held in Panama. Liesel Holler failed to land in the semi-finals in 2004 but Debora Sulca made Peru's name come back in the contest of 2005 placing 6th. Peru has a total of 14 semi-finalists, 1 finalist, and 1 winner in this annual world-wide contest.

Miss Peru World missed the annual pageant in the first few decades. Therefore Peru has not had many finalists in the Miss World contest although Peru has won the Miss World crown twice. In 2002, Marina Mora placed third, Claudia Hernández made to the semifinalists and also won the Best Designed Evening Gown Award in 2003, just one year before Maria Julia Mantilla got the crown in 2004, making a great come back for Peru in this contest. Candidates who participate in Miss Peru and make the top 10 will be sent to compete in other minor pageants from now on, such as Miss Asia Pacific, Miss Maja Mundial, etc.

History

Peru in the 1950s was one of the few South American countries to ever compete in an international pageant such as Miss Universe or Miss World. It became a powerhouse having semi-finalists from the 1950s throughout the 1960s and is known for bringing Latin America their first ever Miss Universe -Gladys Zender- in 1957.

Peru participated in Miss World competition for the first time in 1959, represented by a beautiful young lady María Elena Rossel Zapata, who was the first runner-up. In 1967, Peru won the crown for the first time in the Miss World competition with Madeleine Hartog Bell, ten years exactly from Gladys Zender having won the Miss Universe competition in 1957. It would be decades until Peru would taste another international victory in the beauty pageant field. In December 2004, María Julia Mantilla García won the title of Miss World again, thanks to a world-wide vote by text message and telephone calls, a first in pageant history. First-runner up was Claudia Cruz from Dominican Republic, and the second-runner up was Brazilian-born Nancy Randall representing the United States. As of 2005^[update], Peru has won one Miss Universe title and two Miss World titles.

On April 16, 2005, Miss Cajamarca, Debora Sulca was crowned Miss Peru Universe and competed in Thailand for the title of Miss Universe 2005. She placed 6th while Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova was crowned the new Miss Universe by 2004's winner, Jennifer Hawkins.

Fiorella Castellano was crowned Miss Peru World 2005 and represented Peru on December 10, 2005 where the pageant took place in Sanya, for a third time in a row. This year Fiorella failed to land in the semi-finals. Chances of achieving a back-to-back win were low, but there was still a chance she might've won since India, Sweden and United Kingdom are three countries that have achieved that in Miss World history.

Tracy Freundt, who was first-runner up and a crowd favourite for the title in the Miss Peru 2005 pageant. She continues to work on the popular show "Habacilar" in Lima.

Franchise Controversy

Reinas del Peru organization was in charge of sending representative to both the Miss World and Miss Universe plus other minor international pageants. In 2005, Percy Luzio and another co-worker left the organization for irreconcilable differences between Percy and other workers in the organization, most namely, Marina Mora who was 2nd runner up at the Miss World 2002 pageant. Since leaving, Percy Lucio has designated himself as the new person in charge of the Miss Peru Universe franchise. His new organization is called Corporation de la Belleza (Beauty Corporation)and has the responsibility of sending its winner to the Miss Universe pageant and the other minor pageants that Reinas del Peru was in charge of. Reinas del Peru however, felt betrayed by Luzio's actions and have focused on working towards the Miss Peru World pageant which from now on will be held separately.

Regions, Capital and Community

In the Miss Peru annual pageant, 25 regions,the National Capital and the Peruvian community in the USA compete for the Miss Peru Universe or Miss Peru World crown. The top 10 are selected from the group and then it comes down to the top 5. The winner of the chosen pageant is determined and a new representative is named Miss Peru.

The current Peruvian regions,the National Capital and the Peruvian community in the USA that have sent a contestant are:

Amazonas Áncash Antartida Peruana Apurímac Arequipa

Ayacucho Cajamarca Callao Cuzco Distrito Provincial

Europa Perú Huancavelica Huánuco Ica Junín

La Libertad Lambayeque Lima Loreto Madre de Dios

Moquegua Pasco Piura Puno San Martín

Tacna Trujillo Tumbes Ucayali USA Perú

Notable Winners

After winning the Miss Universe crown, Gladys Zender became very popular and well known in her country of Peru. She later married and is the mother of a successful Peruvian actor, Christian Meier.

Jessica Newton, Miss Peru 1987, became in charge of the Miss Peru pageant until 2004. Many said she hand picked the winner of the pageant due to favouritism. She later criticized the crowning of Miss Peru 2005, Debora Sulca and also said that Maju Mantilla's Miss World victory was like the cherry on top for her departure from the Miss Peru organization. When asked about Jessica Newton, the reigning Miss World said she never had the opportunity to meet her.

After her appearance in Miss Universe, Debora Sulca was approached by Telemundo.

When she arrived in Lima after her Miss World win, Maju Mantilla was received by dozens of people in the Jorge Chavez International airport. Like Gladys, Maju also became known and popular in her country.

Maju is currently working for Ford Models Modeling Agency.

Other wins

Not only has a Peruvian woman won a Miss Universe or Miss World title. There are other international pageants in which Peru has achieved success in either entering the semi-finals or winning the crown.

Wins: Miss Intercontinental 1971, 1987, Mrs World 1989, Miss America Latina 1991, Miss Asia Pacific 1994, 2001, Miss Caribe Hibiscus 2005, Miss Perla Mundial del Pacifico 2007, Miss Tourism Queen International 2008, Miss Teenager Universe 2008, Miss Beauty International 2009, Miss Continente Americano 2010

Runner up or Semi-final entries: Miss International, Miss Earth, Miss Teen International, Miss America Latina, Miss Asia Pacific, Miss Maja Mundial, Reina Hispano America, Miss Italia Nel Mondo

List

The following is a list of the Miss Universe and Miss World candidates from Peru. Some delegates who won the chance to represent Peru in the Miss Universe pageant also went to the Miss World pageant.

Representatives to Miss Universe

Year	Representatives to Miss Universe	State	Ranking
1952	Ada Gabriela Bueno	Apurimac
1953	Mary Ann Sarmiento	Ucayali	Top 16
1954	Isabella León Velarde Dancuart	Lima	Top 16
1956	Lola Sabogal Morzán	Callao	Top 15
1957	Gladys Zender	Loreto	Miss Universe 1957
1958	Beatriz Boluarte	Lima
1959	Guadalupe Mariátegui Hawkins	Callao
1960	Medallit Gallino Rey	Ica
1961	Carmella Stein Bedoya	Ayacucho	Top 15
1962	Silvia Ruth Dedeking	Lima
1963	Dora Toledano Godier	Loreto
1964	Miluska Vondrak Steel	Loreto
1965	Frieda Holler Figalo	Lima	Top 15
1966	Madeline Hartog-Bel Houghton	Arequipa	Top 15
1967	Mirtha Calvo Sommaruga	Callao
1968	Maria Esther Brambilla	Lima
1969	Maria Julia Mantilla Meyer	Trujillo	Top 15
1970	Cristina Málaga Butrón	Lima
1971	Magnolia Martinez	Lima
1972	Carmen Amelia Ampuero Mosquetti	Lima	Top 12
1975	Olga Lourdes Berninzon Devéscovi	Lima
1976	Rocio Rita Lazcano	Junin
1977	Maria Isabel Frias Zavala	Cajamarca
1978	Olga Roxana Zumaran Burga	Arequipa	Top 12
1979	Jacqueline Brahm	Lima
1980	Mariailce Lisseth Ramis Figueroa	Huanuco
1981	Gladys Silva Cancino	Lima
1982	Maria Francesca Zaza Reinoso	Loreto	Top 12
1983	Vivien Griffiths Shields	Lima
1984	Fiorella Ferrari Iglesias	Lima
1985	Maria Gracia Galleno Bedoya	Lima
1986	Karin Mercedes Lindemann García	Piura
1987	Jessica Patricia Newton Vasquez-Saenz	Callao	Top 10
1988	Katia Mirella Escudero Lozano	La Libertad
1989	Mariana Sovero McKay	Lima
1990	Marisol Martinez	Arequipa
1991	Eliana Daphne Martínez Márquez	Callao
1992	Aline Arce Santos	Loreto
1993	Deborah de Souza Peixoto Luna	Lima
1994	Karina Calmet	Callao
1995	Paola Dellepiane Gianotti	Amazonas
1996	Natali Patricia Sacco Angeles	La Libertad	Top 10
1997	Claudia Maria Dopf Scansi	Ancash
1998	Karim Bernal	Huanuco
1999	Fabiola Lazzo	Loreto
2000	Veronica Rueckner	Piura
2001	Viviana Rivasplata Aita	Lambayeque
2002	Adriana Zubiate Flores	Callao
2003	Claudia Ortiz de Zevallos Cano	Arequipa	Top 15
2004	Liesel Holler Sotomayor	Pasco
2005	Debora Susan Sulca Cravero	Cajamarca	Top 10
2006	Fiorella Viñas Robles	Lambayeque
2007	Jimena Elias Roca	Ica
2008	Karol Stephanie Castillo Pinillos	Trujillo
2009	Karen Susana Schwarz Espinoza	Amazonas
2010	Giuliana Zevallos Roncagliolo	Loreto
2011	Natalie Vertiz	USA Peru

Miss Peru World

• 1960: Maricruz Gomez Diaz & Irma Vargas Fuller (Miss Peru International)
• 1961: Norma González Miranda (Miss Peru International)
• 1962: Rosa Isabel Raschio
• 1963: Lucia Buonanni & Esperanza Moy (Miss Peru International)
• 1964: Gladys Reina Gonzalez (Miss Peru International)
• 1965: Lourdes Cardenas Gilardi & Lola Muro Macher (Miss Peru International), Semi-Finalist
• 1967: Madeleine Hartog Bell, Miss World 1967 & Martha Quimper Suárez (Miss Peru International), 3nd runner up
• 1968: Ana Rosa Berminzon
• 1973: Mary Nuñez
• 1975: Mary Orfanides Canakis
• 1976: Rocio Rita Lazcano
• 1977: Maria Isabel Frias Zavala, Semi-Finalist
• 1978: Karen Ines Noeth Haupt
• 1979: Lucia Magali Perez Godoy Quintanilla
• 1980: Silvia Roxana Vega Ramos
• 1981: Olga Roxana Zumarán Burga
• 1982: Cynthia Mercedes Piedra
• 1983: Lisbet Alcázar
• 1984: Gloria Cristina Loayza-Guerra
• 1985: Carmen del Rosario Muro Tavara
• 1986: Patricia Anne-Marie Kuypers Espejo
• 1987: Suzette Marie Woodman Denegri & Rosario Leguía Nungent (Miss Peru International)
• 1988: Martha Elena Kaik Tosso & Susan León Cavassa (Miss Peru International), Semi-Finalist
• 1989: Maritza Zorrilla Priori
• 1990: Gisselle Martínez Cuadros
• 1994: Marcia Pérez Marcés
• 1995: Paola Dellepiane Gianotti
• 1996: Mónica Chacón De Vettori
• 1997: Claudia Maria Luque Barrantas & Ana Matallana Illich (Miss Peru International), Semi-Finalist
• 1998: Mariana Larrabure de Orbegoso, Semi-Finalist & Melissa Miranda Quiñones (Miss Peru International)
• 1999: Wendy Monteverde
• 2000: Tatiana Angulo Yarita
• 2001: Viviana Rivas Plata Aita
• 2002: Marina Mora Montero, 2nd runner up
• 2003: Claudia María Hernández Ore, Semi-Finalist
• 2004: María Julia Mantilla García, Miss World 2004 & Aldana Garcia(Miss Peru International)
• 2005: María Fiorella Castellano García & Vanessa Lopez Veratudela (Miss Peru International), Semi-Finalist
• 2006: Silvia Vanessa Cornejo Cerna, Miss Tourism Queen International 2008 & Lissy Miranda (Miss Peru International)
• 2007: Cynthia Jessenia Calderón Ulloa & Luisa Fernanda Monteverde (Miss Peru International)
• 2008: Annmarie Dehainaut Velezmoro & Massiel Vidal (Miss Peru International)
• 2009: Claudia María Carrasco Sarrio & Alejandra Pezet (Miss Peru International)
• 2010: Alexandra Liao & Laura Spoya (Miss Peru International), Semi-Finalist
• 2011: Odilia Garcia