Miss International 1960

Miss International 1960
Stella Marquez
Date	August 12, 1960
Presenters	Byron Palmer
Venue	Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, Long Beach, California, United States
Entrants	52
Placements	15
Debuts	Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil British Guiana Canada Ceylon China Colombia Denmark Ecuador England Finland France Greece Holland Hong Kong Iceland India Indonesia Israel Italy Japan Jordan Lebanon Luxembourg Malaya Morocco North Borneo Norway Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Singapore South Africa South Korea South Pacific Spain Sweden Switzerland Tahiti Tunisia Turkey United States Uruguay Venezuela West Germany
Winner	Stella Márquez Colombia
Congeniality	Julia Ann Adamson British Guiana
Photogenic	Sigridur Geirsdottir Iceland
1961  →

Miss International 1960 was the first edition of the Miss International pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States, on 12 August 1960. ^[1] The was created due to internal conflicts with the Miss Universe pageant. ^[2]

At the end of the event, Stella Márquez of Colombia was crowned as the first Miss International. ^[1] It is the victory of Colombia in the pageant's history.

Contestants from fifty-two countries and territories competed in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Byron Palmer. ^[3]

Background

Location and date

On 7 October 1959, Hank Meyer, city publicity director of Miami Beach, announced that the tenth anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant would be held in Miami Beach, Florida, instead of Long Beach, California in the United States. According to the Long Beach Beauty Congress, the competition had become "too commercialized" after the 1959 competition, leading them to withdraw their support for the pageant. ^{[4] [5]} This decision led to the creation of a new beauty pageant by the Long Beach Beauty Congress. ^[6] Later, this contest was named the International Beauty Congress, which is now known as Miss International.

Selection of participants

Contestants from fifty-two countries and territories were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were selected to replace the original dethroned winners.

Replacements and withdrawals

Miss Denmark, Antje Moller, was disqualified after it was discovered that she is only 16, and was replaced by her runner-up, Sonja Menzel. ^{[7] [8]}

Results

Miss International 1960 participating nations and results

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss International 1960	Colombia – Stella Márquez [1]
1st Runner-Up	India – Iona Pinto [9]
2nd Runner-Up	Iceland – Sigridur Geirsdottir
3rd Runner-Up	England – Joyce Kay
4th Runner-Up	United States – Charlene Lundberg
Top 15	Austria – Elizabeth Hodacs  Israel – Lili Dajani [10]  Italy – Maria Grazia Jacomell  Japan – Michiko Takagi  Paraguay – Gretel Hedger Carvallo  Philippines – Edita Resurreccion Vital  Poland – Marzena Malinowska  Singapore – Christl D'Cruz  Venezuela – Gladys Ascanio  West Germany – Helga Kirsch

Special Awards

Awards	Contestant
Miss Friendship	British Guiana – Julia Ann Adamson
Miss Photogenic	Iceland – Sigridur Geirsdóttir [11]
Miss Popularity	Belgium – Caroline Lecerf [a]

Preliminary Competition Winners

Awards	Contestant
Best in Playsuit	Day 1:  Iceland – Sigridur Geirsdóttir † Day 2:  England – Joyce Kay Day 3:  United States – Charlene Lundberg
Best in Evening Gown	Day 1:  Colombia – Stella Márquez Day 2:  Poland – Marzena Malinowska Day 3:  Norway – Lise Hammer
Best National Costume	Day 1:  Venezuela – Gladys Ascanio Day 2:  Iceland – Sigridur Geirsdóttir † Day 3:  Ceylon – Yvonne Gunawardene

Contestants

• Argentina – Slavica Lazaric
• Australia – Joan Stanbury
• Austria – Elizabeth Hodacs
• Belgium – Caroline Lecerf
• Bolivia – Edmy Arana Ayala
• Brazil – Magda Renate Pfrimer
• British Guiana – Julia Ann Adamson
• Canada – Margaret Powell
• Ceylon – Yvonne Eileen Gunawardene
• Colombia – Stella Márquez
• Denmark – Sonja Menzel
• Ecuador – Magdalena Dávila Varela
• England – Joyce Kay
• Finland – Marketta Nieminen
• France – Yvette Suzanne Degrémont
• Greece – Kiki Kotsaridou
• Holland – Katinka Bleeker
• Hong Kong – Lena Woo
• Iceland – Sigridur Geirsdóttir †
• India – Iona Pinto †
• Indonesia – Wiana Sulastini
• Israel – Lili Dajani
• Italy – Maria Grazia Jacomelli
• Japan – Michiko Takagi
• Jordan – Gulnar Tucktuck
• Lebanon – Juliana Reptsik
• Luxembourg – Liliane Mueller
• Malaya – Zanariak Zena Ahmad †
• Morocco – Raymonde Valle
• North Borneo – Elizabeth Voon
• Norway – Lise Hammer
• Paraguay – Gretel Hedger Carvallo ^[12]
• Peru – Irma Vargas Fuller
• Philippines – Edita Resurreccion Vital
• Poland – Marzena Malinowska
• Portugal – Maria Josabete Silva Santos
• Puerto Rico – Carmen Sara Latimer
• Singapore – Christl D'Cruz
• South Africa – Nona Sherriff
• South Korea – Kim Chung-ja
• South Pacific – Patricia Apoliona (from Honolulu)
• Spain – Elena Herrera Dávila-Núñez
• Sweden – Gunilla Elm
•   Switzerland – Mylene Delapraz
• Tahiti – Teura Marguerite Teuira
• Taiwan – Janet Lin Chin-Yi ^[b]
• Tunisia – Habiba Ben Abdallah
• Turkey – Guler Kivrak
• United States – Charlene Lundberg
• Uruguay – Beatriz Liñares
• Venezuela – Gladys Ascanio
• West Germany – Helga Kirsch

Did not compete

• Hawaii – Gordean Leilehua Lee (withdrew)
• Yugoslavia – Tania Velic

Notes

1. Voted by parade viewers.
2. Chin-Yi competed as "Miss China".

References

1. "Srta. Colombia® 1959 María Stella Márquez" (in Spanish). Concurso Nacional de Belleza de Colombia . Retrieved July 8, 2021.
2. Associated Press (August 22, 1959). "Pageant shifted". Spokane Daily Chronicle . Long Beach, California . Retrieved July 8, 2021.
3. Lo, Ricky (30 November 2015). "The 1st Miss International pageant". Philippine Star . Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
4. "Miss Universe Contest moving". The Royal Gazette. 8 October 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2025– via Bermuda National Library.
5. "May settle dispute over beauty pageant". Lewiston Evening Journal. 22 August 1959. p. 7. Retrieved 14 October 2025– via Google News Archive.
6. "New International Beauty Congress at Long Beach". The Royal Gazette. 2 September 1959. p. 5. Retrieved 14 October 2025– via Bermuda National Library.
7. "Young Danish beauty loses trip to U.S." St. Joseph Gazette. 22 April 1960. p. 12. Retrieved 14 October 2025– via Google Books.
8. "Quartet of queens". The Windsor Star. 22 April 1960. p. 36. Retrieved 14 October 2025– via Google Books.
9. "Current Events". Current Events. Vol. 6. 1960. p. 78-81.
10. Ofer Aderet, 'Half-Breed': The Secrets of Miss Israel Finalist Born to an Arab Father and Jewish Mother Haaretz 5 September 2021
11. "Miss Photogenic" . Lawton Constitution . Lawton, Oklahoma. August 11, 1960. p. 12. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
12. "Latin Lovely Ardent Yoga Enthusiastic". Press Telegram. August 8, 1960. Retrieved August 31, 2024.

External links

• Pageantopolis - Miss International 1960