Armi Kuusela (Finland) Miss Universe 1952. Photo Gallery (original) (raw)

Armi Helena Kuusela (born 20 August 1934, Muhos, Finland) is Miss Universe 1952. In 1952 she won the national beauty contest Suomen Neito and was presented with a trip to the United States to participate in the first-ever Miss Universe pageant, becoming its first titleholder in history. At her crowning she was only 17 years old. At the time she weighed 49 kg (108 lb), and her height was 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in).

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, and Tauno Palo acted Jack Coleman (opposite role).

Armi Kuusela video:

On February 22, 1953, Kuusela took a journey round the world, during which time she met a Filipino businessman, Virgilio Hilario. Less than a year later after being crowned, on May 4, 1953 Kuusela chose to give up her Miss Universe crown before her year was finished to marry Hilario in Tokyo. It was a whirlwind courtship. They met in March at a dance in Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippines. Miss Universe had gone to the Islands for the International Trade Exposition. They honeymooned in the Hawaiian Islands, toured the United States and then Europe, before settling in the Philippines where they had five children.

Hilario died of a heart attack on September 7, 1975, and Kuusela married an American diplomat, Albert Williams, on June 8, 1978. First they moved to Barcelona, then to İzmir, Turkey before settling in La Jolla, a community in San Diego, California. As of 2011, she and her husband were still living there.

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