Martha Maria Cordeiro Vasconcellos (born June 18, 1948) is a Brazilian beauty queen who became her country's second

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

winner, after Iêda Maria Vargas first achieved the feat in 1963. She also became the fifth

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

to win the title, after

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

's Gladys Zender in 1957,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

's Luz Marina Zuluaga in 1958 and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

's Norma Nolan in 1962. Vasconcellos is a native of the state of

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

Biography

Vasconcellos allegedly had a boyfriend since she was twelve when she represented Brazil at the 1968 Miss Universe pageant in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. She beat 64 contestants to win the title. The morning after her win, she called her family and boyfriend in Brazil, expressing feelings of being homesick. Vasconcellos lived in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

for the next year, as required by the Miss Universe organization, then returned to Brazil in 1969 and married days after. Vasconcellos today leads a quiet and private life, practically disappearing from the public eye. She has two children from her first wedding to Reinaldo Loureiro: Leonardo and Leilane, and has two grandsons, Felipe and Guilherme. She lived in the Boston, Massachusetts area and worked for a Portuguese-speaking organization as a victims rights counselor. Now retired, she has returned to live in Brazil.

References

External links

page about Vasconcellos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasconcellos, Martha 1948 births Brazilian emigrants to the United States Living people Miss Brazil winners Miss Universe 1968 contestants Miss Universe winners People from Salvador, Bahia

Biography

See also

References

External links