Miss Suomi ( Finnish for ''Miss Finland'') is a national

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The pageant was founded in 1931, where the winners were sent to

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 ...

History

The Miss Suomi was held for the first time in 1931. Between 1952 and 1955 the winner of Suomen Neito went to

, where

Armi Kuusela Armi Helena Kuusela-Williams (née Kuusela, formerly Kuusela-Hilario; born 20 August 1934) is a Finnish-American beauty queen and philanthropist, best known for being the first-ever Miss Universe. In 1952, she gained national recognition by winn ...

was also crowned as the first Miss Universe in Long Beach by actress

Piper Laurie Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932 – October 14, 2023) was an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' The Hustler'' (1961), '' Carrie'' (1976), and '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), and the miniseries ...

in 1952. In 1956, due to lack of sponsorship, the national pageant of Suomen Neito was not held, and it made Finland withdraw from the competition. In 1960, Finland returned to Miss Universe with the second runner-up of Miss Suomi 1960, Maija-Leena Manninen, representing the country. In 1961, the Miss Suomi Organization changed its format to send its winner to the Miss Universe competition. From 1962 to 1963, the first princess of Miss Suomi represented Finland at Miss Universe. In some years, an appointed candidate has represented her country in

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

or Miss International. From 1964, the winner of Miss Suomi has represented her country in the

competition.

Franchise holders

The Miss Suomi Organization owns the rights to produce three titleholders to the grand slam beauty pageants:

and Miss International. The winner automatically becomes Miss Universe Finland while runners-up are crowned as Miss World Finland and Miss International Finland. Before 2007, Miss Suomi Organization also sent a delegate to Miss Europe.

Hosts

*Hugo Ahlberg – 1967 *Tauno Äijälä – 1968 *Teppo Ivaska – 1970 *Yvonne de Bruyn – 1973 *Helena Korhonen – 1980 *Sirpa Viljamaa – 1984 *Pirkko Mannola – 1986 * Lola Odusoga and Michaela Söderholm – 2019

International winners

**1975 – Anne Pohtamo **1952 –

**1957 – Marita Lindahl† * Miss International **1973 – Anneli Björkling

Titleholders

: Winning International Title : Miss Universe Finland : Miss World Finland : Miss International Finland : Miss Europe Finland

Titleholders under Miss Suomi org.

Miss Universe Finland

::''Miss Suomi started sending the winner of Miss Finland to

in 1964. In the past, if the winner did not qualify (due to her age) for the contest, a runner-up was sent.''

Miss International Finland

::''The 2nd Runner-up of Miss Suomi went to Miss International until 2017. In 2018 and 2019 the 1st Runner-up went to Miss International competition.''

Miss World Finland

::''The 1st Runner-up of Miss Suomi went to

until 2017. In 2018 the 2nd Runner-up went to Miss World, and in 2019 Dana Mononen was appointed as Miss World Finland 2019 by Miss Suomi Organization.''

References

External links

Official Miss Suomi website
{{Miss World countries and territories Beauty pageants in Finland Finnish awards