Martha Vasconcellos
Encyclopedia
Martha Vasconcellos is a Brazil
ian who became that country's second Miss Universe
winner, after Ieda Maria Vargas
first achieved the feat in 1963. She also became the fifth Latin American to win the title, after Peru
's Gladys Zender
in 1957, Colombia
's Luz Marina Zuluaga
in 1958 and Argentina
's Norma Nolan
in 1962. Vasconcellos is a native of the state of Bahia
.
. She beat 64 contestants, including Curaçao
's Anne Marie Braafheid
(the first Black
woman to become first runner up in Miss Universe history), 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 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.
Martha currently is resides in the Boston, Massachusetts area and works for a Portuguese-speaking organization as a victims rights counselor.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian who became that country's second Miss Universe
Miss Universe
Miss Universe is an annual international beauty contest that is run by the Miss Universe Organization. The pageant is the most publicized beauty contest in the world with 600 million viewers....
winner, after Ieda Maria Vargas
Ieda Maria Vargas
Iêda Maria Vargas , is a Brazilian who was crowned Miss Universe in Miami Beach, Florida in 1963. She was the first person from her country to win a major international beauty pageant. Vargas is a native of Rio Grande do Sul...
first achieved the feat in 1963. She also became the fifth Latin American to win the title, after Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
's Gladys Zender
Gladys Zender
Gladys Rosa Zender de Meier is a beauty queen from Peru who became the first Latin American woman to win the Miss Universe title.-Miss Universe:...
in 1957, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
's Luz Marina Zuluaga
Luz Marina Zuluaga
Luz Marina Zuluaga is a Colombian beauty pageant winner and Miss Universe 1958. She is the only Colombian in history to hold the Miss Universe title.-Biography:...
in 1958 and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's Norma Nolan
Norma Nolan
Norma Nolan , is an Argentine who became, in 1962, the first woman from that country to obtain the Miss Universe title. She won the title in Miami Beach, Florida. Nolan is of Irish and Italian descent...
in 1962. Vasconcellos is a native of the state of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
.
Biography
Vasconcellos allegedly had a boyfriend since she was twelve when she represented Brazil at the 1968 Miss Universe pageant in Miami Beach, FloridaMiami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
. She beat 64 contestants, including Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
's Anne Marie Braafheid
Anne Marie Braafheid
Anne Marie Braafheid became the first black woman to attain the position of 1st runner-up in the Miss Universe contest. She was the second black woman to reach the top 15 finalists position, after Evelyn Miot of Haiti in 1962...
(the first Black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
woman to become first runner up in Miss Universe history), to win the title.
The morning after her win, she called her family and boyfriend in Brazil, expressing feelings of being homesick
Homesickness
Homesickness is the distress or impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from the specific home environment or attachment objects....
. Vasconcellos lived in New York, New York 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.
Martha currently is resides in the Boston, Massachusetts area and works for a Portuguese-speaking organization as a victims rights counselor.