Colombia’s first ever Miss Universe Luz Marina Zuluaga
The very first Colombian, Luz Marina Zuluaga to be crowned Miss Universe, a title she earned in 1958. A native of the city of Pereira, the beauty queen finished first runner-up in the 1957 national contest, but after the winner was forced to resign her title, Zuluaga went on to represent the Andean nation at the seventh Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, California, where she was bestowed with the crown.
She was the first Colombian woman to win the Miss Universe pageant, and the only Miss Colombia to win until 56 years later, when Paulina Vega became Miss Universe 2014.
The beauty queen was born on October 31, 1938, in the city of Pereira, Colombia. In 1957, at the early age of 19, she competed for the Senorita Caldas contest and emerged as a winner, earning the right to represent her state at the Reinado Nacional de le Belleza, the Miss Colombia Pageant. To compete for the Miss Colombia title, she was awarded with the prize amount of 5,000 dollars by the state of Caldos, but she ended up spending 20,000 dollars of her own money.
Zuluaga did not win the contest, instead finishing as 1st Runner-Up. Before the Miss Universe pageant however, Miss Colombia 1957, Doris Gil Santamaria got married. Due to Miss Universe rules stating that no candidate can be married before the final contest itself, Santamaria was forced to resign, making Zuluaga Miss Colombia by default.
Miss Universe
The contest took place in Long Beach, California, on July 25, 1958. After Zuluaga was announced as the new Miss Universe, most television and radio stations in Colombia (as much as seventy-three) stopped their regular programming to report the breaking news. The evening gown she wore in the pageant was designed and made for her by Colombian designer Aura Leonor Troya de Sánchez, who was a designer to the stars including at least three Miss Colombias.
Zuluaga was not immediately able to return to her country, as Miss Universe personnel feared for her security because at the time Colombia was going through a period of extreme political volatility. When she eventually returned home, she was welcomed by large crowds both at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá and at Manizales airport. By now, the citizens of Manizales had accepted her as if she had been a native of the area. Learning that her family was not well off economically, many citizens collected money, which was used to build a better house for Zuluaga and her family.
After winning the Miss Universe title in 1958, the lady was declared tax exempt for life, had a house built for her by the government of Colombia, and was honoured with a postage stamp of her very own mesmerizing beauty in 1959.
After years outside the spotlight, Zuluaga made headlines again when she married a medical doctor and moved to the United States. In 1966, she returned to Manizales and became involved with the city council as well as with the state’s institute of tourism, of which she eventually became director. Zuluaga has three sons and a daughter. She died on December 2, 2015 at the age of 77 at her home in Manizales.
A photograph of Zuluaga with the Miss Universe crown and a scepter and the trophy she was awarded there are kept at the Colombian National Museum in Bogota. After Zuluaga’s triumph.
