Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest, in 1939, many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film.

History

The forerunner of Miss Italia was Miss Sorriso (Miss Smile), started in 1939 by Dino Villani and sponsored by a brand of toothpaste. Contestants were judged by their photographs rather than competing on a runway.

After a break during World War II, the contest resumed in 1946 and adopted the present-day name of Miss Italia. It was held in Stresa, which had managed to maintain its hotel infrastructure despite the war. The venue then changed several times before it was established that Salsomaggiore Terme would be the permanent, annual host of the pageant.

Like contemporary Italian society itself, Miss Italia has gone through many changes over the years. In 1950 it was first broadcast on the radio. But since 1987 it has been broadcast live on television. As of 1990 the chest, waist, and hip measurements of the contestants are no longer judged, and in 1994 the contest was opened to married women and mothers (the 1987 winner had been disqualified when it was later discovered she was married). In 1996, Denny Méndez became the first Miss Italia woman of colour.

Among the participants finding later success in cinema and the entertainment industry at large (although many of them have not won the crown of Miss Italia itself) include: Silvana Pampanini, Sophia Loren, Marcella Mariani,[1] Lucia Bosè, Stefania Sandrelli, Mirca Viola, Simona Ventura, Patrizia Deitos, Anna Falchi and Martina Colombari.

Since 1959 the organizer of Miss Italia has been Enzo Mirigliani, to whose work the contest owes much of its current success. The jury groups that elect Miss Italia have included celebrities such as Totò, Giorgio de Chirico, Giovannino Guareschi, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Gina Lollobrigida, Alberto Lattuada, Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Lina Wertmüller, Dino Risi, Alberto Sordi, and Claudia Cardinale.

Besides the title of "Miss Italia", during the pageant other consolation prizes are also awarded, including "Miss Elegance" and "Miss Cinema". In 1991 a separate pageant was instituted, called "Miss Italia nel Mondo", a competition for Italian women living abroad.

Miss Italia will no longer be held in Salsomaggiore Terme, for economic reasons. This was announced in April 2011 and a long list of cities have expressed interest in hosting the pageant. Cities include Sanremo, Rome, Fiuggi, Taormina and many more. It was officially announced that Miss Italia 2011 will be held in Montecatini Terme. Milly Carlucci will not return as host of the pageant. Fabrizio Frizzi has replaced her for Miss Italia 2011. The pageant will only take place over two nights, rather than three.[2] This year the beauty pageant contest, back in a national broadcast television. The contest will be produced by Infront and RAI, The host will be Alessandro Greco. A program by Casimiro Lieto, Luca Parenti and Alessandro Migliaccio. Directed by Francesco Ebner.[3][4]

In July 2023, in response to Miss Nederland being won by a transgender woman, Miss Italia instituted a blanket ban on trans women from competing.[5][6] As a response, several trans men applied to enter the contest.[7]

Regional rankings

TitlesRegionWinning Years
12 Lazio1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1967, 1971, 1972, 1993, 2000, 2015, 2020, 2022
11 Sicily1954, 1966, 1976, 1977, 1988, 1995, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
11 Lombardy1940, 1941, 1947, 1956–1960, 1965, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1990, 2019, 2023
6 Veneto1957, 1964, 1989, 1992, 2002, 2007
5 Friuli-Venezia Giulia1948, 1970, 1974, 1984, 1987
5 Calabria1955, 1968, 1997, 2009, 2011
5 Tuscany1946, 1973, 1980, 1996, 2016
5 Piedmont1939, 1983, 2004, 2005, 2023
4 Campania1959, 1986, 2001, 2021
4 Marche1949, 1969, 1981, 2018
3 Emilia-Romagna1958, 1991, 1998
2 Trentino-Alto Adige2006, 2017
2 Umbria1962, 2010
2 Sardinia1963, 1994
2 Liguria1961, 1975
1 Apulia1999
1 Abruzzo1979
0 Aosta Valley
0 Basilicata
0 Molise

The winners of Miss Italia

Miss Sorriso
1939Isabella Verney1940Gianna Maranesi1941Adriana Serra
1942No pageant1943No pageant1944No pageant
1945No pageant  
Miss Italia
1946Rossana Martini1947Lucia Bosè1948Fulvia Franco
1949Mariella Gianpieri1950Anna Maria Bugliari1951Isabella Valdettaro
1952Eloisa Cianni1953Marcella Mariani1954Eugenia Bonino
1955Brunella Tocci1956Nives Zegna1957Beatrice Faccioli
1958Paola Falchi1959Marisa Jossa1960Layla Rigazzi
1961Franca Cattaneo1962Raffaella De Carolis1963Franca Dallolio
1964Mirka Sartori1965Alba Rigazzi1966Daniela Giordano
1967Cristina Businari1968Graziella Chiappalone1969Anna Zamboni
1970Alba Balestra1971Maria Pinnone1972Adonella Modestini
1973Margareta Veroni1974Loredana Piazza1975Livia Jannoni
1976Paola Bresciano1977Anna Kanakis1978Loren Cristina May
1979Cinzia De Ponti1980Cinzia Lenzi1981Patrizia Nanetti
1982Federica Moro1983Raffaella Baracchi1984Susanna Huckstep
1985Eleonora Resta1986Roberta Capua1987Michela Rocco di Torrepadula[8]
1988Nadia Bengala1989Eleonora Benfatto1990Rosangela Bessi
1991Martina Colombari1992Gloria Zanin1993Arianna David
1994Alessandra Meloni1995Anna Valle1996Denny Mendez
1997Claudia Trieste1998Gloria Bellicchi1999Manila Nazzaro
2000Tania Zamparo2001Daniela Ferolla2002Eleonora Pedron
2003Francesca Chillemi2004Cristina Chiabotto2005Edelfa Chiara Masciotta
2006Claudia Andreatti2007Silvia Battisti2008Miriam Leone
2009Maria Perrusi2010Francesca Testasecca2011Stefania Bivone
2012Giusy Buscemi2013Giulia Arena2014Clarissa Marchese
2015Alice Sabatini2016Rachele Risaliti2017Alice Rachele Arlanch
2018Carlotta Maggiorana2019Carolina Stramare2020Martina Sambucini
2021Zeudi Di Palma2022Lavinia Abate2023Francesca Bergesio

Hosts

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lancia, E.; Poppi, R. (2003). Le attrici: dal 1930 ai giorni nostri. Dizionari Gremese (in Italian). Gremese. p. 225. ISBN 978-88-8440-214-1. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Keane (8 May 2011). "The Miss Italia beauty pageant comes to Barga". Barganews.com.
  3. ↑ "Miss Italia". raiplay.it.
  4. ↑ "Alessandro Greco a Blogo: 'Non si può dire di no a Miss Italia. Ecco cosa cambierò rispetto al passato'". tvblog.it. 12 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "Miss Italy pageant bars transgender contestants, rejects 'glittery bandwagon of trans activism'".
  6. ↑ "Miss Italy Won't Allow Transgender Competitors: Must Be Woman 'From Birth'".
  7. ↑ Fanucci, Beatrice (25 July 2023). "Over 100 trans men enter Miss Italy pageant after organiser says only "women from birth" allowed". GCN.ie – via Yahoo News.
  8. ↑ Rocco was chosen as winner following the disqualification of the previously declared winner, Mirca Viola of Forlì. Viola was discovered to be married, and a mother, and the initial results of the pageant were overruled.
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