Luz Marina Zuluaga Zuluaga (; October 31, 1938 – December 2, 2015) was a Colombian beauty queen who won

Miss Universe 1958 Miss Universe 1958, the 7th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 25 July 1958 in Long Beach, California, United States. 36 contestants competed where finally, Miss Colombia, 19-year-old Luz Marina Zuluaga won the competition, and was crowned by Gl ...

. She was the only Colombian woman to win the Miss Universe pageant until

Paulina Vega Paulina Vega Dieppa (; born 15 January 1993) is a Colombian television host, model and beauty queen crowned Miss Colombia 2013 and Miss Universe 2014. Vega is the second Miss Universe from Colombia. Early life Paulina Vega Dieppa was born in Ba ...

became

Miss Universe 2014 Miss Universe 2014 was the 63rd Miss Universe pageant, held at the FIU Arena in Florida, United States on January 25, 2015. This was the first time in the history of the competition that the pageant was not during the year the title was awarded ...

Biography

Zuluaga was born in Pereira. She moved to

Manizales Manizales () is a city in central Colombia. It is the capital of the Caldas Department, Department of Caldas, and lies near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano. Currently, the city is the main center for the production of Colombian coffee and an importa ...

, (

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Caldas) as a small child and grew up there. She applied for the Miss Caldas contest, and she won in 1957. Zuluaga went on with her training towards the

Miss Colombia Miss Colombia (Formally ''Concurso Nacional de Belleza de Colombia'', English: ''"National Beauty Contest of Colombia"'') is the national beauty pageant organization in Colombia. The current Miss Colombia is Sofía Osío Luna of Atlántic ...

contest and arrived in Cartagena, hoping to win the Miss Colombia title. Pereira is part of the Caldas department. Risaralda was made a department in 1966 some years after her election. She represented the following local titles ''Miss Pereira, Miss Caldas, Miss Colombia Virreina (1st Runner up), Miss Colombia — Winner'' and then

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

Miss Colombia 1957

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 Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, on July 25, 1958. After Zuluaga was announced as the new Miss Universe, the only

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

station and most

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

stations in Colombia at the time (as much as seventy-three) stopped their regular programming to report the

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

. 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 El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, Colombia and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engativá district and ...

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

and at Manizales airport. By now, the citizens of

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.

Life After Titleholding

After years outside the spotlight, Zuluaga made headlines again when she married a

medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

doctor and moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1966, she returned to Manizales and became involved with the city council as well as with the state's institute of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

, of which she eventually became director. Zuluaga had three sons and a daughter. She died on December 2, 2015 at the age of 77 at her home in Manizales.

Notes

References

External links

*
Colombia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuluaga, Luz Marina 1938 births 2015 deaths Colombian beauty pageant winners Miss Colombia winners Miss Universe 1958 contestants Miss Universe winners