Malou Hansson (born 1983 in Järfälla,

Uppland Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...

, Sweden) served as

Miss Sweden Miss Sweden or Miss Universe Sweden (in Swedish: ''Fröken Sverige''), is the title of the Swedish beauty pageant, qualifying delegates to the Miss Universe competition. In 2009 the pageant renamed as Miss Universe Sweden and the first national ...

in 2002. She was the first woman with black African ancestry to hold this

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

title. Hansson, competing as "Miss

", was suggested as a potential candidate for the

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 ...

pageant by a celebrity panel, and the viewers selected her as the winner via a telephone poll. She served as Sweden's representative in the

Miss Universe 2002 Miss Universe 2002, the 51st Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 29, 2002, at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 75 delegates competed in this year. Oxana Fedorova of Russia was crowned by Denise Quiñones of Puerto Rico ...

pageant but she did not place in the top 10. Hansson, while the first woman of African ancestry to win the crown, was not the first woman of African ancestry to compete for the title of Miss Sweden. Other black Miss Sweden-contestants during the years have included such as

Jessica Folcker Jessica Elisabeth Angelique Folcker (born 9 July 1975), known professionally as Jessica, is a Swedish singer. Her debut album ''Jessica'' in 1998 used her mononym, whereas follow up album ''Dino'' credited Jessica Folker. Her following albums ''P ...

(2nd R-UP 1993), ''Ida Sofia Manneh'' (1st R-UP 2001) and her own sister ''Nanna Hansson'' in 2001.

Film career

Since her time as Miss Sweden ended, Hansson has appeared in several Swedish films in small roles. These include ''Stockholm Boogie'' (2005), ''Blodsbröder'' (2005), and '' Sökarna: Återkomsten'' (2006). In 2007 Hansson performed her first leading movie role as "Nathalie" in the Swedish movie ''Gangster'', alongside actors

Kjell Bergqvist Kjell Bertil Leonard Bergqvist (born 23 February 1953 in Enskede, Stockholm County) is a Swedish actor. Bergqvist finished the Royal Dramatic Training Academy in 1973 and made his debut in '' En enkel melodi'' and ''Jack''. He has since coope ...

and

Mikael Persbrandt Mikael Åke Persbrandt (; born 25 September 1963) is a Swedish actor. In Swedish films, he is perhaps best known for playing Gunvald Larsson in the ''Beck'' series of movies. He is internationally known for his starring role in the Academy Award ...

References

External links

* 1983 births Living people People from Järfälla Municipality Swedish people of Ghanaian descent Miss Sweden winners Miss Universe 2002 contestants Swedish film actresses {{Europe-pageant-bio-stub