Osmel Ricardo Souza Mancilla
(born 26 September 1946) is a Cuban-Venezuelan beauty pageant entrepreneur, and the former president of the
Miss Venezuela
Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The fi ...
Organization.
Prominently known for his excellence in both pageantry and advertising, Sousa has been called "The
Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
of Beauty" for his significant role in producing the large number of beauty titles for Venezuela. For what he is considered, as the best coach of beauty queens, worldwide.
On 8 February 2018, Sousa announced his public intention to retire from the position and was ultimately succeeded by
Gabriela Isler
María Gabriela de Jesús Isler Morales (born 21 March 1988) is a Venezuelan TV host, fashion model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2013, gaining placement as the seventh Miss Universe of her country.
Isler is the founder of '' ...
as national director for the
Miss Venezuela
Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is the national beauty pageant of Venezuela, traditionally held in September. It is preceded by two or three months of preliminary events, with the awarding of corporate prizes. The fi ...
pageant.
Early life
Osmel Sousa was born in
Rodas
Rodas () is a municipality and town in the Cienfuegos Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1859 under the name of ''Lechuzo''. In 1879 it was renamed Rodas in honour of capitán general ''Caballero de Rodas''.
Geography
The municipality is divide ...
, a town in the province of
Cienfuegos
Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...
in Cuba. When he was thirteen, his family sent him to live with his grandmother in
Maracaibo
)
, motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal")
, anthem =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_alt = ...
, Venezuela.
After high school he studied with Horacio Peterson's acting company with
Lupita Ferrer
Lupita Ferrer (born December 6, 1947) is a Venezuelan theater, film and television actress. She is known as a "Queen" of telenovelas and one of the most famous Spanish speaking telenovela actresses of all time.
Biography
Ferrer was born as Yola ...
,
Miguel Ángel Landa
Miguel Ángel Landa (born November 4, 1936) is a Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consistin ...
and
Luis Abreu, but quickly realized that he was not cut out to be an actor. He then briefly held jobs as an advertising draftsman and art designer for the two large television networks in Venezuela, the state owned
VTV and the cable network
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) was a Venezuelan free-to-air television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, Radio Caracas Televisió ...
.
Miss Venezuela
![OSmel-Sousa-y-Jesús-Morales](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/OSmel-Sousa-y-Jes%C3%BAs-Morales.jpg)
In 1969, Osmel Sousa went to work for the publicity company in charge of organizing the annual Miss Venezuela contest. He was assigned to work with the Venezuelan Committee of Beauty. Sousa continued working with that committee when, in 1970, Ignacio Font Coll reconstituted it as the OPPA Advertising Agency, which in turn was the predecessor of the actual Miss Venezuela Organization.
In the 1970s, Osmel Sousa undertook advising selected contestants, many of whom went on to win the Miss Venezuela crown, at the same time he started designing nightgowns for most of the contestants. His first success was
María Antonieta Cámpoli
María Antonieta Cámpoli Prisco (born October 9, 1955 in Italy) is an Italian-Venezuelan pageant titleholder, who was ''Miss Venezuela'' in 1972.
Biography
Maria Antonietta Cámpoli was born in Isola del Liri (an ancient city of Latium, located ...
, who became Miss Venezuela in 1972,
and went on to be 2nd runner-up in the Miss Universe contest.
In October 1981 Ignacio Font Coll died and Osmel Sousa became the president of the Miss Venezuela Organization. During his thirty-year career he has been considered to be the driving force behind the large number of Miss Venezuelas who go on to become
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
,
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 International
Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...
and
Miss Earth
Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of t ...
.
Sousa has been called a
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
, an artist who turns out talented and beautiful young women. To date,
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
has had seven
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 ...
titleholders, six
Miss World
Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Miss Int ...
winners, eight
Miss International
Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...
crowns, and two wins in
Miss Earth
Miss Earth is an annual international major beauty pageant based in the Philippines that advocates for environmental awareness, conservation and social responsibility. Along with Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International, it is one of t ...
, becoming the most successful pageant powerhouse in history.
In 2007, Sousa joined with
Lupita Jones
María de Guadalupe "Lupita" Jones Garay (, ; born 6 September 1967) is a Mexican television producer, model, actress, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1991. She was the first Mexican contestant to win the crown.
Since 1994, Jones ...
, a former Miss Universe (1991), and Carlos Calderón,
emcee of "
El Gordo y La Flaca", in judging
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
's Hispanic beauty contest ''Nuestra Belleza Latina''.
On 6 February 2018, Sousa publicly announced his retirement from the Miss Venezuela organization after forty years of tenure.
Mister Mundo
In 1996 he became the franchise manager for the
Mister World
The Mister World competition is a male beauty pageant sponsored by the Miss World Organisation. The competition was founded in 1996. The entrants compete in various activities including waterskiing, mountain biking, and marathon running. The cur ...
for Venezuela; In 1998, he achieved his first success in this contest for male beauty, awarding the first title of Mister world to Venezuela, which was won by
Sandro Finoglio
Sandro Finoglio (born Sandro Finoglio Esperanza; January 3, 1973) is a Venezuelan actor, model, TV host. Winner of the Mister Venezuela national title in 1997, Finoglio was sent to Troia, Portugal a year later to compete in the Mister World com ...
.
Miss Argentina
At the beginning of July 2019, Sousa announced, through his social networks, that he will assume the direction of the Miss Argentina beauty pageant.
Controversies and legacy
Osmel Sousa has been involved in a number of controversies over the years, with everything from whether the color and style of dress that he picked was appropriate, to whether or not he advised plastic surgery for a particular contestant to the charge that he creates "fashion mannequins". In 1979,
Maritza Sayalero
Maritza Sayalero Fernández (born February 16, 1961, in Caracas) is a Venezuelan designer, model, businesswoman and beauty queen. In 1979 she was crowned both Miss Venezuela and Miss Universe, the first woman from Venezuela to win this title. She ...
was the first Venezuelan contestant to admit that she'd had plastic surgery.
Sousa changed the way that the Miss Venezuela contestants achieved success and public attitudes on plastic surgery
In Venezuela, and other countries plastic surgery received much more general acceptance and even became fashionable.
In recent years, Sousa has been also involved in several controversies related to
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
in Venezuela, by saying he's not only against it, but also against child adoption by same sex parents. He also has said in many occasions he was estranged by his parents, and consequently sent to Venezuela when he was only a teenager, and even put him on hormonal treatment to make him "manlier" due to his sexual orientation.
See also
*
Lupita Jones
María de Guadalupe "Lupita" Jones Garay (, ; born 6 September 1967) is a Mexican television producer, model, actress, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1991. She was the first Mexican contestant to win the crown.
Since 1994, Jones ...
*
Stella Araneta
María Stella Márquez—Araneta (born 17 June 1937) ( née Márquez Zawadski), often styled as Madame Stella Márquez de Araneta, is a Colombian pageant director and beauty queen. She grew up in New York City then later migrated to Colombia, wh ...
*
Gabriela Isler
María Gabriela de Jesús Isler Morales (born 21 March 1988) is a Venezuelan TV host, fashion model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2013, gaining placement as the seventh Miss Universe of her country.
Isler is the founder of '' ...
*
Jacqueline Aguilera
Jacqueline María Aguilera Marcano (born 17 November 1976 in Valencia, Carabobo) is a Venezuelan model and beauty queen who became the fifth woman from Venezuela to capture the Miss World crown. Former Miss World 1994 Aishwarya Rai handed over ...
*
Nina Sicilia
Alejandrina “Nina” Sicilia Hernández (born December 3, 1962, in Caracas) is a Venezuelan model and beauty queen who was the very first Venezuelan to hold the Miss International title.
Career
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, she represented th ...
* Prince Julio César
*
Yue-Sai Kan
Yue-Sai Kan () is an American, international television host and producer, successful entrepreneur, fashion icon, bestselling author and humanitarian. People magazine called her "the most famous woman in China" and Time magazine proclaimed her "th ...
*
Magali Febles
Magali Febles (born 24 December 1964 in Santo Domingo) is a Dominican beautician and beauty pageant circuit personality.
Febles is the national director for the Miss Dominican Republic Universe franchise and has previously served as nationa ...
*
Mooryati Soedibyo
The Royal Highest Princess Mooryati Soedibyo of Surakarta Sunanate, also known as Hj. DR. BRA. Mooryati Soedibyo, S.S., M. Hum. (born January 5, 1928), is a member of the Surakarta Sunanate royal family in Indonesia, president director of , and ...
*
Inès Ligron
Inès Ligron is a French fashion and beauty expert, best known for her work with fashion houses, beauty firms, advertising agencies, and magazine editors. Ligron also owns a beauty academy in Japan called ''WCBA by Ines Ligron''. Ines is the fac ...
*
Sylvie Tellier
*
Denise Quiñones
Denise Marie Quiñones August (born 9 September 1980) is a Puerto Rican actress, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 2001. Prior to winning the Miss Universe pageant, she represented her hometown of Lares in the Miss Puerto R ...
Notes and references
Further reading
*
External links
* ;
* ;
* ;
* ;
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sousa, Osmel
Living people
Venezuelan businesspeople
1946 births
LGBT people from Venezuela
Theatre managers and producers
Venezuelan people of Galician descent
Cuban people of Galician descent
Cuban emigrants to Venezuela
Beauty pageant owners
Miss Venezuela