Irma Nydia Vázquez (June 8, 1929 – May 2, 2019) was Puerto Rico's representative (as
Miss Puerto Rico
Miss Puerto Rico is a national title bestowed on the women representing Puerto Rico in international beauty pageants.
Although an Territories of the United States, American territory, Puerto Rico participates in international sports competitions ...
) to the 1948
Miss America
Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...
pageant. Although Malen Pietrantoni started Puerto Rico's annual participation in the event in 1937 as Miss Puerto Rico, and Zulma Caballero Lopez participated in 1938, Vázquez is nonetheless generally credited with being the first Puerto Rican contestant in the event, which required all contestants to sign a contract, which then required that "contestant must be in good health and of the white race."
Life
The daughter of an industrialist and sister of a future
Puerto Rico secretary of state
The secretary of state of Puerto Rico () leads all efforts promoting the cultural, political, and economical relations between Puerto Rico and jurisdictions within the United States or foreign countries. It was created by Article IV of the Con ...
,
Pedro Vázquez. She began her school studies at the Colegio Puertorriqueño de Niñas in San Juan; he continued in the Labra and
Central High School of
Santurce. She was the second wife of Puerto Rican singer and composer
Bobby Capó
Félix Manuel "Bobby" Rodríguez Capó (January 1, 1922 – December 18, 1989) was a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter. He usually combined ballads with European classical music, classical music and was deeply involved in Puerto Rican folk ...
, a marriage initially opposed by her family but which lasted 25 years, during which they had 5 children. She was born in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
,
to Pedro Vázquez, the founder of professional baseball in Puerto Rico, and Genoveva Vázquez, a seamstress who designed former First Lady
Ines Maria Mendoza's dress during the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
gala hosted by President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
at which cellist
Pablo Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,[Hackettstown, New Jersey
Hackettstown is a Town (New Jersey), town in Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is perhaps best known as the home to the US headquarters of Mars Inc., Mars, Inc.. As of the 2020 United States census, t ...]( ...<br></span></div> performed.
Vázquez died on May 2, 2019, in <div class=)
, under the care of her daughters and granddaughters. She was 89.
Vázquez was buried at the Coamo Municipal Cemetery in
Coamo, Puerto Rico
Coamo (, ) is a town and municipality founded in 1579 in the south-central region of Puerto Rico, located north of Santa Isabel; south of Orocovis and Barranquitas; east of Villalba and Juana Díaz; and west of Aibonito and Salinas. The ...
, next to Capó's grave.
References
External links
Primerahora.com
1929 births
2019 deaths
Miss America 1940s delegates
Models from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican beauty pageant winners
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