Miss České republiky, originally named Miss Československo (), is the most prestigious national

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

History

Early winners

The First Czech Queen: 1910

The Czech Republic had its first beauty queen in 1910. However, according to press reports, it was not a domestic competition in the modern sense of the word, but an unofficial competition organized by Czech Parisians. Twenty-year-old Růžena Brožová, selected based on photographs, took part in a trip to Paris in 1910, where beauty queen elections were held during the Mi-carême (mid-Lent) festivities. The press called her the "Czech Queen".

Post World War II contests

1966 – 1970

The Second World War and the subsequent rise of communism caused a long interruption of the contest. Only around the time of the

Prague Spring The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...

did beauty pageants temporarily resume from 1966 to 1970. The winners even competed internationally. The last contest was held in June 1970 with the winner of that year's contest being slated to represent Czechoslovakia in the 1971 editions of

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

and

Miss Europe Miss Europe is a beauty pageant for women from all over Europe. It was established in February 1927 by , the European distributor of Paramount, as a one-off event where the winner was to star in a film directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. A ...

, and the 1st Runner-Up representing the country at

Miss World 1970 Miss World 1970 was the 20th anniversary of the Miss World pageant, held on 20 November 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. Jennifer Hosten from Grenada won the crown of Miss World 1970. Although Miss World 1969, Eva Rueber ...

. However, after

Miss Universe 1970 Miss Universe 1970 was the 19th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on July 11, 1970. At the end of the event, Gloria Diaz of the Philippines crowned Marisol Malaret of Puerto Rico a ...

, the 1969 winner who competed at Miss Universe as Miss Czechoslovakia, Kristina Hanzalová, fled to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and requested political asylum in July 1970. In response, the communist government of Czechoslovakia, under direct influence of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, banned beauty pageants in the country and forbade the 1970 winner and runners-up from participating internationally. The ban remained in place until 1989. During this time, the contest was called Dívka Roku/Dívka Roku Československa ().

Modern day Contest, before the national pageant merger

1989 – 1992

The modern day pageant was founded in 1989, under the name Miss Československá Socialistická Republika (Miss ČSSR) (). The first modern-day Miss Czechoslovkia was Ivana Christová of the East Slovak Region (from the part of the region that is now present-day

Prešov Prešov () is a city in eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region () and Šariš. With a population of approximately 85,000 for the city, and in total more than 100,000 with the urban area, it is the second-largest city i ...

). The following year, in 1990, the contest was renamed Miss Česká a Slovenská Federativní Republika (Miss ČSFR) (). Internationally, the contest was referred to Miss Československo/Miss Czechoslovakia.

1993 – 2009

In 1993,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

split into two nations, the Czech Republic/Czechia and the Slovak Republic/Slovakia, the pageant as a result was held one last time as Miss České a Slovenské Republiky (). Earlier that year the first Miss Slovakia/Miss Slovensko was held and in 1994, the original organizers restructured the pageant into Miss České republiky for the Czech Republic only with the first edition taking place. The director and head person in charge from 1989 to 2008 was Miloš Zapletal. In 2009, Zapletal departed and was replaced with the 2006 winner and

Miss World 2006 Miss World 2006 was the 56th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Sala Kongresowa, a theatre at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland, on 30 September 2006. It was the first time ever that the pageant was held in the ...

Taťána Kuchařová Taťána Kuchařová, formerly Taťána Gregor Brzobohatá (; born 23 December 1987) is a Czech model and beauty queen who won the title of Miss Czech Republic and Miss World 2006. In doing so, she made history to become the first woman from th ...

who held the 2009 contest before the Czech national pageant merger in 2010.

National Pageant Merger in 2010

In 2005, a rival pageant was started and was able to outbid this pageant to acquire franchising rights for Miss Universe and crowned a new delegate for

Miss Universe 2005 Miss Universe 2005 was the 54th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Impact Arena in Nonthaburi Province, Bangkok Metropolitan Region, Thailand on 31 May 2005. At the end of the event, Jennifer Hawkins of Australia crowned Natalie Glebova of C ...

. In 2010, Miss České republiky and the rival pageant, Česká Miss merged under the direction of former Miss Československo () of 1991, , and two winners were selected, one for

and the other for

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, Mi ...

Present-day contest

Present day contest: Since 2018

In 2018, the Miss České republiky pageant returned after the organizers of discontinued the Miss Léta pageant after acquiring the trademark and intellectual rights to Miss České republiky.

Titleholders

Gallery

File:Růžena Brožová 1910.jpg, Růžena Brožová,
1910 winner File:Album representantů všech oborů veřejného života československého - 1927 Eliška Poznerová.jpeg, ,
1927 winner File:Kralovna krasy 1928.jpg, Marie Kopecká,
1928 winner File:Michaela Bakala 2013.JPG, (pictured in 2013),
1991 winner File:Katerina Prusova 2015.jpeg,

Kateřina Průšová Kateřina Průšová (born 1 December 1983 in Liberec) is a Czech model and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Czech Republic 2002 as an 18-year-old. She was due to participate at the Miss Universe 2003 pageant, but was replaced by Kateřina ...

(pictured in 2015),
2002 winner File:Jana Doleželová 2.jpg,

Jana Doleželová Jana Doleželová (born 23 June 1981 in Šternberk, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech actress, model, pharmacist and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Czech Republic 2004 and was a semi-finalist in Miss World 2004 in China China, officia ...

(pictured in 2007),
2004 winner File:Miss World 06 Tatiana Kucharova.jpg,

,
2006 winner and

File:Miss Czech Rep 07 Katerina Sokolova.jpg, Kateřina Sokolová,
2007 winner File:Miss Czech Rep 08 Zuzana Jandov.jpg, Zuzana Jandová,
2008 winner File:Iveta Maurerová 2018.jpg, ,
2018 winner

International pageant representatives

Miss Europe

Miss World

Miss Universe

Miss International

Miss Supranational

Miss Globe

Miss Aura International

References

External links

Miss České republiky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miss Ceske republiky

Miss Miss (pronounced ) is an English-language honorific typically used for a girl, for an unmarried woman (when not using another title such as " Doctor" or "Dame"), or for a married woman retaining her maiden name. Originating in the 17th century ...

Recurring events established in 1989 1989 establishments in Czechoslovakia Czech awards