Who Is The Only Peruvian Who Won Miss Universe And What Is Her Relationship With Christian Meier?

On January 14, the long-awaited contest of the Miss Universe 2022 and expectations remain high, above all, because experts in the matter —former contestants and queens— place our representative, Alessia Rovegno, as one of the favorites. It should be noted that this beauty contest is the most important of all and has been taking place for seven decades. Let’s remember that Peru’s last position in Miss Universe was with Janick Maceta, in 2021, after having won Miss Peru in 2020. On that occasion, the Peruvian beauty queen was second finalist and finished in third place in the competition. It was a great feat, since our nation had not managed to place itself in the top ranks since Gladys Zender.

Who is Gladys Zender?

Gladys Zender was crowned in 1957 as the first Latin American, Hispanic American, South American, and from a Spanish-speaking country to win the Miss Universe, which was held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, in Long Beach, California, United States. She was barely 17 years old.

After his award, Glayds was also the protagonist of the first color cover of the magazine Caretas and, even, Creole composers dedicated musical themes to him. The two most popular were the waltz by Nicolás Wetzel and the polka by Alicia Maguiña. Both songs were performed and recorded by the trio Los Troveros Criollos in 1957.

Gladys Zender, protagonist of the first color cover of Caretas magazine. Photo: LR file

Gladys Zender is the mother of Christian Meier

Gladys Zender She is also the mother of the renowned Peruvian actor Christian Meier, the fruit of her love with Antonio Meier, whom she married in 1965. Currently, Gladys Zender is 83 years old.

Christian Meier posts photos together with his mother Gladys Zender. Photo: Andean

The speech that made Gladys Zender win Miss Universe

“Gentlemen of the jury, ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate being together tonight with all of you in this great auditorium, where I have come with the sole purpose of establishing a frank friendship between all the nations of the world, which are here represented by such charming girls, for all these nations I bring an affectionate greeting from my homeland Peru”, were the words of Gladys Zender during the Miss Universe competition.