Kiki Håkansson
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Kerstin Margareta "Kiki" Håkansson (23 July 1929 – 4 November 2024)<ref name=WION>Template:Cite news</ref> was a Swedish model and beauty queen who was the first winner of the Miss World beauty pageant.
Miss World 1951
Originally the Festival Bikini Contest,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Miss World was organized by Eric Morley as a mid-century advertisement for swimwear at the Festival of Britain.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Håkansson was a photo and fashion model<ref name=Herald>Template:Cite news</ref> when she was crowned Miss Sweden World in 1951 and subsequently won the London pageant.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Håkansson wore a bikini during the crowning ritual, after which she was condemned by Pope Pius XII<ref name=magnanti>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and some countries with strong religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates.<ref name="Keith Lovegrove 1967">Template:Cite book</ref> In 1952, bikinis were banned from the pageant and replaced with more modest swimwear.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While they were eventually reintroduced to Miss World, Håkansson remains the only winner to have received her crown while wearing one.<ref name="Keith Lovegrove 1967"/>
Later life
Håkansson declined an Italian film contract and an American modelling contract and continued her modelling career in Europe, working for the Comité français de l'élégance. She studied French couture sewing, and judged several beauty pageants. She married Dallas Anderson, an American sculptor whom she met when he was studying in Europe; after nine years in Copenhagen, they moved to the United States, where Håkansson retired from modelling and Anderson became a faculty member at Brigham Young University in Utah.<ref name=Herald/>
Personal life and death
Håkansson and her husband had three children.<ref name=Herald/> She died in her sleep on 4 November 2024 in California, at the age of 95.<ref name=WION/>
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Template:Miss World titleholders Template:Miss Sweden winners in the Grand Slam pageants Template:Big Four Pageants titleholders Template:Authority control