Ethiopian Beauty Pageant Some History Some Problems

A group of Ethiopians under the name of Ethio American Entertainment Inc. organized in 1988 the first Ethiopian Beauty Pageant in Washington DC. Herein is the events that took place in that year. A summary of the booklet distributed at the pageant identifies all the participants, the early history of pageants in the world and the Miss Addis Ababa Beauty Contest ( Amharic ; Kungena Wededer)of 1964 and 1968.

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The cover photograph of the Miss Ethiopia Pageant booklet shows Wossene Hailu being crowned in 1968 as Miss Addis Ababa by Vice President Hubert Humphrey.



Emperor Haile Selassie Receiving Wossene Hailu the Miss Addis Ababa of 1968 at the palace. The Haile Selassie University students at this time refered to the vice president as Kubet Humphrey. Kubet in Amharic means dried cow dung. Most of the students were radicalized Marxist oriented protesters against the feudal government.



Congratulatory Letter from Vice President Hubert Humphrey to Wossene Hailu, the 1968 Miss Addis Ababa.

The Ethiopian Beauty Pageant contestants were listed in the booklet with their names, date of birth, education and interests. A brief account of their backgrounds was also listed. There was no uniform pattern in the photographs and it seems that either they provided whatever photos they could get hold of from the contestants or there was a photo shot taken by the organizers. Thus there seems to be two or three classes of appearances, the Western look, the traditional look and the business-like look. One contestant even appears in blue jeans. Regardless, the photos in the booklet was for information only but it could have been an influence in the selection for the winner of Miss Ethiopia by the judges.






















Etenesh Wondemu (above) won the Miss Achievement catagory in the 1988 Miss Ethiopia Pageant. Her charisma, energy, confidence and looks certainly paid off!!


Sehin Belew the New Miss Ethiopia 1988 of the Washington DC Pageant at Hilton Hotel

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Sehin Belew in 2010, more than 20 years later and still looking good! Her secret for being fabulous every day is revealed in her recent book titled Fabulous for Less!