Picture of the Week

Queen of the Golondrinas

Miss Italia Nel Mondo celebrates the beauty of Italian women from all over the world. This year's pageant, held September 2, saw Venezuela's Barbara Clara crowned as the new global icon of bellezza italiana.

Had the Miss Italia nel Mondo pageant been in existence back in 1962 we are pretty sure we know who would have won. Argentina's only Miss Miss Universe, Norma Nolan! Norma's father was Irish and her mother Italian, which would have qualified her for the Miss Italia nel Mondo title.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, Italian immigrants flocked to North and South America, especially the USA and Argentina. In Argentina, Italian immigrants were called "golondrinas," or swallows, because many of them were farm workers who traveled back and forth across the Atlantic to take advantage of both the Italian and Argentine harvest seasons.

With Norma's Italian ancestry, we have dubbed her "Queen of the Golondrinas." But she isn't the only one. Miss World 1960, Argentina's Norma Cappagli and Miss Universe 1987, Chile's Cecilia Bolocco, are also of Italian ancestry!