Keriman Halis

Keriman Halis Ece (February 16, 1913 – January 28, 2012) was a Turkish beauty pageant titleholder, pianist, and fashion model who won the Miss Turkey 1932 title. She was also crowned Miss Universe 1932 in Spa, Belgium and thus became Turkey's first Miss Universe.

Biography Of Ubykh Circassian origin, Keriman Halis was born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire, as one of the six children of a merchant from Hacıosman, Manyas, Tevfik Halis Bey, in 1913. She grew up in a family with a religious background. During her childhood, her family lived in Fındıkzade, where she was surrounded by French nannies. According to the Atlanta Constitution, her grandfather was a conservative mighty religious man who kept her secluded from the public in a palace in order to hide her beauty from the public. She was elected the most beautiful Turkish woman in the contest held on July 2, 1932, in İstanbul among eight candidates. Keriman Halis was sent then to the International Pageant of Pulchritude contest held in Spa, Belgium to represent Turkiye. On July 31, 1932, she finished first among competitors from 27 countries, achieving Turkiye's first title at an international beauty contest after three years only of its existence and less than a decade after the founding of the Republic. In 1933 she visited Egypt in a tour organized in cooperation with the Turkish Embassy in Egypt. She was laid to rest at the Feriköy Cemetery, Istanbul.

Reception As a Turkish beauty queen, she was a symbol of the new liberty of women in the Middle East, following the end of World War I and was celebrated in the Arab press in Egypt and the Syrian Mandate.