Catharina Svensson of Denmark is the first ever winner of Miss Earth

Denmark's Catharina Svensson became the first Miss Earth when she was crowned in 2001. It was Denmark's first beauty pageant title in any of the "Big Four", and its first since winning Miss Europe 1981. Miss Earth is the thirds largest international pageant competition among women from countries around the world, after Miss Universe and Miss World. ... A beauty contest, or beauty pageant, is a competition between people, based largely, though not always entirely, on the beauty of their physical appearance. ... The Big Four pageants are: Miss Universe Miss World Miss Earth Miss International In the world of beauty pageants, these four have become the top international pageants. ... Winners Miss Europe 1934 Ester Toivonen, Finland Miss Europe 1938 Sirkka Salonen, Finland Miss Europe 1948 Jacqueline Donny, France Miss Europe 1949 Juliette Figueras, France Miss Europe 1950 Hanni Schall, Austria Miss Europe 1951 Jacqueline Grenton, Switzerland Miss Europe 1952 Günsell Basar, Turkey Miss Europe 1953 Eloisa Cianni, Italy...

At the time of her crowning, the 21 year old Svensson was a third year law student and a part-time model.