Stella Araneta: A Timeless Reign of Beauty

 In a world obsessed with youth, a true icon of timeless beauty stands as a testament to the fact that grace and influence only deepen with age. At 86, Stella Márquez Araneta, the original Miss International, holds a unique and revered place in the history of beauty pageants. While many winners fade into obscurity, Araneta's story is one of a reign that has never ended, a life dedicated to shaping the very industry that crowned her.

Born María Stella Márquez Zawadski in Tumaco, Colombia on May 4, 1939, her journey to becoming a global figure was anything but conventional. Her father, Arturo Eduardo Márquez Acevedo, was a senator and civil engineer. Her mother, Stella Zawadski Navia, hailed from Valle del Cauca. She has two younger sisters. She spent her formative years in various cities, including Cali, Bogotá, New York City, and Los Angeles. She moved to the United States in 1954 and was a high school student at Marymount School of New York in Manhattan. As a young student, she classified herself as a "Gringa," noting that she was completely unable to relate to Colombian culture, including its national dance, the Cumbia. This outsider perspective, however, would later fuel her extraordinary success.

In 1959, she was crowned Miss Colombia, a title that opened the door to international competition. The following year, at the inaugural Miss International pageant, she made history by winning the very first crown. Her victory was not just a personal triumph but a foundational moment for a new global institution of beauty.

Her story did not stop with the crown. It was during her reign that she met Filipino business heir Jorge León Araneta, who eventually inherited the Araneta Group. They married in Colombia and she settled in the Philippines, becoming a naturalized Filipina in 1970. In 1964, she spearheaded the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc (BPCI), which launched the annual Binibining Pilipinas pageant. For over 50 years, she has been the guiding force behind the Philippines' remarkable success on the international pageant stage, a legacy that has produced numerous titleholders and empowered generations of young women.

Popularly known as “Madame Stella Araneta,” she served as the long-standing director for the Miss Universe franchise in the Philippines until 2019, and she is the current director for the Miss International franchise in the country. She is credited with leading the Philippines to five Miss International crowns and was even a judge at the 2008 pageant held in Macau. Miss International titleholder Kylie Versoza (2016) expressed her amazement upon learning that the pageant's first-ever winner is a naturalized Filipina.

Araneta’s influence goes far beyond the sashes and tiaras. Through her leadership of BPCI, a non-stock, non-profit organization, she has transformed the pageant world into a platform for charity and cultural exchange. BPCI's primary mission is to raise funds for projects that benefit orphans, indigent families, and other less fortunate members of Philippine society, in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Her enduring presence has made her a matriarchal figure, a symbol of elegance, business acumen, and unwavering commitment.

While the exact title of "oldest living beauty queen" is difficult to verify with certainty—as many pageant records from the early 20th century are incomplete—Araneta’s status as the oldest living winner of a major international pageant is undisputed. She is of Spanish and Polish heritage and collects premium emeralds, a gemstone highly valued in her native Colombia. Her life provides a powerful counter-narrative to the fleeting nature of celebrity. She has not only aged gracefully but has done so by building a career and a legacy that transcends a single moment of victory. In 2013, she was inducted into the Eastwood City Walk of Fame in Quezon City, Philippines.

As new generations of beauty queens push for more inclusivity, as seen with older contestants like Marissa Teijo in the Miss Texas USA pageant, Stella Araneta stands as a living testament to a different kind of evolution: the transformation of a beauty queen into a business leader and a timeless icon. Her reign continues not through a crown on her head, but through the enduring impact of her work and the countless lives she has touched.