National Lucia Bride of Sweden (in Swedish: Sveriges Lucia) was a competition for Swedish females. The winner of the competition would be the "Lucia Bride" heading traditional Lucia processions on December 13, Saint Lucy's Day. The contest was usually held in churches or at the open-air museum Skansen in Stockholm. It was held between 1973 and 2012, and it was sponsored by the publications Året Runt and Stockholm City. Between 2001 and 2007, the competition was called either "Årets Lucia" (Lucia of the year) or "Stockholms Lucia" (Lucia of Stockholm).
Prior to 2008 the event was mainly a beauty contest, but from that year the sponsors wished to judge the contestants primarily by their responses during an interview with the competition's judges, and on their singing ability. Every contestant represented a Swedish charity organization.
Winners include Yvonne Ryding, titleholder of the 1983 contest, who became Miss Sweden and Miss Universe the following year.
Winners
Year Lucia Bride Presenter 1973 May Gret Andersson Princess Christina 1974 Anne Olofsdotter Nils Erik Baehrendtz 1975 Birgitta Lindvall Liv Ullmann 1976 Liselotte Cargain Saul Bellow 1977 Maria Sandahl Bertil Ohlin 1978 Elisabeth Bernhoff Ola Ullsten 1979 Gunilla Nilsson Britt Mogård 1980 Monica Rydell Jan-Erik Wikström 1981 Laura Wessberg Kai Siegbahn 1982 Carina Vogestedt Kai Siegbahn 1983 Yvonne Ryding William Golding 1984 Cecilia Gullin Ingemund Bengtsson 1985 Cecilia Ericsson Sten Andersson 1986 Martina Jansson Anders Wijkman 1987 Annelie Ericsson Astrid Lindgren 1988 Sophie Andersson Cyndee Peters 1989 Anna Kohlström Alice Babs 1990 Anna Jansson Princess Christina 1991 Monica Andreasson Eva Nordenson 1992 Linda Olofsson Derek Walcott 1993 Victoria Reichel Ulf Adelsohn 1994 Lisa Almgren Hans Alfredson 1995 Camilla Johansson Börje Ahlstedt 1996 Therése Nilsson Marita Ulvskog 1997 Linda Harritz Ulf Adelsohn 1998 Jenny Åkerström Peter Harrysson 1999 Linda Pettersson Herman Lindqvist 2000 Amanda Gustafsson Anna Maria Bildt 2001 Linda Cahling Thomas Di Leva 2002 Emma Johannesson Bibi Andersson 2003 Therése Andersson Lars Berghagen 2004 Karin Westerberg Leif Pagrotsky 2005 Isolde Palombo Michael Nyqvist 2006 Jennie Samuelsson Ernst Billgren 2007 Madeleine Gustafsson Paolo Roberto 2008 Emma Johansson Paolo Roberto
References
External links Sveriges Lucia official website Lucia Bride of Sweden 2000 Lucia Bride History of Santa Lucia, article by Christian historian Bill Petro exploring how missionaries introduced the Santa Lucia celebration to Sweden