| Mrs. Universe | |
| Type: | Beauty pageant |
| Headquarters: | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Location: | Bulgaria |
| Language: | English |
Mrs. Universe is an annual international event for "the most honorable married woman". The event is open to married, divorced, and widowed women from nations on all continents around the world, who are between the ages of 18 and 55, have a family and career, and are involved in a "significant cause".[1] [2] [3] [4] It is based in Sofia, Bulgaria.
| Year | Country | Mrs. Universe | Location | Entrants | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Incheon, South Korea | 110 | |||
| 2023 | Meranie Gadiana Rahman | Pasay City, Philippines | 97 | ||
| 2022 | Elena Maksimova[5] | Sofia, Bulgaria | 112 | ||
| 2021 |  Georgia | Ana Siradze[6] | Seoul, South Korea | 110 | |
| 2020 | Zhuldyz Abdukarimova | Virtual pageant | 92 | ||
| 2019 | Honey Cho | Guangzhou, China | 90 | ||
| 2018 | Julia Gershun | Cebu, Philippines | 85 | ||
| 2017 | Tram Hoang Luu | Durban, South Africa[7] | 78 | ||
| 2016 | Olga Torner | Guangzhou, China | 60 | ||
| 2015 | Ashley Callingbull-Burnham[8] [9] | Minsk, Belarus[10] | 56 | ||
| 2014 | Sabrina Pinion[11] | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 39 | ||
| 2013 | Carol Lee[12] | Oranjestad, Aruba | 24 | ||
| 2012 | Layla Martínez[13] | Rostov, Russia | Unknown | ||
| 2011 | Mayra Farias | Pleven, Bulgaria | Unknown | ||
| 2010 | Jennika Hannusaari[14] | Riga, Latvia | Unknown | ||
| 2009 | Vaida Ragénaite[15] | Vilnius, Lithuania | Unknown | ||
| 2008 | Marika Gederte | Riga, Latvia | Unknown | ||
| 2007 | Eleonora Mancheva | Sofia, Bulgaria | Unknown |
The Mrs. Universe organization was sued in 2010 by the Miss Universe organization for an alleged breach of trademark. The Mrs. pageant countered that "Universe" is a generic word, and pointed out that the Mrs. pageant is exclusively for married women while the Miss pageant is for unmarried women. The Mrs. organization opined that the lawsuit was part of a conspiracy by human traffickers to stop the pageant, because Mrs. Universe held an awareness campaign about human trafficking.[16] Five years after, the Miss Universe organization again threatened legal action against Mrs. Universe for breach of trademark. This came on the tails of comments made by Ashley Callingbull-Burnham, the first Indigenous Canadian to win the title, when she criticized the Canadian government's lack of support of First Nations people.[17]
The Mrs. Universe pageant has continued to run despite this controversy, arguing that it is a pageant for married, divorced, and widowed women while the Miss Universe pageant was restricted to women who have never been married.[18] Beginning in 2023, however, the Miss Universe Organization will allow married or pregnant women to compete in the pageant.[19]