María José Lora

María José Lora Loayza (born 15 August 1990) is a Peruvian business owner, model, and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Grand International 2017 in Phú Quốc, Vietnam. She is the first woman from Peru to win the Miss Grand International title and the first South American to win the crown.

Early life and career

Lora was born in Trujillo, in the La Libertad Department of northern Peru. She is the daughter of Miguel Lora. At the age of 10, she moved with her family to the United States, settling in Florida. Before becoming a beauty queen, she established her own model management company, L'Belle Model Management. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Pageantry

Miss Peru 2017

Lora competed in the Miss Peru 2017 pageant, organized by Jessica Newton. Representing the Peruvian community in the USA (Peru USA), she was appointed as Miss Grand Peru 2017, earning the right to represent her country at the international level. Standing at 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in), she was widely considered a front-runner for the crown due to her runway skills and experience.

Miss Grand International 2017

Lora represented Peru at the 5th edition of the Miss Grand International pageant, held on 25 October 2017 at the Vinpearl Convention Center in Phú Quốc, Vietnam.

During the final question and answer round, the Top 5 finalists were asked: "If you could issue a law to punish war criminals and violence, what would it be?" Lora answered:

At the end of the event, she was crowned the winner.

Her court included Tulia Alemán of Venezuela (first runner-up), Elizabeth Clenci of the Philippines (second runner-up), Brenda Jiménez of Puerto Rico (third runner-up), and Nikola Uhlirová of the Czech Republic (fourth runner-up).

During her reign, she resided in Bangkok, Thailand, and traveled to various countries including Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, the Netherlands, and India to promote the "Stop the War and Violence" campaign.