Talk:Maria Kalinina

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. Track your hook after promotion. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Sxchen1110 (talk) 14:16, 4 June 2026 (UTC)

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Maria Kalinina crowned Moscow Beauty 1988

• ... that after Maria Kalinina (pictured) won the first official beauty contest in the capital of the Soviet Union, falling flowers knocked her crown off?

• Source: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-14-mn-4058-story.html "The final night of the three-day event went smoothly until the glittering crown was placed on Kalinina’s head. At that moment, long-stemmed red roses began to rain from the ceiling, knocking off the crown and causing the beauty queen to duck and dodge, although she never lost her smile."

• • ALT1: ... that beauty queen Maria Kalinina (pictured) denied affairs with a president of the Soviet Union and a president of the United States? Source: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-17-me-1809-story.html "Nyet, Nyet : Soviet Beauty Queen Denies Allegations of Affair With Gorbachev" ; https://web.archive.org/web/20240527062334/https://www.kp.ru/daily/27607.5/4933812/ "Судьбы победительниц советских конкурсов красоты: Маша Калинина отказалась быть любовницей Трампа..." translated: "The Fates of Soviet Beauty Pageant Winners: Masha Kalinina Refused to Be Trump’s Mistress..." (article titles, but the article substance in each case confirms in more detail)
  • ALT2: ... that Maria Kalinina (pictured) was so revulsed by playing the villain in a horror movie that she become a vegetarian and a yoga instructor? Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20220625103800/https://aif.by/timefree/history/pervaya_krasavica_sssr_kak_slozhilas_sudba_mashi_kalininoy "У меня возникло полное отторжение той роли, которую я сыграла. После экранных пыток, убийств, насилия я сразу пошла в йогу, начала чистить свой организм: перешла на вегетарианское питание, чуть ли не на сыроядение." trans: "I felt a complete revulsion toward the role I had played. After the on-screen torture, murders, and violence, I immediately turned to yoga and began cleansing my body—switching to a vegetarian diet, and practically to raw foodism."
  • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Operación Estrella Polar III Template:Did you know nominations/Vasily Baranshchikov
  • Comment: ALT1 is clearly the spiciest, but I can also imagine it being rejected for that same reason, so offering three to choose from.

Moved to mainspace by GRuban (talk). Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 55 past nominations.

GRuban (talk) 13:13, 15 April 2026 (UTC).

• Comment ALT1 is certainly spicy, but I can't quite see how a person denying rumors complies with WP:DYKBLP. And ALT0 either makes the claim that no beauty contest occurred in Moscow before 1988, or that no beauty contest occurred in Moscow from 1918 to 1988. That superlative seems... unlikely to stand up to scrutiny. 1brianm7 (talk) 01:04, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

For ALT1, yes, that is what I feared. But ALT0 is exactly that: no beauty contest occurred in Moscow from 1918 to this one in 1988, and I would not be surprised if none occurred there before 1918 either. Multiple reliable sources say exactly that, not least the LA Times I linked above. I'm guessing you are not familiar with the Soviet Union? "In the East, before Gorbachev came to office in 1985, Soviet ideological thinking had condemned the idea of the beauty contest as degrading to women and symptomatic of capitalist exploitation." University of Gloucestershire, Routledge. --GRuban (talk) 14:35, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

In fact, most of the Russian sources I cite in the article, and there are many of them, over many years, say she was the first beauty queen in the whole of the Soviet Union, but the U. of Glou. paper I link above point out four earlier ones (1987 and earlier in 1988). She is certainly the first one in Soviet Moscow, though. That is very much her main claim to fame. If you can find a reliable source saying otherwise, please, please, please point to it, because it would make a big difference in the article. --GRuban (talk) 14:40, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

@1brianm7: So, um, Brian. I see you're editing. No offense, but are you going to provide reliable sources for your statement, or are you going to withdraw it? I wouldn't make such a big deal of it, but this is basically the main point of the article, this is like questioning that Yuri Gagarin was the first in space... and numerous articles about her make that exact parallel.--GRuban (talk) 14:12, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

The sources definitely support the claim, and a beauty contest champion was definitely unusual and unprecedented in the USSR. If you're confident in them I'll withdraw. The sources seem to go on "first official beauty contest", which is something that seems much more verifiable. My point was that, regardless of what sources say, as written this would be disproved by finding any instance of a competition judging people by their beauty in Moscow. 1brianm7 (talk) 15:06, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

OK, added "official". --GRuban (talk) 15:27, 20 April 2026 (UTC)

• full review needed. theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 22:21, 25 May 2026 (UTC)

@GRuban: QPQ is not valid because @Soman: already gave the article a review. When you've replaced it, I will review this.--Launchballer 12:24, 28 May 2026 (UTC)

@Launchballer:  Done --GRuban (talk) 17:37, 28 May 2026 (UTC)

Looks good. This is long enough and new enough and Earwig is clean. Image is technically compliant, though I wouldn't promote it when there are colour photos on Approved. No reason why this might deserve a maintenance template. ALT2 is the most interesting hook and I'm approving that one. Let's roll.--Launchballer 10:23, 29 May 2026 (UTC)

I only agree with the color photo in this case because of when the picture was taken. I feel completely different about black and white photography if color photos were not available at the time. SL93 (talk) 18:12, 31 May 2026 (UTC)