Miss World 1955

Miss World 1955
Susana Duijm
Date	20 October 1955
Presenters	Eric Morley †
Venue	Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
Entrants	21
Placements	8
Debuts	Australia Austria Cuba Honduras Iceland Venezuela
Withdrawals	Egypt Switzerland Turkey
Returns	Israel Monte Carlo
Winner	Susana Duijm †   Venezuela
←  1954 1956  →

Miss World 1955 was the fifth edition of the Miss World pageant, held on 20 October 1955 at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom. 21 contestants competed for the crown. Eunice Gayson crowned Susana Duijm of Venezuela as the new Miss World. The previous year's Miss World, Antigone Costanda of Egypt, did not attend because of hostilities between Egypt and United Kingdom over Suez Canal. That was the first time Venezuela won the title of Miss World. This was the first time that a winner had been crowned with the crown on her head. Duijm also placed Top 15 in Miss Universe 1955.

Results

Countries and territories which sent delegates and results for Miss World 1955

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 1955	Venezuela – Susana Duijm [1]
1st runner-up	United States – Margaret Anne Haywood [1]
2nd runner-up	Greece – Julia Koumoundourou [1]
3rd runner-up	Cuba – Gilda Marín [1]
4th runner-up	Sweden – Anita Åstrand [1]
5th runner-up	France – Gisele Thierry [1]
Top 8	Australia – Beverly Prowse [1]   Austria – Felicitas Von Goebel [1]

Contestants

Twenty-one contestants competed for the title. ^{[1] [2]}

Country	Contestant	Age [a]	Hometown
Australia	Beverly Prowse [3]	23	Melbourne
Austria	Felicitas Von Goebel [4]	24	Vienna
Belgium	Rosette Ghislain [5]	22	Hainaut
Ceylon	Viola Sita Gunarate [2]	22	Colombo
Cuba	Hilda Marín [6]	26	Havana
Denmark	Karin Palm-Rasmussen [2]	18	Copenhagen
Finland	Mirva Arvinen [7]	19	Helsinki
France	Gisele Thierry [8]	21	Paris
West Germany	Beate Krüger [2]	18	Berlin
England	Jennifer Chimes [9]	22	Leamington Spa
Greece	Julia Koumoundourou [10]	18	Icaria
Holland	Angelina Kalkhoven [11]	18	Amsterdam
Honduras	Pastora Pagán [12]	18	San Pedro Sula
Iceland	Arna Hjörleifsdóttir [13]	22	Akureyri
Ireland	Evelyn Foley [2]	22	Dublin
Israel	Miriam Kotler [2]	21	Tel Aviv
Italy	Franca Incorvaia [2]	18	Milan
Monte Carlo	Josette Travers [2]	16	Monte Carlo
Sweden	Anita Åstrand [2]	21	Alingsas
United States	Margaret Anne Haywood [14]	20	Jonesboro
Venezuela	Susana Duijm [15]	19	Caracas

Notes

1. Age at the time of the pageant

Debuts

•   Australia – Beverly Prowse
•   Austria – Felicitas Von Goebel
•   Cuba – Gilda Marín
•   Honduras – Pastora Pagán
•   Iceland – Arna Hjörleifsdóttir
•   Venezuela – Susana Duijm

Returns

Last competed in 1953:

•   Israel – Miriam Kotler
•   Monte Carlo – Josette Travers

Withdrawals

•   Egypt – Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti (Did not participate due to political friction hostiles between United Kingdom and Egypt for suez canal)
•    Switzerland – No Name (Unknown reasons)
•   Turkey – Suna Soley (Gave up to travel to london due to being as 1st Runner-Up concluded in Miss Europe 1955 pageant)

Did not compete

•   Alaska – Lorna Mae Margaret McLeod (Got rejected from the invitation due to did not have enough money to send her to the English orb)
•   Argentina – Hilda Isabel Sarli Gorrindo (Did not attended due to economic issue)
•   Brazil – No Name (Did not attended due to economic issue)
•   Finland – Mirva Orvakki Arvinen (Unknown reasons)
•   Hawaii – Barbara Mamo Vieira (Didn't happened to participate)
•   Norway – Solveig Borstad (Did not want to participate)

References

1. "Susanna Djuim (uit Venezuela) Miss World" [Susanna Djuim (from Venezuela) Miss World]. Het vrije volk (in Dutch). 21 October 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Delpher.
2. "Susane Djuim (Venezuela) is de mooiste van '55" [Susane Djuim (Venezuela) is the most beautiful of '55]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). 21 October 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Delpher.
3. "Model will face judge". The Daily News. 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
4. "Miss Austria wird seit 90 Jahren gewählt". Wien (in German). 27 January 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
5. "Miss 55: "J'ai hésité avant de venir"". La Dernière Heure (in French). 6 April 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
6. "Miss World". The Leader-Post. 21 October 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Google News Archive.
7. "The mystery of a miss". The Daily News. 28 October 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
8. "Wants to be "Miss World"". The Straits Times. 18 October 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via National Library Board.
9. "Miss England a mother". The Daily News. 31 October 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
10. "Crowning glory". The Daily News. 7 December 1955. p. 15. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
11. "Miss Holland". Het Parool (in Dutch). 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Delpher.
12. Gámez, Sabino (20 August 2010). "Pastora Pagán, 55 años después de la hazaña". La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2024.
13. "Arna Hjörleifsdóttir fra Akureyri kjörin "Fegurðardrottning íslands"" [Arna Hjörleifsdóttir from Akureyri elected "Beauty Queen of Iceland"]. Fálkinn (in Icelandic). 19 August 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Tímarit.is.
14. "Arkansas girl almost Miss World". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 21 October 1955. p. 36. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Google News Archive.
15. Roterman, Natalie (19 June 2016). "Susana Duijm Dead: First Latina To Ever Win Miss Mundo Passes at 79". Latin Times. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

External links

• Miss World official website