Miss World 1955

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Miss World 1955
Susana Duijm Miss World 1955.jpg
Susana Duijm
Date20 October 1955
Presenters
Venue Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
Entrants21
Placements8
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 Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 20 October 1955.

Contents

At the end of the event, English actress Eunice Gayson crowned Susana Duijm of Venezuela as Miss World 1955. This is the first victory of Venezuela in the history of the pageant. Miss World 1954 Antigone Costanda of Egypt did not attend due to hostilities between Egypt and the United Kingdom over the Suez Canal.

Contestants from twenty-one countries participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Eric Morley.

Background

Lyceum Ballroom, venue of Miss World 1955 Lyceum Theatre, Wellington St, London.jpg
Lyceum Ballroom, venue of Miss World 1955

Selection of participants

Twenty-one contestants were selected to compete in the pageant. Two contestants were appointed to represent their countries after being a runner-up in their national pageants.

Replacements

Miss Suomi 1955 first runner-up Mirva Arvinen was appointed to represent Finland after Miss Suomi 1955 Inga-Britt Soderberg won Miss Europe. [1]

With the withdrawal of the original Miss Australia 1955 Shirley Bliss, two candidates were chosen to represent Australia at Miss World: Miss Victoria Beverley Prowse of Melbourne, and Miss South Australia Pat Doran of Adelaide. To choose who would compete in Miss World, a London newspaper held a poll for its readers, and the readers chose Prowse as the Australian representative to Miss World. [2]

Debuts, returns and withdrawals

This edition marked the debuts of Australia, Austria, Cuba, Honduras, Iceland and Venezuela, and the returns of Israel and Monte-Carlo who last competed in 1953. Yolanda Cristina Gigliotti of Egypt withdrew due to the dispute between the United Kingdom and Egypt over the Suez Canal. [3] Switzerland and Turkey withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Lorna McLeod of Alaska and Barbara Mamo Vieira of Hawaii were supposed to participate in this edition. However, they were unable to participate due to financial issues. [4]

Results

Miss World 1952 participating countries and territories Miss World 1955 Map.PNG
Miss World 1952 participating countries and territories
PlacementContestant
Miss World 1955
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
5th runner-up
Top 8

Contestants

Twenty-one contestants competed for the title. [5] [7]

CountryContestantAge [a] Hometown
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Beverly Prowse [8] 23 Melbourne
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Felicitas Von Goebel [9] 24 Vienna
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Rosette Ghislain [10] 22 Hainaut
Flag of Ceylon 1951-1972.svg  Ceylon Viola Sita Gunarate [7] 22 Colombo
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba Gilda Marín [11] 26 Havana
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Karin Palm-Rasmussen [7] 18 Copenhagen
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Mirva Arvinen [12] 19 Helsinki
Flag of France.svg  France Gisele Thierry [13] 21 Paris
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Jennifer Chimes [14] 22 Leamington Spa
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg  Greece Julia Koumoundourou [15] 18 Icaria
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Holland Angelina Kalkhoven [16] 18 Amsterdam
Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg  Honduras Pastora Pagán [17] 18 San Pedro Sula
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Arna Hjörleifsdóttir [18] 22 Akureyri
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Evelyn Foley [7] 22 Dublin
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Miriam Kotler [7] 21 Tel Aviv
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Franca Incorvaia [7] 18 Milan
Flag of Monaco.svg  Monte Carlo Josette Travers [7] 16 Monte Carlo
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Anita Åstrand [7] 21 Alingsas
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States Margaret Anne Haywood [19] 20 Jonesboro
Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).svg  Venezuela Susana Duijm [20] 19 Aragua de Barcelona
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany Beate Krüger [7] 18 Berlin

Notes

  1. ↑ Age at the time of the pageant

References

  1. ↑ Junttilan, Veli (6 June 2005). "Miss Eurooppa Suomesta". Turun Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "England asked to choose between two lovely lasses from Australia". Mirror. 15 October 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 29 March 2025– via Trove.
  3. ↑ Andrews, Farah (17 January 2019). "Egyptian singer Dalida celebrated with Google Doodle". The National. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  4. ↑ "On the Inside". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 23 September 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 29 March 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "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.
  6. ↑ "Miss World". The Leader-Post. 21 October 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 29 March 2025– via Google News Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "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.
  8. ↑ "Model will face judge". The Daily News. 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
  9. ↑ "Miss Austria wird seit 90 Jahren gewählt". Wien (in German). 27 January 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  10. ↑ "Miss 55: "J'ai hésité avant de venir"". La Dernière Heure (in French). 6 April 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  11. ↑ "Miss World". The Leader-Post. 21 October 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Google News Archive.
  12. ↑ "The mystery of a miss". The Daily News. 28 October 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
  13. ↑ "Wants to be "Miss World"". The Straits Times. 18 October 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via National Library Board.
  14. ↑ "Miss England a mother". The Daily News. 31 October 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
  15. ↑ "Crowning glory". The Daily News. 7 December 1955. p. 15. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Trove.
  16. ↑ "Miss Holland". Het Parool (in Dutch). 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Delpher.
  17. ↑ Gámez, Sabino (20 August 2010). "Pastora Pagán, 55 años después de la hazaña". La Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ "Arkansas girl almost Miss World". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 21 October 1955. p. 36. Retrieved 22 June 2024– via Google News Archive.
  20. ↑ Roterman, Natalie (19 June 2016). "Susana Duijm Dead: First Latina To Ever Win Miss Mundo Passes at 79". Latin Times. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
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