Miss World 1956

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Miss World 1956
Miss World 1956 Petra Schurmann Crowned 02.jpg
Petra Schürmann
Date15 October 1956
Presenters Eric Morley
Venue Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
Entrants24
Placements6
Debuts
  • Japan
  • Morocco
  • New Zealand
  • South Africa
  • Tunisia
Withdrawals
  • Australia
  • Ceylon
  • Cuba
  • Honduras
  • Monte Carlo
Returns
  • Egypt
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
Winner Petra Schürmann
West Germany
←  1955
1957  →

Miss World 1956 was the sixth Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 15 October 1956.

Contents

At the end of the event, Susana Duijm of Venezuela crowned Petra Schürmann of West Germany as Miss World 1956. This is the first victory of West Germany in the history of the pageant.

The announcement of the winner led to some confusion during the ceremony. Initially, Betty Lane Cherry of the United States was mistakenly announced as the winner when she received the winner's sash. However, it was later clarified that she was the first runner-up. In response to the mix-up, she stated, "Two seconds don't make one first." [1] [2]

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

Background

Lyceum Ballroom, venue of Miss World 1956 Lyceum Theatre, Wellington St, London.jpg
Lyceum Ballroom, venue of Miss World 1956

Selection of participants

Twenty-four contestants were selected to compete in the pageant.

Debuts, returns and withdrawals

This edition marked the debuts of Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, South Africa and Tunisia, and the returns of Egypt, Switzerland and Turkey which last competed in 1954.

Maureen Kistle of Australia withdrew after deciding to make her trip to London in December, leaving her without the financial support to return in October before her national title was awarded. As a result, Eric Morley sent a letter to Australian newspapers seeking a replacement for Kistle, but none emerged. [3] Marcia Rodríguez of Cuba did not participate for undisclosed reasons. [4] Ceylon, Honduras, and Monte Carlo withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Marthe Niankoury of Côte d'Ivoire was supposed to participate, she was unable to do so due to visa problems. [5] Leda Brandão Rau of Brazil and Dorothy Moreau of Canada were also supposed to participate. However, they were unable to do so due to budget constraints. [6] [7] Lola Sabogal of Peru was also invited to compete for the first time, but was unable to do so for undisclosed reasons.

Results

Miss World 1956 participating countries and territories Miss World 1956 Map.PNG
Miss World 1956 participating countries and territories
The finalists of Miss World 1956 Miss World 1956 Top-6.jpg
The finalists of Miss World 1956

Placements

PlacementContestant
Miss World 1956
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
3rd runner-up
4th runner-up
5th runner-up

Contestants

Twenty-four contestants competed for the title.

CountryContestantAge [a] Hometown
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Margaret Scherz22 Vienna
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Madeleine Hotelet [9] 25 Brussels
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Anne Rye Nielsen19 Frederiksberg
Flag of Egypt (1952-1958).svg  Egypt Norma Dugo [10] 17 Cairo
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Sirpa Helena Koivu [11] 18 Turku
Flag of France.svg  France Geneviève Solare [12] 20 Paris
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain Iris Alice Kathleen Waller [10] 21 Gateshead
Flag of Greece (1822-1978).svg  Greece Maria Paraloglou19 Athens
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Holland Ans van Pothoven [13] 18 Amsterdam
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Ágústa Guðmundsdóttir [14] 19 Reykjavík
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Amy Kelly22 Dublin
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Rina Weiss [15] 19 Tel Aviv
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Angela Portaluri [16] 19 Maglie
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan Midoriko Tokura [17] 20 Yamaguchi
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco Lydia Marin [18] 19 Rabat
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Jeannette de Montalk [19] 20 Whangārei
Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa Norma Vorster [20] 19 Natal
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Eva Bränn20 Timrå
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Yolanda Daetwyler20 Zürich
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia Pascaline Agnes [21] 20 Tunis
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Suna Tekin20 Istanbul
Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg  United States Betty Lane Cherry [22] 20 Orangeburg
Flag of Venezuela (1954-2006).svg  Venezuela Celsa Pieri18 Carúpano
Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany Petra Schürmann [23] 23 Mönchengladbach

Notes

  1. ↑ Age at the time of the pageant

References

  1. ↑ Eddy Gilmore, "Miss Germany Wins World Beauty Title", Associated Press in San Mateo Times , 16 October 1956. Retrieved 17 February 2017 via Newspapers.com Lock-green.svg
  2. ↑ Dale Linder-Altman, " It's happened before: Orangeburg queen also incorrectly labeled winner", The Times and Democrat , 22 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Miss World just can't be an Australian..." The Argus. 9 October 1956. p. 3. Retrieved 7 April 2025– via Trove.
  4. ↑ "Beauties from many lands join in opening Miss Universe Contest". Youngstown Vindicator . 16 July 1956. p. 13. Retrieved 25 August 2023– via Google News Archive.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Elizabeth Ofosuah (24 February 2019). "See the first-ever beauty queens from Africa". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  6. ↑ "Miss Canada". The Ottawa Journal. 9 July 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 7 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Miss Canada". Santa Cruz Sentinel. 2 September 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 7 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "OPERA HOUSE RECITAL". The Sydney Morning Herald . 17 August 1964. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  9. ↑ "Erelijst Miss België" [Honors list Miss Belgium]. De Morgen (in Dutch). 11 January 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Miss England, Miss Egypt to share room". Sarasota Herald-Tribune . 9 October 1956. p. 6. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
  11. ↑ "Sirpa Koivu, vuoden 1956 kaunein" [Sirpa Koivu, the most beautiful of 1956]. Yle (in Finnish). 8 September 2006. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  12. ↑ "Mais oui". The Tuscaloosa News . 17 October 1956. p. 12. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
  13. ↑ "Miss Holland was een week te vroeg" [Miss Holland was a week early]. Twentsch dagblad Tubantia (in Dutch). 2 October 1956. p. 9. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Delpher.
  14. ↑ "Warm hand for Miss Iceland". The Argus. 15 October 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Trove.
  15. ↑ "Israeli beauties". The News-Dispatch . 17 July 1956. p. 5. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "Un souvenir memorable" [A memorable souvenir]. Photo Journal (in French). 27 October 1956. p. 3. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
  17. ↑ "Japanese girl favourite". The Central Queensland Herald. 11 October 1956. p. 31. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Trove.
  18. ↑ Babas, Latifa (11 February 2019). "Histoire : Quand le Maroc était représenté dans les concours internationaux de beauté". Yabiladi (in French). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  19. ↑ "Quits Miss World race". The Kansas City Star. 10 October 1956. p. 22. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "History of Miss South Africa". News24. 3 February 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  21. ↑ "Miss Tunisie : retour sur 60 ans d'histoire – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 3 December 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  22. ↑ McHugh, Robert (28 October 1956). "South Carolina's cornering market on beautiful girls". Battle Creek Enquirer. p. 3. Retrieved 1 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Mehr Liebe geht nicht" [More love is not possible]. Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 17 May 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
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