Miss World 1960

Miss World 1960
Norma Cappagli
Date	8 November 1960
Presenters	Bob Hope Peter West
Venue	Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
Broadcaster	BBC
Entrants	39
Placements	18
Debuts	Bolivia Burma Cyprus Ecuador French Polynesia Kenya Lebanon Madagascar Nicaragua Spain Tanganyika
Withdrawals	Austria Ghana Gibraltar Hawaii Honduras Hong Kong Jamaica Paraguay Peru Portugal Puerto Rico
Returns	Australia Turkey
Winner	Norma Cappagli [1] Argentina
←  1959 1961  →

Miss World 1960 was the tenth Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom on 8 November 1960.

At the end of the event, racing driver Stirling Moss, one of the judges, crowned Norma Cappagli of Argentina as Miss World 1960. This is the first victory of Argentina in the history of the pageant.

Contestants from thirty-nine countries and territories participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Hope, while Peter West provided commentary all throughout the competition. ^[2]

Background

Lyceum Ballroom, venue of Miss World 1960

Selection of participants

Thirty-nine contestants were selected to compete in the pageant. Three contestants were appointed to represent their countries after being a runner-up in their national pageants.

Replacements

Diane Medina was appointed to represent France after Yolanda Biecosai withdrew from the competition for undisclosed reasons. First runner-up of Miss United States 1960, Judith Ann Achter was appointed to represent her country after it was discovered that Annette Driggers, the original winner, is married and is only fifteen years old. ^{[3] [4]} Third runner-up of Miss Holland 1960, Carina Verbeek was appointed to represent her country as Miss Holland 1960, Ans Schoon was abroad when the registration forms arrived. ^{[5] [6]}

Debuts, returns and withdrawals

This edition marked the debut of Bolivia, Burma, Cyprus, Ecuador, French Polynesia, ^[a] Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Spain, and Tanganyika, and the return of Australia, which last competed in 1957 and Turkey, last competed in 1958.

Luise Kammermair of Austria chose not to participate in the competition after becoming a runner-up at Miss Europe 1960. Comfort Kwamena of Ghana withdrew after choosing to make her flight to London in August 1960 instead of November of the same year. Judith Willoughby of Jamaica, Lena Woo of Hong Kong, Mercedes Ruggia of Paraguay, Maricruz Gómez of Peru, and Maria Josebate Silva Santos of Portugal withdrew for undisclosed reasons. ^{[7] [8]} Gibraltar and Puerto Rico withdrew after their respective organizations failed to hold a national competition or appoint a delegate.

Marinka Polhammer of Chile, Marilyne Escobar of Morocco, Lorraine Nawa Jones of New Zealand, and Elaine Maurath of Switzerland are all set compete in this edition, but all withdrew for undisclosed reasons. ^[9]

Results

Miss World 1960 participating countries and territories.

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 1960	Argentina – Norma Cappagli [10]
1st runner-up	Israel – Gila Golan [10]
2nd runner-up	South Africa – Denise Muir [10]
3rd runner-up	West Germany – Ingrun Helgard Moeckel [10]
4th runner-up	United States – Judith Ann Achter [10]
Top 10	Brazil – Maria Edilene Torreão Ireland – Irene Ruth Kane [11] Italy – Layla Rigazzi [11] South Korea – Lee Young-hee United Kingdom – Hilda Fairclough
Top 18	Canada – Danica d'Hondt Cyprus – Mary Mavropoulos Denmark – Lise Bodin India – Iona Pinto Kenya – Jasmine Batty Norway – Grethe Solhoy [11] Rhodesia and Nyasaland – Jenny Lee Scott Sweden – Barbro Olsson

Pageant

Format

The number of placements in this edition has been increased to eighteen from eleven in the previous edition. The eighteen semi-finalists were selected through a preliminary competition held on the day of the final competition consisting of a swimsuit and evening gown competition. The eighteen semifinalists competed in the swimsuit competition, and ten semi-finalists were eventually selected. The ten semi-finalists were interviewed by Bob Russell and paraded in front of the judges, and the five finalists were eventually selected to compete in the final interview. ^{[10] [11]}

Selection committee

• Rajah Gunsekard – Ceylon diplomat ^[11]
• Oliver Messel – British artist ^[11]
• Lady F. Asafu-Adjaye – Wife of the Ambassador of Ghana to Great Britain ^[11]
• Stafford Somerfield – British newspaper editor ^[11]
• Fredericka Ann "Bobo" Sigrist – Wife of British film producer Kevin McClory ^[11]
• Stirling Moss – English Formula One racer ^[11]
• Bernard Delfont – Russian-born British theatrical impresario ^[11]

Contestants

Thirty-nine contestants competed for the title.

Country	Contestant	Age [b]	Hometown
Argentina	Norma Cappagli [12]	21	Buenos Aires
Australia	Margaret Nott [13]	19	Victoria Harbor
Belgium	Huberte Bax [14]	19	Brussels
Bolivia	Dalia Monasteros	20	La Paz
Brazil	Maria Edilene Torreão	18	São José do Egito
Burma	Ma Sen Aye [9]	24	Yangon
Canada	Danica d'Hondt [15]	21	Vancouver
Cyprus	Mary Mavropoulos	20	Limassol
Denmark	Lise Bodin [16]	19	Copenhagen
Ecuador	Toty Rodríguez [17]	23	Guayaquil
Finland	Margaretha Schauman	18	Helsinki
France	Diane Medina	19	Paris
French Polynesia	Teura Bouwens [18]	27	Teahupo'o
Greece	Kalliopi Geralexi	–	Athens
Holland	Carina Verbeek [6]	19	The Hague
Iceland	Kristín Þorvaldsdóttir	18	Reykjavík
India	Iona Pinto [19]	24	Bombay
Ireland	Irene Ruth Kane	18	Londonderry
Israel	Gila Golan [20]	20	Tel Aviv
Italy	Layla Rigazzi [21]	18	Milan
Japan	Eiko Murai [22]	24	Niigata
Jordan	Eriny Emile Sebella	22	Amman
Kenya	Jasmine Batty [23]	21	Nairobi
Lebanon	Giséle Naser	21	Beirut
Luxembourg	Liliane Mueller	18	Luxembourg City
Madagascar	Rajaobelina Bedovoahangy [24]	24	Antananarivo
Nicaragua	Carmen Isabel Recalde	18	León
Norway	Grethe Solhoy	20	Oslo
Rhodesia and Nyasaland	Jenny Lee Scott [25]	18	Kwekwe
South Africa	Denise Muir [26]	19	Johannesburg
South Korea [c]	Lee Young-hee [27]	20	Busan
Spain	Concepción Molinera	23	Barcelona
Sweden	Barbro Olsson [28]	20	Umeå
Tanganyika	Carmen Lesley Woodcock	18	Dar es Salaam
Turkey	Nebahat Çehre [29] [30]	17	Samsun
United Kingdom	Hilda Fairclough [31]	23	Lancashire
United States	Judith Ann Achter [32]	18	St. Louis
Uruguay	Beatriz Benítez	20	Montevideo
West Germany	Ingrun Helgard Moeckel [31]	18	Düsseldorf

Notes

1. Competed as Tahiti in the pageant
2. Age at the time of the pageant
3. Competed as Korea in the pageant

References

1. Rose, D. (2010). Sexually, I'm More of a Switzerland: More Personal Ads from the London Review of Books. Scribner. p. 150. ISBN   978-1-4391-3149-7.
2. "Who'll be Miss World?". Evening Times. 8 November 1960. p. 8. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
3. "Miss U.S.A. was "Mrs."... and aged only 15!". Evening Times. 1 November 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
4. "Miss Amerika gediskwalificeerd" [Miss America disqualified]. Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (in Dutch). 2 November 1960. p. 13. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Delpher.
5. "HOEWEL zij op de vierde plaats kwam bij de verkiezingen van „miss Holland", is Karma Verbeek gisteren toch naar Londen vertrokken om mee te dingen naar de titel „miss World"" [ALTHOUGH she came in fourth place in the Miss Holland election, Karma Verbeek left for London yesterday to compete for the Miss World title.]. Het Parool (in Dutch). 3 November 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Delpher.
6. "Karma Verbeek naar Miss-World-wedstrijd" [Karma Verbeek to Miss World contest]. Leeuwarder courant (in Dutch). 3 November 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Delpher.
7. "Missing Miss World, 1960". The Gleaner. 25 June 2021 [27 June 1960]. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
8. "Mooiste meisje in Hongkong" [Most beautiful girl in Hong Kong]. Twentsch dagblad Tubantia (in Dutch). 16 August 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Delpher.
9. "Ansiosa vigilia a Londra per le belle concorrenti" [Anxious eve in London for the beautiful contestants]. La Stampa (in Italian). 7 November 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
10. "Beauty title to Argentina". The Leader-Post. 10 November 1960. p. 17. Retrieved 14 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "L'elezione dell'argentina" [The election of Argentina]. La Stampa (in Italian). 9 November 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
12. "Beauty queen Norma Cappagli passed away after being run over by a bus". The Times of India . 28 December 2020. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
13. "Local girl wins Miss World contest". Victor Harbour Times. 30 September 1960. p. 1. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Trove.
14. "Erelijst Miss België". De Morgen (in Dutch). 11 January 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
15. "Miss Canada meets Miss Australia in World beauty pageant". The Canberra Times. 8 November 1960. p. 21. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Trove.
16. "Danmarks smukkeste kvinder: Her er historien om 'Miss Danmark'-konkurrencen". B.T. (in Danish). 2 December 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
17. "Toty Rodríguez, la sensibilidad en una escena". Pichincha Universal (in Spanish). 30 May 2013. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2025.
18. Harte, Helen (1 December 2015). "Teura Bauwens, première Miss Tahiti est décédée". Polynésie la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 15 April 2025.
19. Sangghvi, Malavika (25 June 2012). "A star is gone". Mid-Day. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
20. ""Miss Israel" second". ⁨⁨The Australian Jewish Times. 11 November 1960. p. 12. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via National Library of Israel.
21. Balzarotti, Leda (7 September 2016). "Miss Italia: tutte le reginette dal 1939 a oggi - Foto iO Donna". IO Donna (in Italian). Retrieved 15 April 2025.
22. "Hair-raising shampoo". Herald-Journal. 9 November 1960. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Google News Archive.
23. Johnson, Elizabeth Ofosuah (24 February 2019). "See the first-ever beauty queens from Africa". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
24. "Samantha Todivelou Rodriguez crowned Miss World Madagascar 2016". The Times of India . 29 June 2016. Archived from the original on 7 February 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
25. "Met het zelfstandig worden van ver" [With becoming independent from afar]. Arnhemsche courant (in Dutch). 2 November 1960. p. 9. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Delpher.
26. Lambley, Garrin (8 November 2022). "Miss SA: Every winner since 1956". The South African. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
27. "In search of a world title". Evening Times. 31 October 1960. p. 10. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
28. "Various "queens" of Sweden gather at Stockholm for a picture session". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 13 June 1960. p. 12. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.
29. "Yarışmayla ünlü oldular!". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 15 April 2025.
30. Tarihi, Güncelleme (4 May 2020). "Güzeller canlı yayında buluştu" [Beauties met on live broadcast]. Hürriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2 January 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
31. "Foursome of beauty". Evening Times. 4 November 1960. p. 14. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
32. "First 'Miss U.S.' too young". The Kane Republican. 3 November 1960. p. 4. Retrieved 15 April 2025– via Newspapers.com.

External links

• Miss World official website