# Miss World 1955

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Beauty pageant edition

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 [Miss World](/source/Miss_World) pageant, held at the [Lyceum Ballroom](/source/Lyceum_Theatre%2C_London) in [London](/source/London), United Kingdom, on 20 October 1955.

At the conclusion of the event, English actress [Eunice Gayson](/source/Eunice_Gayson) crowned [Susana Duijm](/source/Susana_Duijm) of Venezuela as Miss World 1955. This is the first victory of Venezuela in the history of the pageant. [Miss World 1954](/source/Miss_World_1954), [Antigone Costanda](/source/Antigone_Costanda) of Egypt, did not attend the pageant, due to hostilities between Egypt and the United Kingdom over the [Suez Canal](/source/Suez_Crisis).

Contestants from twenty-one countries participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by [Eric Morley](/source/Eric_Morley).

## Background

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

The first runner-up of Miss Suomi 1955, Mirva Arvinen, was appointed to represent Finland after Miss Suomi 1955, Inga-Britt Soderberg, won [Miss Europe](/source/Miss_Europe_1955).[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 debut of Australia, Austria, Cuba, Honduras, Iceland and Venezuela, and the returns of Israel and Monte-Carlo, which last competed in [1953](/source/Miss_World_1953). [Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti](/source/Dalida) 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

Placement Contestant Miss World 1955 Venezuela – Susana Duijm[5][6] 1st runner-up United States – Margaret Anne Haywood[5] 2nd runner-up Greece – Julia Koumoundourou[5] 3rd runner-up Cuba – Gilda Marín[5] 4th runner-up Sweden – Anita Åstrand[5] 5th runner-up France – Gisele Thierry[5] Top 8 Australia – Beverly Prowse[5] Austria – Felicitas Göbel[5]

## Contestants

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

Country Contestant Age[a] Hometown Australia Beverly Prowse[8] 23 Melbourne Austria Felicitas Göbel[9] 24 Vienna Belgium Rosette Ghislain[10] 22 Hainaut Ceylon Viola Sita Gunarate[7] 22 Colombo Cuba Gilda Marín[11] 26 Havana Denmark Karin Rasmussen[7] 18 Copenhagen Finland Mirva Arvinen[12] 19 Helsinki France Gisele Thierry[13] 21 Paris Greece Julia Koumoundourou[14] 18 Icaria Holland Angelina Kalkhoven[15] 18 Amsterdam Honduras Pastora Pagán[16] 18 San Pedro Sula Iceland Arna Hjörleifsdóttir[17] 22 Akureyri Ireland Evelyn Foley[7] 22 Dublin Israel Miriam Kotler[7] 21 Tel Aviv Italy Franca Incorvaia[7] 18 Milan Monte Carlo Josette Travers[7] 16 Monte Carlo Sweden Anita Åstrand[7] 21 Alingsas United Kingdom[b] Jennifer Chimes[18] 22 Leamington Spa United States Margaret Anne Haywood[19] 20 Jonesboro Venezuela Susana Duijm[20] 19 Aragua de Barcelona West Germany Heidi Krüger[7] 18 Berlin

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-B_8-0)** Age at the time of the pageant

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Competed as Great Britain in the pageant

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Junttilan, Veli (6 June 2005). ["Miss Eurooppa Suomesta"](https://www.ts.fi/puheenvuorot/1074049009). *[Turun Sanomat](/source/Turun_Sanomat)* (in Finnish). Retrieved 29 March 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["England asked to choose between two lovely lasses from Australia"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/75999163?searchTerm=%22Miss%20World%22). *Mirror*. 15 October 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 29 March 2025 – via Trove.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Andrews, Farah (17 January 2019). ["Egyptian singer Dalida celebrated with Google Doodle"](https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music/egyptian-singer-dalida-celebrated-with-google-doodle-1.814439). *The National*. Retrieved 29 March 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["On the Inside"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115050148/fairbanks-daily-news-miner/). *Fairbanks Daily News-Miner*. 23 September 1955. p. 4. Retrieved 29 March 2025 – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:1_5-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:1_5-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:1_5-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:1_5-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:1_5-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:1_5-8) ["Susanna Djuim (uit Venezuela) Miss World"](https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010952342:mpeg21:p001) [Susanna Djuim (from Venezuela) Miss World]. *Het vrije volk* (in Dutch). 21 October 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Delpher.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:32_6-0)** ["Miss World"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vB9UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DjoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5754%2C3191860). *The Leader-Post*. 21 October 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 29 March 2025 – via [Google News Archive](/source/Google_News_Archive).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:23_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:23_7-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:23_7-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:23_7-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-:23_7-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-:23_7-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-:23_7-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-:23_7-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-:23_7-8) ["Susane Djuim (Venezuela) is de mooiste van '55"](https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMKB19:000331018:mpeg21:p00003) [Susane Djuim (Venezuela) is the most beautiful of '55]. *Algemeen Dagblad* (in Dutch). 21 October 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Delpher.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Model will face judge"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266337326?searchTerm=%22Miss%20World%22). *The Daily News*. 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Trove.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Miss Austria wird seit 90 Jahren gewählt"](https://wien.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2961076/). *Wien* (in German). 27 January 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Miss 55: "J'ai hésité avant de venir""](https://www.dhnet.be/medias/television/2009/04/06/miss-55-jai-hesite-avant-de-venir-MDWP4QA3TJASPHRS3OGRJCPHCI/). *La Dernière Heure* (in French). 6 April 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:3_12-0)** ["Miss World"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vB9UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DjoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5754%2C3191860). *The Leader-Post*. 21 October 1955. p. 13. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Google News Archive.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["The mystery of a miss"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266339216?searchTerm=%22Miss%20World%22). *The Daily News*. 28 October 1955. p. 6. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Trove.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Wants to be "Miss World""](http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19551018-1.2.125). *The Straits Times*. 18 October 1955. p. 10. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via National Library Board.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Crowning glory"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266352285?searchTerm=%22Miss%20World%22). *The Daily News*. 7 December 1955. p. 15. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Trove.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Miss Holland"](https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010829987:mpeg21:p009). *Het Parool* (in Dutch). 18 October 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Delpher.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Gámez, Sabino (20 August 2010). ["Pastora Pagán, 55 años después de la hazaña"](https://www.laprensa.hn/espectaculos/pastora-pagan-55-anos-despues-de-la-hazana-HQLP489529). *La Prensa* (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 June 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** ["Arna Hjörleifsdóttir fra Akureyri kjörin "Fegurðardrottning íslands""](https://timarit.is/page/4371358?iabr=on) [Arna Hjörleifsdóttir from Akureyri elected "Beauty Queen of Iceland"]. *Fálkinn* (in Icelandic). 19 August 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Tímarit.is.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Miss England a mother"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/266339743?searchTerm=%22Miss%20World%22). *The Daily News*. 31 October 1955. p. 3. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via Trove.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Arkansas girl almost Miss World"](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5A1ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DmwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5154%2C2180058). *Pittsburgh Post-Gazette*. 21 October 1955. p. 36. Retrieved 22 June 2024 – via [Google News Archive](/source/Google_News_Archive).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Roterman, Natalie (19 June 2016). ["Susana Duijm Dead: First Latina To Ever Win Miss Mundo Passes at 79"](https://www.latintimes.com/susana-duijm-dead-first-latina-ever-win-miss-mundo-passes-79-391264). *Latin Times*. Retrieved 22 June 2024.

## External links

- [Official website](http://www.missworld.com)

v t e Miss World Editions 1950s 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990s 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020s 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 Related Titleholders Runners-up and finalists Editions Countries Beauty with a Purpose

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Miss World 1955](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_World_1955) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_World_1955?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.