Miss World 1955

Miss World 1955 was the fifth Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 20 October 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 →

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

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

First runner-up of Miss Suomi 1955, 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 debut of Australia, Austria, Cuba, Honduras, Iceland and Venezuela, and the returns of Israel and Monte-Carlo, which 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

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 Von Goebel[5]

Contestants

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

Country	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Australia	Beverly Prowse[8]	23	Melbourne
Austria	Felicitas Von Goebel[9]	24	Vienna
Belgium	Rosette Ghislain[10]	22	Hainaut
Ceylon	Viola Sita Gunarate[7]	22	Colombo
Cuba	Gilda Marín[11]	26	Havana
Denmark	Karin Palm-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	Beate Krüger[7]	18	Berlin

Notes

1. Age at the time of the pageant
2. Competed as Great Britain in the pageant