Miss World 1956 was the 6th edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom, on 15 October 1956.
At the conclusion 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."Eddy Gilmore, "Miss Germany Wins World Beauty Title", Associated Press in San Mateo Times, 16 October 1956. Retrieved 17 February 2017 via Newspapers.com Dale Linder-Altman, " It's happened before: Orangeburg queen also incorrectly labeled winner", The Times and Democrat, 22 December 2015.
Contestants from twenty-four countries participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Eric Morley.
Background
Selection of participants Twenty-four contestants were selected to compete in the pageant.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals This edition marked the debut 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. Marcia Rodríguez of Cuba did not participate for undisclosed reasons. 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, but she was unable to do so due to visa problems. 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. Lola Sabogal of Peru was also invited to compete, but she did not compete for undisclosed reasons.
Results
Placements Placement Contestant Miss World 1956 – Petra Schürmann 1st runner-up – Betty Lane Cherry 2nd runner-up – Rina Weiss 3rd runner-up – Midoriko Tokura 4th runner-up – Anne Rye Nielsen 5th runner-up – Eva Bränn
Contestants Twenty-four contestants competed for the title. CountryContestantAgeHometownMargaret Scherz22ViennaMadeleine Hotelet25BrusselsAnne Rye Nielsen19FrederiksbergNorma Dugo17CairoSirpa Helena Koivu18TurkuGeneviève Solare20ParisMaria Passaloglou19AthensAns van Pothoven18AmsterdamÁgústa Guðmundsdóttir19ReykjavíkAmy Kelly22DublinRina Weiss19Tel AvivAngela Portaluri19MaglieMidoriko Tokura20YamaguchiLydia Marin19RabatJeanette de Montalk20WhangāreiNorma Vorster19NatalEva Bränn20TimråYolanda Daetwyler20ZürichPascaline Agnes20TunisSuna Özekin20IstanbulIris Alice Kathleen Waller21GatesheadBetty Lane Cherry20OrangeburgCelsa Pieri18CarúpanoPetra Schürmann23Mönchengladbach
Notes
References
External links Miss World official website