Miss World 1958 was the eighth edition of the Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom, on 13 October 1958.
At the conclusion of the event, Charles Eade and Bob Russell crowned Penelope Coelen of South Africa as Miss World 1958. This is the first victory of South Africa and the second victory of Africa in the history of the pageant.
Contestants from twenty countries participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Bob Russell.
Background
Selection of participants Twenty contestants were selected to compete in the pageant. One contestant was appointed to represent her country in this edition after contracting an illness from the previous edition.
Replacements Miss Belgium 1958, Michele Gouthals was scheduled to represent her country in this edition. However, she was unable to participate in the competition because her organization appointed Miss Belgium 1957, Jeanne Chandelle to represent Belgium once again because she contracted the Asian flu during the Miss World 1957 pageant and only showed up on the day of the coronation.
Debuts, returns and withdrawals This edition marked the debut of Brazil, and the returns of Turkey, which last competed in 1953, and Norway last competed in 1954.
Hanni Ehrenstrasser of Austria withdrew after winning Miss Europe 1958, making her ineligible to compete at Miss World. Elisabeth Schubel-Auer was set to replace Ehrenstrasser, but did not push through for undisclosed reasons. Leila Saas of Egypt withdrew for financial reasons. Pirkko Mannola of Finland, Hjördís Sigurvinsdóttir of Iceland, Lydie Schmit of Luxembourg, and Denise Orlando of Tunisia withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Australia withdrew after their organization failed to hold a national competition or appoint a candidate.
Janet Ohene-Agyei Boateng of Ghana was supposed to compete, but withdrew due to financial constraints. Krystyna Żyła of Poland was supposed to compete as well, but was barred by her government from competing. She was eventually found dead in December 1958.
Results
Placement Contestant Miss World 1958 – Penelope Coelen 1st runner-up – Claudine Auger 2nd runner-up – Vinnie Ingemann 3rd runner-up – Harriet Wågström 4th runner-up – Lucienne Struve 5th runner-up – Eileen Sheridan
Pageant Format The number of placements in this edition has been reduced to six from seven in the previous edition. The six finalists were selected through a preliminary competition held on the day of the final competition consisting of a swimsuit and an evening gown competition.
Selection committee Claude Berr – Co-head of the Miss Europe committee Cowan Dobson – Scottish portrait artist Charles Eade – British newspaper editor; Member of the Council of the British Commonwealth Press Union Taina Elg – Finnish-American actress Barbara Goalen – British fashion model Charles Jacobs – American photographer Stirling Moss – English Formula One racer Cynthia Oberholzer – South African model Oscar Santa Maria – former Brazilian politician Shakuntala Sharma – Indian Princess and fashion designer
Contestants Twenty contestants competed for the title. CountryContestantAgeHometown 19 Brussels 20 Recife 21 Flin Flon 18 Copenhagen 17 Paris 19 Athens 19 Rotterdam 17 Derry 19 Tel Aviv 18 Rome 23 Saitama 21 Rabat 19 Oslo 18 Durban 20 Stockholm 18 Istanbul 22 Walton-on-Thames 23 Washington D.C. 18 Carúpano 20 Bavaria
Notes
References
External links Miss World official website