Miss World 1953

Miss World 1953 was the third Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 19 October 1953.

Miss World 1953
Denise Perrier
Date	19 October 1953
Presenters	Eric Morley
Venue	Lyceum Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
Entrants	15
Placements	5
Debuts	Ceylon Egypt Greece Israel Monte Carlo Norway
Withdrawals	Ireland
Winner	Denise Perrier France
← 1952 1954 →

At the end of the event, Denise Perrier of France was announced as Miss World 1953.^[1][2] This is the first and so far, only victory of France in the history of the pageant. Perrier was also the first Miss World winner to wear a Miss World sash.

Contestants from fifteen countries participated in this year's pageant. The pageant was hosted by Eric Morley.

Background

Selection of participants

Fifteen contestants were selected to compete in the pageant. One contestant was appointed to represent her country after being a runner-up in her national pageant, while one contestant was appointed to replace the original winner.^[3]

Replacements

Miss Egypt 1953 Antigone Costanda supposedly competed in this edition. However, due to undisclosed reasons, she was replaced by her first runner-up, Marina Papaelia. Costanda eventually competed in the following edition and won, where she dedicated her win to Papelia by shouting "Viva, viva, Marina Papaelia".^[4]

Since Miss France 1953 Sylviane Carpentier chose not compete in Miss World and Miss Universe to get married,^[3] two separate pageants were selected to send French representatives to Miss World and Miss Universe. The Miss Cinémonde pageant was in charge of selecting the French representative to Miss Universe, while the organizers of the French Committee of Elegance was in charge of selecting the French representative of Miss World. Denise Perrier was eventually chosen as the representative of France to Miss World, while Christiane Martel was chosen as the representative of France to Miss Universe.^[5] Both won their respective international pageants.^[6]

Debuts and withdrawals

This edition marked the debuts of Ceylon, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Monte-Carlo, and Norway. Mary Murphy of Ireland withdrew after failing to arrive in London, despite being expected, due to illness that occurred shortly before her planned travel to the contest.^[7]

Sepia Degehet of Belgium supposedly competed in the pageant, but withdrew due to the controversy her predecessor Anne-Marie Pauwels made in the pageant. She was only sent to Miss Europe.^[8][9] Marcella Mariani of Italy supposedly competed as well, but withdrew in order to focus on her acting career.^[10] Lore Felger of Austria and Leyla Saroufin of Lebanon also supposedly competed, but withdrew due to lack of sponsors.^[11]

Results

Miss World 1953 participating countries

Placements

Placement	Contestant
Miss World 1953	France – Denise Perrier[12]
1st runner-up	Greece – Alexandra Ladikou[12]
2nd runner-up	Egypt – Marina Papaelia[12]
3rd runner-up	Ceylon – Manel Illangakoon[12]
4th runner-up	United States – Mary Kemp Griffin[12]

Contestants

Fifteen contestants competed for the title.

Country	Contestant	Age[a]	Hometown
Ceylon	Manel Illangkoon[13]	20	Colombo
Denmark	Ingrid Andersen	21	Copenhagen
Egypt	Marina Papaelia[14]	20	Cairo
Finland	Maija-Riitta Tuomaala[15]	19	Helsinki
France	Denise Perrier[16]	18	Ambérieu-en-Bugey
Great Britain	Brenda Mee[17]	20	Derby
Greece	Alexandra Ladikou	20	Kavala
Holland	Yvonne Meijer[18]	20	Haarlem
Israel	Chavatzelet Dror[19]	19	Tel-Aviv
Monte Carlo	Elizabeth Chovisky[20]	18	Monte Carlo
Norway	Synnøve Gulbrandsen[21]	23	Oslo
Sweden	Ingrid Johansson	18	Stockholm
Switzerland	Odette Michel Conue	19	Zürich
United States	Mary Kemp Griffin	23	Los Angeles
West Germany	Wilma Kanders[22]	20	Düsseldorf

Notes

1. Age at the time of the pageant