Antigone Costanda (, ; born 1934) is a Cypriot-Egyptian designer, model and beauty queen who won Miss World 1954. The pageant took place on October 18, 1954, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, with the participation of 16 contestants. Born in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

, Cyprus, in addition to

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, Costanda is fluent in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, English,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and French. The Cypriot-Egyptian beauty was the first Miss Egypt candidate to win the title of Miss World for Egypt. According to Eric Morley's 1967 book, "The Miss World Story", Costanda was positively beaming as she claimed that her victory was also for the Miss World 1953 second runner-up status of Marina Papaelia, also from Egypt. The following year, during the 1955

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

beauty pageant held in London, Costanda did not attend the event because of political hostilities between Egypt and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

over the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

actress Eunice Gayson crowned

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is a Venezuelan beauty pageant operated by the Cisneros Group. Founded in 1952, it currently selects Venezuelan representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. ...

Susana Duijm Carmen Susana Duijm Zubillaga (August 11, 1936 – June 18, 2016) was a Venezuelan actress, tv host, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Venezuela 1955 and competed at Miss Universe 1955, placing in the top 15. She then went to compete a ...

, as the new Miss World. Prior to winning Miss World, Costanda was gaining experience in the modelling profession and was appearing in numerous publications. Winning Miss World further helped her to reach the top of her profession, becoming a successful model in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Italy and Greece. Her career in later years moved into interior design. She ran a company designing the interior of

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

buildings. She was one of the judges at the Miss Egypt 2006 contest.

External links

Miss Egypt winners Miss World winners Living people Miss World 1954 delegates 1930s births People from Alexandria Egyptian people of Greek descent Year of birth missing (living people) {{Egypt-bio-stub