Marita Lindahl (17 October 1938 – 21 March 2017) was a Finnish model and beauty queen who won

Miss World 1957 Miss World 1957 was the seventh Miss World pageant, held at the Lyceum Ballroom in London, United Kingdom on 14 October 1957. At the end of the event, Petra Schürmann of West Germany crowned Marita Lindahl of Finland as Miss World 1957. ...

, after being crowned Miss Finland 1957 by Miss Finland 1956, Sirpa Helena Koivu. She became the first woman from Finland to win the title and the third

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

woman; after Sweden had won the two first contests. The pageant was held 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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Lindahl was described by pageant director

Eric Morley Eric Douglas Morley (26 September 1918 – 9 November 2000) was an English television host and the founder of the Miss World pageant and ''Come Dancing'' programme. His widow, Julia Morley, is now head of the pageant and his son, Steve Douglas, ...

as having "the haunting beauty and intrigue of a

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

". The first runner-up was Lilian Madsen from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, second runner-up Adele Kruger from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and third runner-up Jacqueline Tapia from

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. Lindahl ran one of the most popular restaurants in Helsinki. Later she moved to

. She lived in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Lindahl died on March 21, 2017, of a heart attack at the age of 78.

References

1938 births 2017 deaths Miss World winners Miss Finland winners Miss World 1957 delegates Finnish expatriates in the United Kingdom People from Helsinki {{Finland-bio-stub