Antigone Costanda

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Antigone Costanda

Antigone Costanda was the winner of the Miss World beauty pageant in 1954, representing Egypt. The pageant was held on October 18, 1954 in London, England, 16 contestants participated. In addition to Arabic she speaks Greek, English, Italian and French fluently. Her total points overall in the Miss World event were 7.941, ranked 4th. The Greek-Egyptian beauty was the first Miss Egypt candidate to win the title for Egypt.

According to Eric Morely's 1967 book, "The Miss World Story", Antigone was positively beaming as she claimed her victory was also for third runner-up status of Marina Papaelia, 1953's Miss Egypt. The picture to the left shows Antigone at the Nastri d'Argento award in Rome, Italy on July 16, 1955.

The following year, during the 1955 Miss World beauty pageant held in London, Antigone did not attend the event because of political hostilities between Egypt and Britain over the Suez Canal. British actress Eunice Gayson crowned Miss Venezuela as the new Miss World.

Prior to winning Miss World, Antigone was gaining experience in the modeling profession, her face 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, France, Italy and Greece. Her career in later years moved into interior design; she ran a company designing the interior of business buildings.