Carmen Susana Duijm Zubillaga (August 11, 1936 – June 18, 2016) was a Venezuelan actress, television host, model and beauty queen who was crowned

Miss Venezuela 1955 Miss Venezuela 1955 was the third edition of Miss Venezuela pageant held at Tamanaco Intercontinental Hotel in Caracas, Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de ...

and competed at

Miss Universe 1955 Miss Universe 1955, the 4th Miss Universe pageant, was held on 22 July 1955 at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States, with 33 female competitors. This was the first Miss Universe pageant to be aired on televis ...

, placing in the top 15. She then went to compete at Miss World 1955 and won, becoming the first Venezuelan and Latin American woman to win the Miss World crown.

Miss Universe

Before competing in Miss World, Duijm was a semi-finalist at

Miss World

She won 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, Miss Int ...

pageant, representing

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The pageant was held in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Life after pageants

Her success as a

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

led to a career as an actress and a presenter on Venezuelan television. Thanks to her, there is one

arepa ''Arepa'' () is a type of food made of ground maize dough stuffed with a filling, eaten in the northern region of South America since pre-Columbian times, and notable primarily in the cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela, but also present in the cuis ...

called "Reina Pepiada". She lived in

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. History ...

until 2016. Her daughter,

Carolina Cerruti Carolina del Valle Cerruti Duijm (born 1962 in Caracas, Venezuela) is Miss Venezuela 1983, Miss World Venezuela 1983 and the daughter of former Miss World 1955, Susana Duijm. Miss World Venezuela Cerruti competed in 1983 as Apure, Miss Apure in ...

was the official representative of Venezuela to the 1983

pageant held in London, on November 17, 1983.

References

External links

Susana Duijm en "Bellas Venezolanas"
1936 births 2016 deaths Miss Universe 1955 contestants Miss World 1955 delegates Miss World winners Miss Venezuela winners People from Barcelona, Venezuela Venezuelan female models Venezuelan telenovela actresses Venezuelan television personalities Venezuelan television presenters Venezuelan women television presenters Venezuelan beauty pageant winners {{venezuela-pageant-bio-stub