Miss Iraq
| Formation | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Type | Beauty Pageant |
| Headquarters | Baghdad |
| Location | |
Official language | Arabic Kurdish |
President | Ahmed Salman Laith |
| Website | www.missiraq.net |
Miss Iraq (Arabic: ملكة جمال العراق Malkat Jamāl al-‘Irāq, Kurdish: شاجواني عێراق, Shājwani Êraq lit. "Iraq's Beauty Queen") is the national beauty pageant of Iraq.
History[edit]
The history of beauty pageants in Iraq is long but scattered. They were traditionally held in social clubs as private affairs among the upper classes. Even though many such events took place in the country on a city or regional level, there were only a few instances where a nationwide competition was held.
Renee Dangoor, a 21 year old from the Jewish Dangoor family, is the first known Iraqi woman in history to have won a beauty pageant title in the country as she was crowned Baghdad's Queen of Beauty in 1947 at a ceremony held at the Amanah Hall in the presence of Prince Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz.[1]
There is no confirmed information concerning the existence of beauty pageants in Iraq during the 1950s. As per the Associated Press, the Miss Baghdad contest was revived in 1962 for the first time at the Auberge Restaurant as part of the New Year's festivities where Kholoud Mohammed Saleh was chosen as the eventual winner. The following year Samira Zaidan won the title of Miss Baghdad 1963.[2]
The first known national beauty contest to be organized in Iraq came about in 1972. Following the victory of Miss Lebanon, Georgina Rizk, at Miss Universe 1971, Iraq decided to enter the global competition. "Hasna Al-Iraq" (حسناء العراق) national beauty contest was organized in Baghdad and the winner, Wijdan Burhan, was sent to represent the country at the Miss Universe 1972 pageant.[3]
Baghdad hosted the first public beauty pageant since Saddam's fall in 2008. Sanaa Amouri organized the "Miss Hunting Club" contest whose debut winner was 18 year old Shams Tallal. The contest has been held annually since then at the Iraqi Hunting Club.[4]
In 2012, the General Board of Tourism of Kurdistan organized the first ever Miss Kurdistan contest in Erbil.[5] Shene Aziz and Fenk Muhammed were winners of the 2012 and 2013 editions respectively. It was also the first televised beauty pageant to be held in Iraq.
The Miss Iraq contest was revived by the Inanna Group in 2014 as a small affair at the Iraqi Hunting Club in Baghdad. Worood Al-Azzawi, a veiled beauty, was chosen as the official winner. The contest received wide publicity and was televised by Al-Sharqiya TV.[6]
Winners[edit]
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 1972 | Wijdan Burhan |
| 2014 | Worood Al-Azzawi |
| 2015 | TBD |
References[edit]
- ↑ "Renee Dangoor - Beauty Queen of Baghdad". dangoor.com.
- ↑ "Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ↑ "1972". pageantopolis.com. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ↑ "تتويج ملكة جمال بغداد بصمت". almotamar.net. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ↑ "Shene Aziz Ako Crowned Miss Kurdistan 2012". The Huffington Post UK. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ↑ "MISS & MISTER IRAK 2014". bellezavenezolana.net. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
External links[edit]
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