Janelle Commissiong
Janelle Commissiong, TC | |
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![]() Commissiong in 2014 | |
Born | Janelle 'Penny' Commissiong (1953-06-15) June 15, 1953 (age 71) Port of Spain, Colony of Trinidad and Tobago |
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
Beauty pageant titleholder | |
Title | Miss Trinidad & Tobago 1977 Miss Universe 1977 |
Hair color | Brown |
Eye color | Brown |
Major competition(s) | Miss Trinidad & Tobago 1977 (Winner) Miss Universe 1977 (Winner) (Miss Photogenic) |
Janelle "Penny" Commissiong, TC (born June 15, 1953) is a Trinidadian politician, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1977.
Biography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Janelle_Commissiong_01.jpg/220px-Janelle_Commissiong_01.jpg)
She studied at Bishop Anstey High School.[1] migrated to the United States at the age of 13, and returned to Trinidad and Tobago ten years later. After winning the Miss Trinidad and Tobago Universe title, she went on to be crowned Miss Universe 1977 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and in the process became the first black woman to win the prestigious pageant crown. After winning the title, she was most commonly known as 'Penny' because she was small as a penny.
In New York City, she studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology, but returned to Port of Spain in 1976. The following year, Commissiong was selected to represent the country at the 1977 Miss Universe competition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
She was elected Miss Photogenic four days before the final, becoming the first black woman to win these awards in Miss Universe history. On July 16, in the National Theater of Santo Domingo, Commissiong was crowned Miss Universe, attracting international attention as the first black winner in the chronology of Miss Universe.
During her reign, she was an advocate for black rights and world peace. Commissiong was awarded the Trinity Cross, the country's highest award, in 1977. Three postage stamps were also issued in her honour. In 2017, Queen Street located in the capital of Port of Spain, was renamed to Queen Janelle Commissiong Street in tribute of her 1977 Miss Universe win.
Commissiong was named chair of the newly formed Tourism Trinidad Destination Management Company in October 2017. From 2012 to 2015 she had served as vice-chair of its predecessor agency, the Tourism Development Company.[2]
She married Brian Bowen, founder of Bowen Marine, who died in an accident in November 1989. After his death, she married businessman Alwin Chow. [citation needed]
See also
References
- Janelle Commissiong at bestoftrinidad.com
- The Penny that didn't drop - biography at nalis.gov.tt
Awards and achievements | ||
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Preceded by | Miss Universe 1977 | Succeeded by![]() |
- v
- t
- e
- Armi Kuusela (1952)
- Christiane Martel (1953)
- Miriam Stevenson (1954)
- Hillevi Rombin (1955)
- Carol Morris (1956)
- Gladys Zender (1957)
- Luz Marina Zuluaga (1958)
- Akiko Kojima (1959)
- Linda Bement (1960)
- Marlene Schmidt (1961)
- Norma Nolan (1962)
- Iêda Maria Vargas (1963)
- Corinna Tsopei (1964)
- Apasra Hongsakula (1965)
- Margareta Arvidsson (1966)
- Sylvia Hitchcock (1967)
- Martha Vasconcellos (1968)
- Gloria Diaz (1969)
- Marisol Malaret (1970)
- Georgina Rizk (1971)
- Kerry Anne Wells (1972)
- Margie Moran (1973)
- Amparo Muñoz (1974)
- Anne Marie Pohtamo (1975)
- Rina Messinger (1976)
- Janelle Commissiong (1977)
- Margaret Gardiner (1978)
- Maritza Sayalero (1979)
- Shawn Weatherly (1980)
- Irene Sáez (1981)
- Karen Baldwin (1982)
- Lorraine Downes (1983)
- Yvonne Ryding (1984)
- Deborah Carthy-Deu (1985)
- Bárbara Palacios (1986)
- Cecilia Bolocco (1987)
- Porntip Nakhirunkanok (1988)
- Angela Visser (1989)
- Mona Grudt (1990)
- Lupita Jones (1991)
- Michelle McLean (1992)
- Dayanara Torres (1993)
- Sushmita Sen (1994)
- Chelsi Smith (1995)
- Alicia Machado (1996)
- Brook Lee (1997)
- Wendy Fitzwilliam (1998)
- Mpule Kwelagobe (1999)
- Lara Dutta (2000)
- Denise Quiñones (2001)
- Oxana Fedorova/Justine Pasek (2002)
- Amelia Vega (2003)
- Jennifer Hawkins (2004)
- Natalie Glebova (2005)
- Zuleyka Rivera (2006)
- Riyo Mori (2007)
- Dayana Mendoza (2008)
- Stefanía Fernández (2009)
- Ximena Navarrete (2010)
- Leila Lopes (2011)
- Olivia Culpo (2012)
- Gabriela Isler (2013)
- Paulina Vega (2014)
- Pia Wurtzbach (2015)
- Iris Mittenaere (2016)
- Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters (2017)
- Catriona Gray (2018)
- Zozibini Tunzi (2019)
- Andrea Meza (2020)
- Harnaaz Sandhu (2021)
- R'Bonney Gabriel (2022)
- Sheynnis Palacios (2023)