Renée Dangoor was the first beauty queen of Iraq, winning the title of Miss Baghdad in 1946 and Miss Iraq in 1947.  

Dangoor was born on December 29, 1925, in Shanghai to a family of Baghdadi Jews temporarily living there for business. At the time, Shanghai was home to a small community of Iraqi Jews employed by the Baghdadi Jewish elite mercantile families, who traded across Asia. The Dangoor family was part of this elite and one of Iraq’s most  distinguished Jewish families. Renée's father, Moshe, was a prominent doctor in Baghdad. Her grandfather, Ezra, was the Chief Rabbi of Baghdad. Her uncle, Eliahou, ran  one of the oldest publishing houses in Iraq alleged to be the world's largest printer of books in Arabic.  

As a child, Dangoor moved back to Baghdad. On December 31, 1946, at the age of 21, she was crowned Miss Baghdad. In September 1947, she was crowned Miss Iraq, making her the first beauty queen in the history of Iraq. In November of the same year, she married her cousin, Naim Dangoor (the son of Eliahou). Together, they had four sons, including the British businessman and philanthropist David Dangoor. Their family formed part of the Baghdadi elite.  

With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the ensuing conflict between the young country and the Arab states, the situation for Jews in Iraq worsened, and beginning in 1950, Jews left the country en masse. Iraqi Jews lost their citizenship because of their religion, forcing many to flee. The Dangoor family left Iraq in 1959 for London. Renée's husband, Naim, continued managing the family business in Iraq for some years following their relocation, travelling back and forth between Iraq and the United Kingdom until 1963.  

Renée Dangoor died at age 82 on July 9, 2008, of breast cancer. She remains a symbol of the former glory of the Baghdadi Jewish community. 

Sources:  

“Renée Dangoor.” Wikipedia, May 16, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9e_Dangoor. 

"Renée Dangoor: Her life." Dangoor.com. Accessed August 15, 2024. http://www.dangoor.com/Renee/herLife.html. 

Guberman-Pfeffer, Jason. “Iraq’s Jewish Beauty Queen Remembers Shanghai.” February 6, 2024. https://americansephardi.org/news/simjan24/. 

“Naim Dangoor.” Wikipedia, July 8, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naim_Dangoor.