Leo Camron (14 March 1916 – 21 July 2007), aka "Leo Caminsky" or "Arieh Camron", was a South African-

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i educationalist and sportsman, from

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

particularly remembered for his English textbooks, and

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

advocacy.Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'' (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ) p68Kaplan, David, "Leo Camron", obituary in the magazine of Telfed (the Israeli South African Association), March, 2008. Available online at http://www.telfed.org.il/files/mag_march08/28-48.pdf

Early life

Leo Camron's original family name was "Caminsky". Camron graduated from

Natal University The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-Na ...

and also played for the Natal rugby team. He later became an artillery captain in the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

, and served in the North African campaigns of World War II. In 1948, Camron left his pregnant wife Hazel and two small children (Jo-Anne and David) in South Africa, and went to Palestine to join

Machal Mahal, more often spelled Machal ( he, מח"ל), refers to the group of overseas volunteers who fought alongside Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Some 4,000 volunteers, mostly Jews but also non-Jews, arrived from all over the ...

and fight in the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

. He returned to South Africa several days before the birth of his 3rd child, Sharon. The entire family emigrated to Israel in 1951 and remained there until the end of 1956, after the Sinai War. They returned to South Africa where a 4th child was born - Alon. The family went back to Israel in 1961 and settled in Ramat Hasharon. The family adopted a Hebrew surname, Camron and Leo changed his first name to Arieh, which means 'lion' in Hebrew. His wife Hazel, changed her name to Aliza.

English teaching

In Israel, he became an English teacher, and made a pioneering contribution to its teaching to students there. He was the author of several English grammar books used by successive generations of Israeli school children.

Rugby

Camron succeeded in obtaining an appointment in the sports department of the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

in 1951.Israel tries to revive HolyLand 7s
on Rugby7 dot com, retrieved 2 September 2009 In 1952, Camron organised independent Israel's first rugby match, between a group of South Africans, and a team of parachutists in the IDF. The South Africans won 18-6. The match ball was somewhat unusual, being a shoe wrapped in a towel. The game proved fairly popular in the IDF, thanks partly to its emphasis on aggression and team tactics. Camron soon organised other games, mainly between soldiers, and immigrants from the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. Rugby had been played in Israel before, but had more or less died out with the departure of the British. Camron made an attempt to get the IDF to adopt the game, but was unsuccessful due to institutional bureaucracy. This was a bitter blow to his campaign, and led to him taking a more passive role in Israeli rugby until its revival by another group of South African immigrants in the 1970s.

Cricket and lawn bowls

Camron was also a keen supporter of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

in Israel. Like rugby, cricket had been played in Palestine during the British Mandate period, but had declined suddenly when Israel became independent. Camron was a member of the original Israel cricket team in 1956.2002 ICA AWARD WINNERS
, retrieved 2 September 2009 He was a founder member of the

Israel Cricket Association Israel Cricket Association is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Israel. Israel Cricket Association is Israel's representative at the International Cricket Council. It is an associate member and has been a member of that body s ...

, and gave out the medals at the 2002 ICA Awards.

References

External links