Leo Camron (14 March 1916 – 21 July 2007), aka "Leo Caminsky" or "Arieh Camron", was a South African-Israeli 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 union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

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 Army, 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 Servi ...

, 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 (), 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 world. Mahal ...

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. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

. 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 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, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire The B ...

. 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 games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

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 Sport governing body, 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 ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camron, Leo 1916 births 2007 deaths Cricket in Israel Israeli cricketers Rugby union in Israel Israeli rugby union players Israeli educational theorists South African military personnel of World War II South African rugby union players South African educational theorists South African Zionists Rugby union players from KwaZulu-Natal Jewish South African sportspeople Israeli people of South African-Jewish descent South African people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish rugby union players Jewish cricketers South African Army officers South African emigrants to Israel Mahal personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Early life

English teaching

Rugby

Cricket and lawn bowls

See also

References