Amos Haham of Israel was the winner today of the International Bible Quiz, scoring 42 out of a maximum possible 45 points before a huge audience in the Hebrew University open-air amphitheater and a 700,000 radio audience.
Simone Dumont of France was second with 29 points and Mrs. Irene Santos of Brazil was third with 23 points. President Yitzhak Ben Zvi and Premier David Ben Gurion were part of the audience for the finals which lasted nearly five hours. A large part of Israel’s populace sat before radios until after 1 a.m., listening to the results. The empty movie theaters and deserted streets were reminiscent of Israel’s war-time curfews.
Fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh places were won by Uruguay’s Dr. Nester Figari, Finland preacher Viljiam Aitallah, Columbia’s Dr. Raul Maya, and Mexico’s Sarah Rabinowitz. Mrs. Myrtle Davis, the American finalist, was eighth. Next in order were Carol Treard of Sweden, Daniel Duplessis of South Africa, Dr. Prosper Azulai of France, Angelo Pera of Argentina, Paul Guillamier of Malta and Laura Cerutti of Italy.
The Jewish entrants among the finalists were Haham, a 30-year-old employee of the Jerusalem Institute for the Blind; Mrs. Rabinowitz and Dr. Azulai. Haham won an antique glass vase from the Talmudic era which was found near Caesaria.
The Prime Minister received the three top winners today and chatted with them about the Bible, posing questions of his own. The Prime Minister was overheard to say that he knew the answers to about 40 percent of the questions posed to the finalists. On the basis of the scoring system used in the finals, this would have placed the Premier third in the contest.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
