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Born on August 3, 1906 in Nancy, Maurice Benoît came from a family of local notables: his grandfather, Charles Benoît, a member of the first class of the French School of Athens, was dean of the Faculty of Arts in Nancy; his father, Auguste Benoît, a doctor of law, was a lawyer by profession; two of his uncles, François Geny and Georges Renard, were law professors; one of his brothers, Jacques Benoît, a biologist, was a professor at the Collège de France.

Like his elder brother Paul Benoît, he was destined for Benedictine religious life. He then took the first name of Pierre; he was ordained a priest in 1930. After studying theology at the Dominican College of Saulchoir in Kain, near Tournai (Belgium) from 1924 to 1932, then biblical studies at the Ecole Biblique est archéologique française in Jerusalem, he obtained his degree in Sacred Scripture on 22 November 1934.
At the request of Fr. Lagrange, he settled permanently at the Convent of St. Stephen in Jerusalem and became a professor at the French Biblical and Archaeological School, first of all in New Testament exegesis, then in Biblical Greek, in textual criticism of the Bible, Epistles and Gospels; at the end of his life, he was also in charge of Jerusalem's topography courses, as well as the organization of the School's archaeological excursions and trips.

Within the French Biblical and Archaeological School, his responsibilities led him to be Director of the Biblical Review from 1953 to 1968 and to take over from Fr. de Vaux as Director of the School from 1965 to 1972. He coordinates the publication of the Jerusalem Bible, in particular the New Testament, for which he is responsible, the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Epistles of captivity, the introductions and the key notes. He also closely follows the translations of the Jerusalem Bible into foreign languages. In 1967, he published the memories of his mentor, Le P. Lagrange. In the service of the Bible. Personal memories.
A recognized specialist in biblical exegesis, he was successively appointed member of the Preparatory Commission of the Churches of the East for the Second Vatican Council on 24 August 1960, expert at the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council on 27 April 1964, member of the Pontifical Commission for Neo-Vulgate on 1 June 1967, and member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1972.

An active member of several learned societies, including the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and the French Catholic Association for the Study of the Bible, he participates in numerous international conferences and gives numerous lectures throughout the world, both in the field of Christian theology and biblical archaeology. He was also administrator of the Palestinian Archaeological Museum (Rockefeller Museum) until 1967. Maintaining close relations with Western academics, he obtained an honorary doctorate from the University of Munich in 1972 and Durham in 1977.

Author, among others of Passion and Resurrection of the Lord (1966) and Synopsis of the Four Gospels (1965), he chose to gather most of his scattered articles in a four-volume publication Exegesis and Theology, from 1961 to 1982.
Knight of the Legion of Honour by decree of 29 April 1959, he was promoted to officer of the Legion of Honour by decree of 12 July 1974.

He had been suffering from cancer for several years and died on April 23, 1987.

Born in 1857, priest of the diocese of Sées, entered the Dominican order as a member of the convent of Saint-Etienne, but professed in 1886 as a member of the province of France, Father Séjourné died in Jerusalem in 1922, after having been prior of Saint-Etienne from 1901 to 1904.

Ms. Rebecca Gertrude Affachiner was born in New York City in 1884. In 1934 she settled in Palestine, where she lived – except for extended trips abroad – until her death in 1966. She was an active figure in Jewish public service in the United States until 1934 and in Israel from the time of her aliya to the mid 1950’s.
Affachiner attended the School of Philanthropy and Art School in New York. She was the first teacher to graduate from the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York City; she took special courses at Columbia and Yale Universities and Hartford College of Law, etc. She began her career in social work as an investigator for the United Hebrew Charities, New York City, later serving as Assistant Superintendent at Beth Israel Hospital, Y.W.H.A. Superintendent Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls; leader of girl's clubs at the Educational Alliance, Recreation Rooms and Settlements, etc. She was the first woman to act as chaplain in a State Institution, serving in that capacity at the New York State Training School, Hudson, N.Y., under the auspices of the New York Section, Council of Jewish Women.
During World War I, Affachiner was Assistant Regional Director of the American Embarkation Center, Le Man, leaving for France with the first women's unit of the Jewish Welfare Board. Upon her return from service overseas, she conducted a survey for Child Welfare for the United Jewish Aid Society of Brooklyn, N.Y., later making a study of the problem of the Jewish blind, in the same city. For six years, she served as Superintendent of the United Jewish Charities in Hartford and was actively interested in the Connecticut State School for the Blind. Being a pioneer in work among juvenile delinquents, she was responsible for the earliest developments of the Jewish Big Sisters Movement in New York City, and founded the Jewish Big Sister and Big Brother Organizations in Hartford shortly after coming there in 1920.
In May 1923 Affachiner was appointed a Juvenile Commissioner of the City of Hartford, and in 1924 Governor Templeton chose her to represent the State of Connecticut at the International Conference of Social Workers, meeting in Toronto, Canada. She also served as Vice President of the New England Social Workers, Secretary of the Advisory Board, Y.M. and Y.M.H.A. of Hartford Director of the Travelers Aid Society in that city. In 1926 she made a tour of Palestine, Egypt, Italy, and the Near East; upon her return to America she was appointed the first National Field Secretary of Hadassah, of which she was a charter member. From 1929 to 1934 Affachiner was Director of Jewish Social Service for Greater Norfolk Va. Under the Auspices of the Norfolk Section National Council of Jewish Women, she also founded and directed Council House, the first Jewish Community Center in that city.
In 1929 she was elected to represent Norfolk at the World Zionist Congress held in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1934 after resigning her post in Norfolk, Ms. Affachiner returned to Palestine. Shortly after her arrival in Jerusalem she organized the Palestine Society for Crippled Children (later ALYN), acting as its Director of Social Service and in whose interest she made a trip around the world. In 1937 she helped organize the Rumanian Settlers’ Association (Hitahdut Olei Rumania) of which she became the Director, and in whose interest she had visited Rumania and the USA 1937-38.
1939 she was the only woman asked to serve on the Executive Vaad of the Child Placement Bureau Jerusalem – Miklat Dati. She was one of the Jewish Charter Members of the American Association of Social Workers, International Conference of Social Work. She is listed in "Who's Who among American Jews" American Hebrew, 1923, and "Women of 1924" – International.
Affachiner traveled extensively throughout the world. In 1924 she went to Mexico to study the conditions under which the Jews lived there, and the possibilities for settling the Polish Jewish refugees flocking, not only there and to Cuba, but to other Central American countries as well. In 1925 she went to Spain and Portugal, being interested in the problem of the modern Marranos. In 1930 she visited South America, in 1931 she went to Poland and in 1932 to Soviet Russia, being primarily interested in the Jewish problem in these countries.

Robert Langlamet was born on May 17, 1931 in Cherbourg. Fragile in health, he had to interrupt his high school studies several times because of lung disease. After his baccalaureate in philosophy in 1950, he entered the Dominican novitiate of the convent of Saint-Jacques in Paris and received, at the time of his taking up his habit, the name of François. For a year, from 1951 to 1952, he had to interrupt his studies because of tuberculosis and treat in a sanatorium in Haute-Savoie. He then spent two years at the Major Seminary of Aix-en-Provence (1952-1954), the climate of the south of France being preferable to him. His studies of philosophy were supervised by Fr. Marcel Dubois, then at Le Saulchoir, whom he later met again in Jerusalem. In 1954, he was able to finish his novitiate and make profession a year later. He continued his years of philosophy and theology at Le Saulchoir, interrupted in turn by a severe hip surgery, for which he spent many months in hospital. He kept one hip stiff all his life. Ordained priest on July 10, 1960, he finished his studies with a degree in theology and a degree in reading. His superiors then intended him to prepare for the biblical examinations in Rome. Langlamet arrived in Jerusalem on October 15, 1962. His first year thesis, under the direction of Fr. Raymond Tournay, focused on chiasma in the Old Testament, while his second year thesis, under the direction of Fr. de Vaux, focused on the "anti-monarchist narrative" and the "deuteronomist vocabulary". De Vaux then asked for his assignment to Jerusalem, so that he could become an Old Testament teacher, specializing in the Pentateuch and historical books. He obtained his bachelor's degree and bachelor's degree in Sacred Scripture in 1964 and began teaching upon his return to Jerusalem, focusing his research on the "deuteronomist writing" of historical books. In 1967-1969, he also studied at the Hebrew University, where he researched Joshua, and was awarded the prize for the best student of the year for a seminar on "Geographical en historical Problems in the Book of Joshua". He mastered both biblical and modern Hebrew. In the autumn of 1970, he was asked to replace, with André Caquot, Father Prignaud as translator of Samuel's Books for the Ecumenical Translation of the Bible. He spent more than three years translating, drawing on the courses and articles he was preparing on Samuel's Books (1971-1975). The complete edition of the TOB was published in 1975. In 1971, he devoted an infinite amount of time to completing the second volume of Israel's ancient history. Father de Vaux had indeed died accidentally without having been able to write all his notes, which Langlamet takes up again. His participation in the TOB gave Langlamet a lasting orientation on the books of Samuel and the Kings, particularly on what he called "the history of the succession to the throne of David" (2 S 9-20 and 1 Kings 1-2). He concludes, after years of research into the sources of this history, that there had been several original narratives that were combined with "the history of succession", then "benjaminite additions", which underwent "theological-sapientiarchal" changes. He developed a particular method that could be described as both a study of vocabulary, the identification of elementary units and their grouping into larger units, the consideration of symmetrical structures such as chiasmas, "all this while revealing at each stage of the drafting process a balance of the text that is very different from what would be a thoughtless and unarthed compilation3". In 1995, he retired from teaching and research but continued to be active in the School. He continues to be of great service to the Bible Review, particularly by continuing to write reviews. In 1977, he introduced a "Collections and Mixtures" section, which he wrote alone until 2003, and where he presented more than 1000 collective works. For many years, he was in charge of the sacristy and the ringing of the convent bells. His precise and infinitely careful personality excelled in it. His funeral was held on March 1, 2005. He rests in the cemetery of the convent of Saint-Etienne.

Born in Paris on 17 December 1903, Roland de Vaux studied at the Collège Stanislas, then at the Sorbonne. After his degree, he entered the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, where he was ordained priest on June 29, 1929. But, having resolved to enter the Order of Preachers, he entered the novitiate at Amiens in September 1929, made profession there on 23 September 1930 and immediately made his studies at the Saulchoir de Cain in Belgium, where he remained until 1933. He then turned particularly to medieval philosophy, which explains the research leading to his first publication, dedicated to Avicenna. But he also turned to orientalism, before being asked, in 1933, by the École Biblique to complete the team of teachers then famous but aging. He arrived in Jerusalem in September 1933.

Father de Vaux first studied there for two years, under the direction of the PP. Lagrange, Vincent, Abel or Savignac. He passed the Bible Commission exams in June 1935. Back in Jerusalem, he was appointed professor of biblical history and archaeology, two subjects that would also be his main fields of research for the rest of his life. He taught these two disciplines from 1935 to 1971 without interruption. He also taught Assyro-Babylonian from 1935 to 1940 and Old Testament exegesis from 1946 to 1949, while preparing his translations for the first Jerusalem Bible. His former students agree in praising his pedagogical sense and brilliant presentations, with the absolute honesty he demonstrated as a researcher.
From these teachings came out several important works, starting with the Jerusalem Bible fascicles on Genesis, the Books of Samuel and the Kings. He also played a major role in the one-volume edition of the Jerusalem Bible in 1956. The two volumes of his Old Testament Institutions were translated into many languages.

He began his work as an archaeologist with modest campaigns that followed his first archaeological exploration in the Salt region of Transjordan in the summer of 1937. That same year, he and Fr. Savignac excavated the church of Ma'în, near Madaba (Jordan). In 1944, he and Fr. Stève carried out the excavation of an old caravanserai near the biblical Qiriat Yearim (Abu Gosh). Still with Fr. Stève, he then worked (1945-1946) on the site of el-Ma'moudiyeh, a Byzantine sanctuary dedicated to St. John the Baptist, west of Hebron. In 1946, he attacked a more important site: the Tell el-Far'ah of the North, later identified as the ancient Tirça, the first capital of the northern kingdom, from which King Omri emigrated to Samaria. Nine campaigns were devoted to this site until 1960.

In the middle of these Tell el-Far'ah campaigns, the "Qumran affair" arose, named after the manuscripts discovered in caves on the Dead Sea in 1947. From 1949 to 1958, Fr. de Vaux was responsible for the excavations of the various caves for the Bible School, and then for those of the Qumran site itself. In 1952, de Vaux organized a campaign of excavations at the wadi Murab'baat, followed by an excavation of the Qumran site every winter until 1956. Father de Vaux was also in charge of the international team responsible for studying and publishing the manuscripts, which were stored in the scrollery of the Rockefeller Museum until 1967. The findings of his research were presented in reports published in the Bible Review and in the 1959 "Schweich Lectures", lectures published in 1961 under the title Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls. From this book, Kathleen Kenyon could say: "This publication of his lectures is an monument to his skill as an excavator, as a historian and as an authority on the scrolls themselves".

Shortly afterwards, Fr. de Vaux was associated by Miss Kathleen Kenyon with the Jerusalem excavations: he was in charge of the southern part of the Mosque Esplanade, in the el-Khâtoûnîyeh district, which he searched from 1961 to 1963. The search was then resumed by Professor Mazar.

At the École Biblique, he also had heavy responsibilities to fulfil, since he was director of the Rebue Biblique from 1938 to 1953, director of the School from 1945 to 1965, as well as prior of the convent from 1949 to 1952. Appointed Consultant of the Pontifical Biblical Commission in 1956, then Master of Theology in 1958, he was called to Harvard as Visiting Professor for the year 1964-1965. The honours also followed since he was appointed correspondent member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1952, before becoming a non-resident free member in 1962. In 1961, he became a corresponding member of the British Academy, while subsequently being elected an honorary member of various scientific societies around the world. Several universities and colleges have also awarded him the title of Doctor honoris causa.

Struck by arteritis in early 1971, he gradually lost his health and died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Jerusalem on September 10, 1971. The funeral was held in Saint-Etienne on the 13th. His last work, Ancient History of Israel, was unfinished and was later completed and published by Fr. Langlamet.

Sir Ronald Storrs was a British soldier who held several positions of responsibility in the British colonial administration.

In particular, he was Governor of Jerusalem from 1917 to 1920, Governor of Judea until 1926

Born December 1884, son of J.H. Luke (formerly Lukacs).Educated Eton College; Trinity College, Oxford.

Private Sec. and ADC to the Governor of Sierra Leone, 1908-11, and to the Governor of Barbados, 1911.
Attached to Colonial Office, 1911.
Private sec. To high Commissioner of Cyprus, 1911-12.
Asst. Sec. to Govt. of Cyprus, 1912.
Served European War (Commander, RNVR) on the Syrian coast, 1914-15, on Staff of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, Dardanelles, and as Government Sec., Mudros, Feb. 1915-June 1916.
Comr of Famagusta, Cyprus, 1918.
Political Officer to Admiral of the Fleet Sir J. de Robeck, Constantinople and Black Sea, 1919-20.
British Chief Commissioner in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, April-Sept. 1920.
Assistant Gov. of Jerusalem, 1920-24.
Commissioner to inquire into the Jaffa Riots of 1921, and into the affairs of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, 1921.
Colonial Secretary of Sierra Leone, 1924-28.
CMG 1926; Chief Secretary of Palestine, 1928-30.
Lieut.-Gov. of Malta, 1930-38; Kt 1933.
Gov. and C-inC of Fiji, and High Comm. for the Western Pacific, 1938-42.
KCMG 1939.
Chief Rep of the British Council for the Caribbean, 1943-46.
Member of Foreign Relations Council of Ch. of England.
President, Malta League, 1955-65.

Died 11 May 1969.

Vahan Tekeyan (Armenian: Վահան Թէքէեան (January 21, 1878, Constantinople - April 4, 1945, Cairo) was an Armenian poet and public activist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vahan_Tekeyan