Henry Herscovici

Henry Herscovici came from a family of watchmakers whose skills were so renowned that their products were sought by the royals of their native Romania. Henry’s other passion was sport shooting, a love that he was able to pursue while serving as an officer in the Romanian Army. Anti-Semitism and politics in his home country, however, limited his opportunities to compete internationally so, in 1965, he moved to Israel and began competing for their national team.

His first appearance for them came at the 1965 Maccabiah Games, where he took bronze in the rifle three positions and prone events. He followed this up with a trip to the 1966 Asian Games, where he was fourth in both the 50 metre rifle, three positions and 10 metre air rifle events. The following year was his most successful, however, as he captured gold in the 50 metre rifle, three positions competition and silver in the 50 metre standard rifle, 3x20 shots, at the 1967 Asian Championships, in addition to finishing fifth in the 50 metre rifle prone tournament. His next stop was the 1968 Summer Olympics, where he was 41st and 45th respectively in the three positions and prone 50 metre events. He then earned gold in the three positions tournament at the 1969 Maccabiah Games.

Herscovici next won silver in the 10 metre air rifle at the 1970 Asian Games, where he was also fourth in the 50 metre, three positions competition. He again attended the Summer Olympics in 1972, where he was 46th and 23rd respectively in the three positions and prone 50 metre events. He carried Israel’s flag in the opening ceremony and was warned ahead of time of the terrorists in the Olympic village, and thus managed to escape the Munich Massacre. His final major international medal came in the prone, 50 metre competition at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, while his final major international appearance was the 1974 Asian Games, where he was fifth in the same event. From 1971 until his death, he ran a watch shop in Tel Aviv, where he continued to work into his 90s.