History Bee and Bowl

The History Bee and Bowl is a buzzer-based history quiz competition; a cross between 'Jeopardy' and 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'. Schools from across Switzerland are pitted against each other to find out who has the best history knowledge. Questions can be on any period of history, anywhere in the world.

The History Bowl is a competition for teams of up to 6 students. The Middle School team is for students born in September 2002 or more recently. The Junior Varsity team is for those born in September 2000 to August 2002 or more recently. The Varsity team is for those aged 19 or below. All team members then compete in The History Bee. The History Bee is for individual students; anyone can buzz in with an answer at any time.

For more information about the competition please click on the Swiss History Bee and Bowl website below:

Swiss History Bee and Bowl Championships

2020 - Regional Swiss Championships

Thank you to Daniel Coates for organising such a fantastic competition and for writing this piece.

On Saturday 25th January, Nations played host to the International History Bee and Bowl competition, a buzzer-based quiz based off American-style bees and University Challenge-style college bowls. The competition is open to all students in the secondary section of the school. This has been our third year hosting this prestigious competition, and we have been taking part in these competitions since 2014. The International History Bee and Bowl is a great opportunity for students to show their knowledge, learn, and cooperate in their teams, skills which can come very useful in life and post high school studies. An opportunity that young passionate historians can’t miss (and there is even a Geography section)!

This year, Nations brought a whopping 16 contestants, more than ever before. While we mostly focused on the older age categories, we were able to bring in Year 7s, 9s and 11s as well. In most of the competitions we were involved in, we wiped the floor with the competition, and still did very well in those we did not win.

Varsity History Bowl (group competition):

First place: Nations B
- Allan Hatem
- Aleksy Strzembosz
- Federica Ongaro
- Vincent Gaudiosi
- Aidan Cleary
- Felix Strong
Second place: Nations A
- Daniel Coates
- Alex Strong
- Peter de Salis
- Phillip Hilen
- Owen Day Clark
- Cillian Gallery
Fourth place: Nations C
- Radinka Siddiqi
- Aemilia Pearl Turner
- Arthur Giboin
- Mehul Yadav

Varsity History Bee (individual competition)

First place: Daniel Coates
Second place: Aleksy Strzembosz
Third place: Cillian Gallery
Other Nations finalists
- Alex Strong
- Vincent Gaudiosi
- Philip Hilen

Junior History Varsity Bee

First place: Allan Hatem

2019 - Regional Swiss Championships

The Campus des Nations History Bee and Bowl Team did very well at the recent Lake Geneva History Bee and Bowl Championships.

In the Bowl competition there was a win for the Varsity Team, the Junior Varsity team took second place and the Middle school team qualified for the European Championships. In the History Bee students again took 1st and 2nd places and also qualified for the European Championships.

Congratulations, and well done to the whole team:

Lucia Guzman Rodriguez
Aleksy Strzembosz
Eva Shimkus
Jeremy Lie Nugroho
Jack Leech
Allan Hatem
Daniel Coates.

We welcome those wishing to take part or support the team in future competitions next year.

2018 - Regional Swiss Championships - Campus des Nations

Campus des Nations again hosted the Swiss Championships for the 2018-2019 History Bee and Bowl. The school fielded a large team who were particularly successful this year. Well done to all of the students who participated and helped to run this fantastic event.

History Bowl (team competition):

Varsity Team A - Aleksy, Fiona, Jeremy, Antonio - Champions
Varsity Team B - Nathan, Tom, Jialong, Eoin, Philippe - 3rd Place
Junior Varsity Team - Aidan, Daniel, Allan - Champions
Middle School Team - Hiyaw, Lucia, Oliver, Eva, Luka, Teodoras - 2nd place.

History Bee (individual competition):

Antonio Pattori- Senior Varsity - Champion
Tom Shimkus - Senior Varsity - 2nd Place
Aleksey Strzembosch- Senior Varsity - 3rd Place
Daniel Coates- Junior Varsity - Champion
Allan Hatem- Middle School - 2nd Place

2018 - European Championships - Prague

This year we had a team of three who travelled to Prague to compete in the European Championships. For such a small team they did amazingly well and came fourth in the team event of the History Bowl. They narrowly missed out on third place losing to Eton College. This years team comprised of Antonio Pattori, Nathan Fitzpatrick and Lucia Guzman.

Antonio Pattori's fantastic knowledge of all things historical helped him to claim third place in the individual event of the History Bee. Well done.

2018 - Swiss Championships - Geneva

Saturday 3rd March

This year we hosted the Swiss Championships here at Campus des Nations and we had the largest number of students participating in the event. In total eight schools participated in the competition from the local area and the rivalry was high. Our teams did particularly well and they have now been invited to take part in the European Championships which are being held in Prague this year. Well done to all students who took part in such a challenging competition.

History Bowl (team event)

Varsity Team A (Antonio, Fiona, Mikkel, Aleksy)- 1st Place - qualified for European Championships.
Varsity Team B (Tom, Philippe, Nathan, Shreya) - Semifinalists - qualified for European Championships.
Junior Varsity Team ( Allan, Jialong, Daniel) - 1st place - qualified for European Championships.
Middle School Team (Eva, Teodoras, Jack, Lucia, Hiyaw, Olivier)- Semifinalists - qualified for European Championships.

The Nations students also did really well in the individual event and swept up the medal winning places.

History Bee (individual event)

Antonio Pattori- Senior Varsity - First Place
Tom Shimkus - Senior Varsity- Second Place
Daniel Coates- Junior Varsity - First Place
Jialong Kang - Junior Varsity - Second Place
Allan Hatem- Middle School Division- First Place
Eva Shimkus- Middle School division- Third Place

2017 - European Championship - Rome

Saturday 20th May

Antonio Pattori and Prathmesh Rai participated in the the European Championships in Rome on the Saturday 20th May. After a hard fought battle Antonio came fourth in the Junior Varsity Bee after losing by an agonising 1 point to get in the top three. The Bowl was equally as exciting, while the boys lost against ICS Zurich (the eventual champions) in the semi finals they went on to beat a school from Stockholm by an amazing 100 points to place third. Antonio and Prathmesh have now qualified for the World History Bee and Bowl which is being held in Berlin in 2018.

Congratulations Boys.

2017 - Swiss Championship - Basel

Saturday 1st April

This year a team of eight students accompanied by Mrs. Ball and Mr. Kinghorn got up extremely early in the morning to get to the International School of Basel for 9am. Fortunately the early start did not impact their success and we are pleased to announce that the Junior Varsity and Middle School Teams won the Swiss History Bowl. This means that they are now invited to compete at the European Level of the competition in Rome (19th-21st May). While the Varsity Team did not win their stage of the competition they did get to the semi-finals which means they are also invited to the European Stages.

History Bowl (team round)

Junior Varsity Team - 1st - Fiona Ball, Antonio Pattori, Prathmesh Rai, Tomas Shimkus
Middle School Team - 1st - Daniel Coates and Allan Hatem
Varsity - Qualified for the European Finals - Mikkel Hatem, Kasper Rechardt

But the success does not stop there as there were high placings again in the Bee (individual) section of the event.

History Bee (individuals round)