Samuel ben Hofni was the last gaon of Sura. His father was a Talmudic scholar and chief judge ("ab bet din," probably of Fez), one of whose responsa is extant (see Zunz, "Ritus," p. 191; Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." xx. 132), and on whose death Samuel wrote an elegy. Samuel was the father-in-law of Hai ben Sherira Gaon, who is authority for the statement that Samuel, like many of his contemporaries, zealously pursued the study of non-Jewish literature. Wikipedia
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