List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
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:''This List of Jews contains individuals who, in accordance with Wikipedia's
verifiability Verify or verification may refer to: General * Verification and validation, in engineering or quality management systems, is the act of reviewing, inspecting or testing, in order to establish and document that a product, service or system meets ...
and
no original research No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed ...
policies, have been identified as Jews by reliable sources.'' The following is a list of Jews born in the territory of the former
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
. It is geographically defined, so it also includes people born after the dissolution of the Russian Empire in 1922 and its successor the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in 1991. A few years before
the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...
, the Jewish population of the Soviet Union (excluding
Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austr ...
and the
Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...
that were not part of the Soviet Union then) stood at over 5 million, most of whom were
Ashkenazic Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
as opposed to
Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
, with some Karaite minorities. It is estimated that more than half died directly as a result of the Holocaust.


Politics and military


Politicians

*
Georgy Arbatov Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov (russian: Гео́ргий Арка́дьевич Арба́тов, 19 May 1923, Kherson – 1 October 2010, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian political scientist who served as an adviser to five General Secretaries of th ...
, Soviet politician, academic and political advisor * Aizik Aronchik, attempted to assassinate the
Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
Alexander II Aronchik, Aizik Borisovich on Brokhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia in 16 volumes, Moscow 1908-1913 * Dimitri Bogrov, Soviet politician *
Anatoly Chubais Anatoly Borisovich Chubais (russian: Анатолий Борисович Чубайс; born 16 June 1955) is a Russian politician and economist who was responsible for privatization in Russia as an influential member of Boris Yeltsin's administ ...
, Deputy Prime Minister, now Chairman of UES *
Mikhail Fradkov Mikhail Yefimovich Fradkov ( rus, Михаи́л Ефи́мович Фрадко́в, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ frɐtˈkof; born 1 September 1950) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 2004 to 2007. An In ...
, Prime Minister (half-Jewish) *
Volodymyr Groysman Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman ( uk, Володи́мир Бори́сович Гро́йсман; born 20 January 1978), is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukrai ...
, Prime Minister of Ukraine (2016-2019) *
Adolph Joffe Adolph Abramovich Joffe (russian: Адо́льф Абра́мович Ио́ффе, alternative transliterations Adol'f Ioffe or, rarely, Yoffe) (10 October 1883 in Simferopol – 16 November 1927 in Moscow) was a Russian revolutionary, a Bo ...
, Bolshevik diplomat *
Lazar Kaganovich Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich, also Kahanovich (russian: Ла́зарь Моисе́евич Кагано́вич, Lázar' Moiséyevich Kaganóvich; – 25 July 1991), was a Soviet politician and administrator, and one of the main associates of ...
,
First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union The First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); despite the title, the office was not necessarily held by a single individual. The office had three different name ...
and one of the principal architects of the
Ukrainian famine The Holodomor ( uk, Голодомо́р, Holodomor, ; derived from uk, морити голодом, lit=to kill by starvation, translit=moryty holodom, label=none), also known as the Terror-Famine or the Great Famine, was a man-made famin ...
. *
Lev Kamenev Lev Borisovich Kamenev. (''né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow Uni ...
, Bolshevik leader (Jewish father) *
Maxim Litvinov Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat. A strong advocate of diplomatic agreements leading towards disarmament, Litvinov w ...
, Soviet ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs *
Julius Martov Julius Martov or L. Martov (Ма́ртов; born Yuliy Osipovich Tsederbaum; 24 November 1873 – 4 April 1923) was a politician and revolutionary who became the leader of the Mensheviks in early 20th-century Russia. He was arguably the close ...
, Menshevik leader * Mikhail Mishustin, incumbent Prime Minister *
Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...
, Deputy Prime Minister *
Yevgeny Primakov Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (29 October 1929 – 26 June 2015) was a Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. During his long career, he also served as Foreign Minister, Speaker of the Supreme ...
, Russian politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1998 to 1999. *
Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (russian: Карл Бернгардович Радек; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a ...
, Soviet politician *
Yevgeny Roizman Yevgeny Vadimovich Roizman ( Russian: Евге́ний Вади́мович Ро́йзман; born 14 September 1962) is a Russian opposition politician who served as the mayor of Yekaterinburg from 2013 to 2018. He campaigned against corrupt p ...
, deputy of the Russian State Duma, mayor of Yekaterinburg (Jewish father) *
Grigory Sokolnikov Grigori Yakovlevich Sokolnikov (born Hirsch Brilliant or Girsh Yankelevich Brilliant; 1888–1939) was a Russian Old Bolshevik revolutionary, economist, and Soviet politician. Early career Grigori Sokolnikov was born Girsh Yankelevich Brillia ...
, Bolshevik politician *
Yakov Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...
, Bolshevik leader, the first head of state of the
Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
*
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
, Bolshevik politician, the founder of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
*
Moisei Uritsky Moisei Solomonovich Uritsky ( ua, Мойсей Соломонович Урицький; russian: Моисей Соломонович Урицкий; – 30 August 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader in Russia. After the October Revol ...
, Soviet politician * Leonid Volkov, Russian opposition leader.
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...
's campaign manager and technical director *
Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as directo ...
, head of Secret Police in the Stalin era (1934–1936) *
Yakov Yurovsky Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky (; Unless otherwise noted, all dates used in this article are of the Gregorian Calendar, as opposed to the Julian Calendar which was used in Russia prior to . – 2 August 1938) was a Russian Old Bolshevik, ...
, Bolshevik commander, was in charge of imprisonment and execution of Tsar Nicolas II of Russia and his family (under
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
's orders) *
Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
, incumbent President of Ukraine *
Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev, . Transliterated ''Grigorii Evseevich Zinov'ev'' according to the Library of Congress system. (born Hirsch Apfelbaum, – 25 August 1936), known also under the name Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky (russian: Ов ...
, Soviet politician *
Vladimir Zhirinovsky Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, ''né'' Eidelshtein (russian: link=false, Эйдельштейн) (25 April 1946 – 6 April 2022) was a Russian right-wing populist politician and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) fr ...
, Russian politician; leader of the
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia LDPR — Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (russian: ЛДПР — Либерально-демократическая партия России, LDPR — Liberal'no-demokraticheskaya partiya Rossii) is a right-wing populist and ultranationalist ...
(LDPR); Vice-chairman of the State Duma; member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe"Zhirinovsky admits Jewish roots
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadc ...


Israeli politicians

*
Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. ...
, Israeli Prime Minister, Nobel Prize (1978) * Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel (1952–63) * Shmuel Dayan, Zionist activist, Israeli politician *
Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( he, לֵוִי אֶשְׁכּוֹל ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik ( he, לוי יצחק שקולניק, links=no), was an Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israe ...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1963–69) *
Ephraim Katzir Ephraim Katzir ( he, אפרים קציר, translit=Efrayim Katsir; – 30 May 2009) was an Israeli biophysicist and Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978. Biography Efraim Katchalski (later Katzir ...
, fourth President of Israel (1973–78) *
Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs (2006–2008) *
Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and '' kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1969–74) *
Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir ( he, יצחק שמיר, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms, 1983–1984 and 1986–1992. Before the establishment ...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1983–84, 1986–92) *
Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky ( he, נתן שרנסקי; russian: Ната́н Щара́нский; uk, Натан Щаранський, born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on 20 January 1948); uk, Анатолій Борисович Щаранський, ...
, Israeli politician *
Moshe Sharett Moshe Sharett ( he, משה שרת, born Moshe Chertok (Hebrew: )‎ 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was a Russian-born Israeli politician who served as Israel's second prime minister from 1954 to 1955. A member of Mapai, Sharett's term was b ...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1954–55) *
Zalman Shazar Zalman Shazar ( he, זלמן שז"ר; born Shneur Zalman Rubashov; be, Шнэер За́льман Рубашо́ў; russian: Шне́ер За́лмен Рубашо́в; November 24, 1889 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author ...
, third President of Israel (1963–73) *
Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( he, חיים עזריאל ויצמן ', russian: Хаим Евзорович Вейцман, ''Khaim Evzorovich Veytsman''; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born biochemist, Zionist leader and Israel ...
, first President of Israel (1949–52)


Israeli military persons

*
Yaakov Dori Yaakov Dori (; October 8, 1899 – January 22, 1973), born Yaakov Dostrovsky, was the first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). He was also the President of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Biography Yaakov Dostr ...
, first Chief of Staff of the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
(IDF) (1948–1949); President of Technion. *
Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880  – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
, founder of British Jewish Legion * Haim Laskov, fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1958–1961) *
Yitzhak Sadeh Yitzhak Sadeh ( he, יצחק שדה, born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. ...
,
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
commander and one of the
IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces *Irish Defence Forces *Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 *Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations *Israeli Diving Federation *Interaction ...
founders *
Joseph Trumpeldor Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (21 November 1880 – 1 March 1920, he, יוֹסֵף טְרוּמְפֶּלְדוֹר , russian: Иосиф Владимирович (Вольфович) Трумпельдор ) was an early Zionist ...
, founder of British Jewish Legion and early pioneer-settler in Israel (born in
Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...
) * Tzvi Tzur, sixth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1961–1964)


Soviet soldiers and revolutionaries

* Osip Aptekman, revolutionary *
Pavel Axelrod Pavel Borisovich Axelrod (russian: Па́вел Бори́сович Аксельро́д; 25 August 1850 – 16 April 1928) was an early Russian Marxist revolutionary. Along with Georgi Plekhanov, Vera Zasulich, and Leo Deutsch, he was one ...
, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary * Yevno Azef, revolutionary *
Tuvia Bielski Tuvia Bielski (May 8, 1906 – June 12, 1987) was a Belarusian Jewish militant who was leader of the Bielski group, a group of Jewish partisans who set up refugee camps for Jews fleeing the Holocaust during World War II. Their camp was situated ...
, Belarusian partisan *
Yakov Blumkin Yakov Grigoryevich Blumkin (russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич Блю́мкин; 12 March 1900 – 3 November 1929) was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary, a Bolshevik, and an agent of the Cheka and the Joint State Political Directorat ...
, Soviet spy *
Ivan Chernyakhovsky Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky (russian: Ива́н Дани́лович Черняхо́вский; – 18 February 1945) was the youngest-ever Soviet General of the army. For his leadership during World War II he was awarded t ...
, Soviet Front Commander, WWII * Fedor Dan, revolutionary *
Leo Deutsch Lev Grigorievich Deutsch, also known as Leo Deutsch (russian: Лев Григо́рьевич Дейч) (September 26, 1855 – August 5, 1941) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and one of four founding members of Russia's Marxist Organisation, ...
, revolutionary *
David Dragunsky David Abramovich Dragunsky (russian: Давид Абрамович Драгунский; – 12 October 1992) was a tank officer in World War II who was twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Early life Dragunsky was born on to a ...
, Soviet tank brigade commander, WWII *
Raya Dunayevskaya Raya Dunayevskaya (born Raya Shpigel, ; May 1, 1910 - June 9, 1987), later Rae Spiegel, also known by the pseudonym Freddie Forest, was the American founder of the philosophy of Marxist humanism in the United States. At one time Leon Trotsky's s ...
, founder of
Marxist humanism Marxist humanism is an international body of thought and political action rooted in an interpretation of the works of Karl Marx. It is an investigation into "what human nature consists of and what sort of society would be most conducive to hum ...
in the U.S. *
Hesya Helfman Hesya Mirovna (Meerovna) Helfman (, ) 1855, Mazyr — 1 ( N.S. 13) February 1882, Saint Petersburg), was a Russian revolutionary member of ''Narodnaya Volya'', who was implicated in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. Biography Early life B ...
, revolutionary * Grigory Gershuni, revolutionary * Moshe Gildenman, known as Dyadya ("Uncle") Misha, partisan commander * Grigory Goldenberg, revolutionary *
Olga Kameneva Olga Davidovna Kameneva (russian: Ольга Давыдовна Каменева, uk, Ольга Давидiвна Каменева; 1883 – 11 September 1941) (née Bronstein — Бронште́йн) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and ...
, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
) *
Walter Krivitsky Walter Germanovich Krivitsky (Ва́льтер Ге́рманович Криви́цкий; June 28, 1899 – February 10, 1941) was a Soviet intelligence officer who revealed plans of signing the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact after he defected to ...
, Soviet spy *
Semyon Krivoshein Semyon Moiseevich Krivoshein (russian: Семён Моисе́евич Кривоше́ин; November 28, 1899 in Voronezh, Russian Empire – September 16, 1978 in Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet tank commander, who played a vital part in th ...
, Soviet mechanized corps commander, WWII *
Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sov ...
, Soviet front commander, WWII, Minister of Defence (Jewish origin is disputed) *
Mark Natanson Mark Andreyevich Natanson (russian: Марк Андре́евич Натансо́н; party name: Bobrov) (25 December 1850 ( N.S. 6 January 1851) – 29 July 1919) was a Russian revolutionary who was one of the founders of the Circle of Tchaikov ...
, revolutionary *
Alexander Parvus Alexander Lvovich Parvus, born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand (8 September 1867 – 12 December 1924) and sometimes called Helphand in the literature on the Russian Revolution, was a Marxist theoretician, publicist, and controversial activist in the ...
, revolutionary *
Sidney Reilly Sidney George Reilly (; – 5 November 1925)—known as "Ace of Spies"—was a Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later by the Foreign Section of the British Secret Service Bureau, the pre ...
(born Shlomo Rosenblum), Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent * Theodore Rothstein, Russian-British communist *
Pinhas Rutenberg Pinhas Rutenberg (russian: Пётр Моисеевич Рутенберг, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; he, פנחס רוטנברג: 5 February 1879 – 3 January 1942) was a Russian Jewish engineer, businessman, and political activist. He pla ...
, Zionist, Social revolutionary *
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Manya Shochat Manya Shochat (1880–1961) was a Russian-Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement. Biography Manya Wilbushewitch (also Mania, Wilbuszewicz/Wilbushewitz; later Shochat) ...
, founders of the Hashomer movement *
Moisei Uritsky Moisei Solomonovich Uritsky ( ua, Мойсей Соломонович Урицький; russian: Моисей Соломонович Урицкий; – 30 August 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader in Russia. After the October Revol ...
, communist revolutionary *
Volin Vsevolod Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum (russian: Все́волод Миха́йлович Эйхенба́ум; 11 August 188218 September 1945), commonly known by his psuedonym Volin (russian: Во́лин), was a Russian anarchist intellectual. H ...
(Vsevolod Eikhenbaum), leading Russian Anarchist. Senior member of
Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...
's movement (1918-1921) * V. Volodarsky, communist revolutionary *
Iona Yakir Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir (russian: Ио́на Эммануи́лович Яки́р; 3 August 1896 – 12 June 1937) was a Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II. He was an ear ...
, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II


Others

*
Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. A pioneer in the environmental movement, Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ...
, important American anarchist * Michael Dorfman, Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist *
David Dubinsky David Dubinsky (; born David Isaac Dobnievski; February 22, 1892 – September 17, 1982) was a Belarusian-born American labor leader and politician. He served as president of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) between 1932 ...
, American labor leader * Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), rabbi, founder of
Hasidic Judaism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of cont ...
* Natasha Epstein, beauty queen; graduate of Harvard University *
Shlomo Ganzfried Shlomo Ganzfried (or ''Salomon ben Joseph Ganzfried''; 1804 in Ungvár – 30 July 1886 in Ungvár) was an Orthodox rabbi and posek best known as the author of the work of Halakha (Jewish law), the ''Kitzur Shulchan Aruch'' (Hebrew: קיצ ...
, rabbi * Fanny Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin *
Menachem Mendel Schneerson Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
,
Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...
of the
Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
-Lubavitch branch of
Hasidic Judaism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism ( Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of cont ...
* Dov Sudak, rabbi of Krijopol before the war *
Boris Volynov Boris Valentinovich Volynov (russian: Бори́с Валенти́нович Волы́нов; born 18 December 1934) is a Soviet cosmonaut who flew two space missions of the Soyuz programme: Soyuz 5, and Soyuz 21. Following the death of Alexei L ...
, Soviet astronaut; the first Jew in space (Jewish mother)


Business figures

*
Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...
, businessman, owner of Chelsea F.C. *
Pyotr Aven Petr Olegovich Aven (also transliterated Pyotr Aven; russian: Пëтр Олегович Авен; Latvian: Pjotrs Avens; born 16 March 1955) is a Russian oligarch, businessman, economist and politician who also holds Latvian citizenship. Until M ...
, businessman *
Leon Bagrit Sir Leon Bagrit (13 March 1902 – 22 April 1979) was a leading British industrialist and pioneer of automation. Early life and education Born to Jewish parents in Kiev, in the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine), Sir Leon studied law at B ...
, pioneer of automation *
Bernhard Baron Bernhard Baron (5 December 1850 – 1 August 1929) was a tobacco manufacturer and philanthropist. He was born in Brest-Litovsk (in modern Belarus), to Jewish parents, lived in Rostov as a child, and immigrated to the United States at an early a ...
, cigarette maker and philanthropist * Boris Berezovsky, businessman, politician * Zino Davidoff (born Sussele-Meier Davidoff), former tobacco manufacturer, known as "King of Cigars" *
Bernard Delfont Bernard Delfont, Baron Delfont (born Boris Winogradsky; 5 September 1909 – 28 July 1994) was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario. Life and career Delfont was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Governorate, Russia ...
, impresario * Mikhail Fridman, businessman *
Arcadi Gaydamak Arcadi Aleksandrovich Gaydamak ( he, ארקדי אלכסנדרוביץ' גאידמק; russian: Аркадий Александрович Гайдамак; born 8 April 1952 in Moscow, USSR) is a Russian-born French-Israeli businessman, philanthr ...
, owner of
Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...
,
AJ Auxerre Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise (), commonly known as AJ Auxerre or simply Auxerre (), is a French football club based in the commune of Auxerre in Burgundy. The club was founded in 1905 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division ...
, and
Bnei Sakhnin F.C. Bnei Sakhnin F.C. ( ar, اتحاد أبناء سخنين, he, איחוד בני סכנין, ''Ihud Bnei Sakhnin''; ''Ittihad Abna Sakhnin'', ) is an Israeli football club based at the Doha Stadium in Sakhnin. They are the most successful club ...
*
Leslie Grade Leslie Grade (3 June 1916 – 15 October 1979), born Laszlo (or Lazarus) Winogradsky, was a British theatrical talent agent. In 1943, he co-founded the Grade Organisation (also known as Lew and Leslie Grade Ltd) with his elder brother, the impres ...
, executive *
Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 19 ...
, impresario, Chairman of ATV from 1962 *
Vladimir Gusinsky Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gusinsky (russian: Владимир Александрович Гусинский, ; born 6 October 1952) is a Russian media tycoon. He founded the Media-Most holding company that included the NTV free-to-air channel, ...
, exile, former media tycoon * Boris Khait, businessman and vice-president of the Russian Jewish Congress * German Khan, businessman *
Mikhail Khodorkovsky Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky (russian: link=no, Михаил Борисович Ходорковский, ; born 26 June 1963), sometimes known by his initials MBK, is an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist, now residing in L ...
, businessman, politician (Jewish father) *
Ihor Kolomoyskyi Ihor Valeriyovych Kolomoyskyi ( uk, Ігор Валерійович Коломойський, translit=Ihor Valereriyovych Kolomoyskyi; he, איגור קולומויסקי; born 13 February 1963) is a Ukrainian-born billionaire, business magnat ...
, Ukrainian businessman *
Max Levchin Maksymilian Rafailovych "Max" Levchin ( uk, Максиміліан Рафаїлович Левчин; born July 11, 1975) is a Ukrainian-American software engineer and businessman. In 1998, he co-founded the company that eventually became PayP ...
(born Maksymilian Levchin), co-founder of
PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...
*
Morris Markin Morris Markin (russian: Морис Маркин) (July 15, 1893 – July 8, 1970) was a Russian-born American businessman who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company (which would later become the Checker Motors Corporation). Early years Bo ...
, founder of
Checker Cab Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American vehicle manufacturer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan that built the iconic Checker Taxicab, sold commercially a ...
*
Michael Marks Michael Marks ( yi, מיכאל מארקס Polish: ''Michał Marks''; 1859? – 31 December 1907) was a businessman and entrepreneur, who with Thomas Spencer co-founded the British retail chain Marks & Spencer. Biography Marks was born into a ...
, co-founder of
Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
* Alexander Mashkevitch, businessman *
Louis B. Mayer Louis Burt Mayer (; born Lazar Meir; July 12, 1882 or 1884 or 1885 – October 29, 1957) was a Canadian-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) in 1924. Under Mayer's management, MGM became the film industr ...
, co-founder of
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
(MGM) * Leonid Mikhelson, businessman, CEO, chairman and major shareholder of the Russian gas company Novatek *
Yuri Milner Yuri Borisovich (Bentsionovich) Milner (russian: Юрий Борисович (Бенционович) Мильнер; born 11 November 1961) is a Soviet-born Israeli entrepreneur, venture capitalist and physicist. He is a cofounder and former c ...
, entrepreneur, venture capitalist *
Boris Mints Boris Iosifovich Mints (russian: Борис Иосифович Минц; born 24 July 1958) is a Russian oligarch with interests in real estate and finance, and co-founder of Otkritie FC Bank. He has been an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and ...
, co-founder of Otkritie FC Bank * Vadim Moshkovich, businessman, founder of Rusagro *
Leonid Nevzlin Leonid Borisovich Nevzlin (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Не́взлин; he, לאוניד בוריסוביץ' נבזלין, born 21 September 1959) is a Russian-born Israeli businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Nevzlin oc ...
, businessman *
Mikhail Prokhorov Mikhail Dmitrievich Prokhorov ( rus, Михаил Дмитриевич Прохоров, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈdmʲitrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈproxərəf; born 3 May 1965) is a Russian-Israeli oligarch, politician, and former owner of the Brooklyn Nets. I ...
, businessman *
Ida Rosenthal Ida Rosenthal (née Kaganovich; January 9, 1886 – March 29, 1973) was a Belarusian-born American dressmaker and businesswoman who co-founded Maidenform. Biography She was born to a Jewish family in Rakaŭ, near Minsk, then part of the Russ ...
, founder of Maidenform Brassieres *
Arkady Rotenberg Arkady Romanovich Rotenberg (russian: Аркадий Романович Ротенберг; born 15 December 1951) is a Russian billionaire businessman and oligarch. With his brother Boris Rotenberg, he was co-owner of the Stroygazmontazh (S ...
, businessman,
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
's childhoods friend * Boris Rotenberg, businessman,
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
's childhood friend *
David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly aft ...
(born Schwirnofsky), former head of
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
*
Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (russian: Виктор Феликсович Вексельберг, uk, Віктор Феліксович Вексельберг; born April 14, 1957) is a Ukrainian-born Russian–Israeli-Cyprus oligarch, billion ...
, businessman (Jewish father) *
Leo Wainstein Leo Wainstein (4 January 1883 – 13 March 1978) was a Ukrainian Jewish jurist and businessman who lived most part of his life in Finland. Wainstein was born in Yalta to a Jewish peasant family. He graduated as a jurist in Odessa University in ...
, textile industrialist *
Harry Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...
, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, founders of Warner Bros.


Scientists


Natural scientists

* Anatole Abragam, physicist *
Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (russian: Алексе́й Алексе́евич Абрико́сов; June 25, 1928 – March 29, 2017) was a Soviet, Russian and AmericanAlexei A. AbrikosovAutobiography Nobelprize.org, the official website of the ...
, physicist,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(2003) *
Zhores Alferov Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (russian: link=no, Жоре́с Ива́нович Алфёров, ; be, Жарэс Іва́навіч Алфёраў; 15 March 19301 March 2019) was a Soviet and Russian physicist and academic who contributed signific ...
, physicist, Nobel Prize (2000) *
Aleksander Akhiezer Aleksandr Ilyich Akhiezer ( ua, Олекса́ндр Іллі́ч Ахіє́зер, russian: Алекса́ндр Ильи́ч Ахие́зер; October 18, 1911 – May 4, 2000) was a Soviet and Ukrainian theoretical physicist, known for contr ...
, physicist * Semen Altshuler, physicist * Lev Artsimovich, physicist (Jewish mother) *
Gersh Budker Gersh Itskovich Budker (Герш Ицкович Будкер), also named Andrey Mikhailovich Budker (1 May 1918 – 4 July 1977), was a Soviet physicist, specialized in nuclear physics and accelerator physics. Biography He was elected a Corresp ...
, nuclear physicist * Matvei Bronstein, theoretical physicist *
Ilya Frank Ilya Mikhailovich Frank (russian: Илья́ Миха́йлович Франк; 23 October 1908 – 22 June 1990) was a Soviet winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958 jointly with Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and Igor Y. Tamm, also of the ...
, physicist,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(1958) *
Yakov Frenkel __NOTOC__ Yakov Il'ich Frenkel (russian: Яков Ильич Френкель; 10 February 1894 – 23 January 1952) was a Soviet physicist renowned for his works in the field of condensed matter physics. He is also known as Jacov Frenkel, frequ ...
, physicist *
Vitaly Ginzburg Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg, ForMemRS (russian: Вита́лий Ла́заревич Ги́нзбург, link=no; 4 October 1916 – 8 November 2009) was a Russian physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003, together wit ...
, physicist,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(2003) *
Emanuel Goldberg Emanuel Goldberg ( he, עמנואל גולדברג; yi, עמנואל גאָלדבערג; russian: Эмануэль Гольдберг) (born: 31 August 1881; died: 13 September 1970) was an Israeli physicist and inventor. He was born in Moscow a ...
(1881–1970), pioneered
Microdot A microdot is text or an image substantially reduced in size to prevent detection by unintended recipients. Microdots are normally circular and around in diameter but can be made into different shapes and sizes and made from various materials su ...
s and microfilm retrieval technology * Alexander Gorodnitsky, geologist and oceanographer, Soviet and Russian bard and poet * Vladimir Gribov, physicist * Mikhail Gurevich, co-founder of the Mikoyan Gurevich (MiG) aircraft design bureauThe Jewish Quarterly
* Waldemar Haffkine, biologist, vaccine against cholera and plague *
Boris Hessen Boris Mikhailovich Hessen (russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Ге́ссен), also Gessen (16 August 1893, Elisavetgrad – 20 December 1936, Moscow),The date of death is given incorrectly in most sources, including the Russian Acad ...
, physicist * Naum Idelson, astronomer *
Abram Ioffe Abram Fedorovich Ioffe ( rus, Абра́м Фёдорович Ио́ффе, p=ɐˈbram ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ ɪˈofɛ; – 14 October 1960) was a prominent Russian/Soviet physicist. He received the Stalin Prize (1942), the Lenin Prize (1960) (p ...
, nuclear scientist *
Vladimir Keilis-Borok Vladimir Isaacovich Keilis-Borok (July 31, 1921 – October 19, 2013) was a Russian mathematical geophysicist and seismologist. Biography Keilis-Borok was born in Moscow, Russia. His father, Isaak Moiseevich Keilis, was a jeweler. His mother, ...
, physicist * Isaak Khalatnikov, physicist * Yuli Khariton, physicist * Semyon Kosberg, engineer *
Lev Landau Lev Davidovich Landau (russian: Лев Дави́дович Ланда́у; 22 January 1908 – 1 April 1968) was a Soviet-Azerbaijani physicist of Jewish descent who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His ac ...
, physicist,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(1962) *
Grigory Landsberg Grigory Samuilovich Landsberg (Russian: Григорий Самуилович Ландсберг; 22 January 1890 – 2 February 1957) was a Soviet physicist who worked in the fields of optics and spectroscopy. Together with Leonid Mandelstam he ...
, physicist *
Semyon Lavochkin Semyon Alekseyevich Lavochkin (russian: Семён Алексе́евич Ла́вочкин; 11 September 1900 - 9 June 1960) was a Soviet aerospace engineer, Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Lavochkin aircraft design bureau. Many of his ...
, engineer *
Veniamin Levich Veniamin Grigorievich (Benjamin) Levich (russian: Вениами́н Григо́рьевич Ле́вич; 30 March 1917 in Kharkiv, Ukraine – 19 January 1987 in Englewood, New Jersey, United States) was a Soviet dissident, internationally pro ...
, electrochemist *
Evgeny Lifshitz Evgeny Mikhailovich Lifshitz (russian: Евге́ний Миха́йлович Ли́фшиц; February 21, 1915, Kharkiv, Russian Empire – October 29, 1985, Moscow, Russian SFSR) was a leading Soviet physicist and brother of the physicist ...
, physicist *
Leonid Mandelstam Leonid Isaakovich Mandelstam or Mandelshtam ( be, Леанід Ісаакавіч Мандэльштам; rus, Леонид Исаакович Мандельштам, p=lʲɪɐˈnʲit ɨsɐˈakəvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam, a=Ru-Leonid_Mande ...
, physicist *
Alexander Migdal Alexander Arkadyevich Migdal (russian: Александр Арка́дьевич Мигдал; born 22 July 1945) is a Russian-American physicist and entrepreneur, formerly at Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Space Research Institute, P ...
, physicist *
Arkady Migdal Arkady Beynusovich (Benediktovich) Migdal (russian: Арка́дий Бе́йнусович (Бенеди́ктович) Мигда́л; Lida, Russian Empire, 11 March 1911 – Princeton, United States, 9 February 1991) was a Soviet physicist and m ...
, physicist * Lev Pitaevskii, physicist *
Boris Podolsky Boris Yakovlevich Podolsky (russian: link=no, Бори́с Я́ковлевич Подо́льский; June 29, 1896 – November 28, 1966) was a Russian-American physicist of Jewish descent, noted for his work with Albert Einstein and Nathan ...
, physicist * Alexander Polyakov, physicist * Isaak Pomeranchuk, physicist * Grigory Abramovich Shajn, astronomer * Mikhail Shifman, physicist *
Iosif Shklovsky Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (russian: Ио́сиф Самуи́лович Шкло́вский; sometimes transliterated ''Josif, Josif, Shklovskii, Shklovskij'') (1 July 1916 – 3 March 1985) was a Soviet astronomer and astrophysicist. He ...
, astrophysicist, astronomer, biologist * Alexander Tropsha, chemist *
Vladimir Veksler Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler (russian: Владимир Иосифович Векслер; ; March 4, 1907 – September 22, 1966) was a prominent Soviet experimental physicist. Biography Veksler was born in Zhitomir on March 4, 1907 in the ...
, physicist * Alexander Vilenkin, cosmologist *
Selman Waksman Selman Abraham Waksman (July 22, 1888 – August 16, 1973) was a Jewish Russian-born American inventor, Nobel Prize laureate, biochemist and microbiologist whose research into the decomposition of organisms that live in soil enabled the discover ...
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1952) * Sorojon Yusufova, geologist *
Yakov Zel'dovich Yakov Borisovich Zeldovich ( be, Я́каў Бары́савіч Зяльдо́віч, russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Зельдо́вич; 8 March 1914 – 2 December 1987), also known as YaB, was a leading Soviet physicist of Bel ...
, astrophysicist


Mathematicians

*
Georgy Adelson-Velsky Georgy Maximovich Adelson-Velsky (russian: Гео́ргий Макси́мович Адельсо́н-Ве́льский; name is sometimes transliterated as Georgii Adelson-Velskii) (8 January 1922 – 26 April 2014) was a Soviet and Israeli m ...
, mathematician *
Naum Akhiezer Naum Ilyich Akhiezer ( uk, Нау́м Іллі́ч Ахіє́зер; russian: link=no, Нау́м Ильи́ч Ахие́зер; 6 March 1901 – 3 June 1980) was a Soviet and Ukrainian mathematician of Jewish origin, known for his works in appr ...
, mathematician * Vladimir Arnold, mathematician *
Grigory Barenblatt Grigory Isaakovich Barenblatt (russian: Григо́рий Исаа́кович Баренблат; 10 July 1927 – 22 June 2018) was a Russian mathematician. Education Barenblatt graduated in 1950 from Moscow State University, Department of Me ...
, mathematician *
Joseph Bernstein Joseph Bernstein (sometimes spelled I. N. Bernshtein; he, יוס(י)ף נאומוביץ ברנשטיין; russian: Иосиф Наумович Бернштейн; born 18 April 1945) is a Soviet-born Israeli mathematician working at Tel Aviv Un ...
, mathematician *
Alexander Brudno Alexander L'vovich Brudno (russian: Александр Львович Брудно) (10 January 1918 – 1 December 2009)Chudnovsky brothers, amateur mathematicians *
Vladimir Drinfeld Vladimir Gershonovich Drinfeld ( uk, Володи́мир Ге́ршонович Дрінфельд; russian: Влади́мир Ге́ршонович Дри́нфельд; born February 14, 1954), surname also romanized as Drinfel'd, is a renowne ...
, mathematician,
Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award h ...
(1990) *
Eugene Dynkin Eugene Borisovich Dynkin (russian: link=no, Евгений Борисович Дынкин; 11 May 1924 – 14 November 2014) was a Soviet and American mathematician. He made contributions to the fields of probability and algebra, especially sem ...
, mathematician * Paul Sophus Epstein, mathematician * Felix Gantmacher, mathematician *
Israel Gelfand Israel Moiseevich Gelfand, also written Israïl Moyseyovich Gel'fand, or Izrail M. Gelfand ( yi, ישראל געלפֿאַנד, russian: Изра́иль Моисе́евич Гельфа́нд, uk, Ізраїль Мойсейович Гел ...
, mathematician *
Alexander Gelfond Alexander Osipovich Gelfond (russian: Алекса́ндр О́сипович Ге́льфонд; 24 October 1906 – 7 November 1968) was a Soviet mathematician. Gelfond's theorem, also known as the Gelfond-Schneider theorem is named after hi ...
, mathematician * Semyon Aranovich Gershgorin, mathematician *
Victor Kac Victor Gershevich (Grigorievich) Kac (russian: link=no, Виктор Гершевич (Григорьевич) Кац; born 19 December 1943) is a Soviet and American mathematician at MIT, known for his work in representation theory. He co-disc ...
, mathematician *
David Kazhdan David Kazhdan ( he, דוד קשדן), born Dmitry Aleksandrovich Kazhdan (russian: Дми́трий Александро́вич Кажда́н), is a Soviet and Israeli mathematician known for work in representation theory. Kazhdan is a 1990 Ma ...
, mathematician * Aleksandr Khinchin, mathematician * Mark Krasnoselsky, mathematician *
Mark Krein Mark Grigorievich Krein ( uk, Марко́ Григо́рович Крейн, russian: Марк Григо́рьевич Крейн; 3 April 1907 – 17 October 1989) was a Soviet mathematician, one of the major figures of the Soviet school of fu ...
, mathematician, *
Alexander Kronrod Aleksandr Semyonovich Kronrod (russian: Алекса́ндр Семёнович Кронро́д; October 22, 1921 – October 6, 1986) was a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist, best known for the Gauss–Kronrod quadrature formula wh ...
, mathematician * Yevgeniy Landis, mathematician *
Solomon Lefschetz Solomon Lefschetz (russian: Соломо́н Ле́фшец; 3 September 1884 – 5 October 1972) was an American mathematician who did fundamental work on algebraic topology, its applications to algebraic geometry, and the theory of non-linear o ...
, mathematician *
Vladimir Levenshtein Vladimir Iosifovich Levenshtein ( rus, Влади́мир Ио́сифович Левенште́йн, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈosʲɪfəvʲɪtɕ lʲɪvʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, a=Ru-Vladimir Iosifovich Levenstein.oga; 20 May 1935 – 6 September 2017) was a ...
, mathematician *
Leonid Levin Leonid Anatolievich Levin ( ; russian: Леони́д Анато́льевич Ле́вин; uk, Леоні́д Анато́лійович Ле́він; born November 2, 1948) is a Soviet-American mathematician and computer scientist. He is kn ...
, mathematician, computational complexity theory * Jacob Levitzki, Ukrainian-Israeli mathematician *
Grigory Margulis Grigory Aleksandrovich Margulis (russian: Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Маргу́лис, first name often given as Gregory, Grigori or Gregori; born February 24, 1946) is a Russian-American mathematician known for his work o ...
, mathematician,
Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award h ...
(1978) *
David Milman David Pinhusovich Milman (russian: Дави́д Пи́нхусович Ми́льман; 15 January 1912, Chechelnyk near Vinnytsia – 12 July 1982, Tel Aviv) was a Soviet and later Israeli mathematician specializing in functional analysis. ...
, mathematician *
Hermann Minkowski Hermann Minkowski (; ; 22 June 1864 – 12 January 1909) was a German mathematician and professor at Königsberg, Zürich and Göttingen. He created and developed the geometry of numbers and used geometrical methods to solve problems in number t ...
, mathematician * Mark Naimark, mathematician *
Grigori Perelman Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman ( rus, links=no, Григорий Яковлевич Перельман, p=ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪtɕ pʲɪrʲɪlʲˈman, a=Ru-Grigori Yakovlevich Perelman.oga; born 13 June 1966) is a Russian mathemati ...
, mathematician * Vladimir Rokhlin, mathematician * Jakob Rosanes, mathematician *
Lev Schnirelmann Lev Genrikhovich Schnirelmann (also Shnirelman, Shnirel'man; ; 2 January 1905 – 24 September 1938) was a Soviet mathematician who worked on number theory, topology and differential geometry. Work Schnirelmann sought to prove Goldbach's conjec ...
, mathematician * Zvi Hermann Schapira, mathematician *
Moses Schönfinkel Moses Ilyich Schönfinkel (russian: Моисей Исаевич Шейнфинкель, translit=Moisei Isai'evich Sheinfinkel; 29 September 1888 – 1942) was a logician and mathematician, known for the invention of combinatory logic. Life Mose ...
, logician * Samuil Shatunovsky, mathematician *
Yakov G. Sinai Yakov Grigorevich Sinai (russian: link=no, Я́ков Григо́рьевич Сина́й; born September 21, 1935) is a Russian-American mathematician known for his work on dynamical systems. He contributed to the modern metric theory of dy ...
, applied mathematician * Alexander Tetelbaum, applied mathematician *
Boris Tsirelson Boris Semyonovich Tsirelson (May 4, 1950 – January 21, 2020) ( he, בוריס סמיונוביץ' צירלסון, russian: Борис Семёнович Цирельсон) was a Russian–Israeli mathematician and Professor of Mathematic ...
, mathematician *
Pavel Urysohn Pavel Samuilovich Urysohn () (February 3, 1898 – August 17, 1924) was a Soviet mathematician who is best known for his contributions in dimension theory, and for developing Urysohn's metrization theorem and Urysohn's lemma, both of which ar ...
, mathematician *
Boris Weisfeiler Boris Weisfeiler (born 19 April 1941 – disappeared 4-5 January 1985) was a Soviet-born mathematician and professor at Penn State University who lived in the United States before disappearing in Chile in 1985. Declassified US documents sugges ...
, mathematician * Victor Zalgaller, mathematician *
Oscar Zariski , birth_date = , birth_place = Kobrin, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = Brookline, Massachusetts, United States , nationality = American , field = Mathematics , work_institutions = ...
, mathematician *
Efim Zelmanov Efim Isaakovich Zelmanov (russian: Ефи́м Исаа́кович Зе́льманов; born 7 September 1955 in Khabarovsk) is a Russian-American mathematician, known for his work on combinatorial problems in nonassociative algebra and group th ...
, mathematician,
Fields Medal The Fields Medal is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age at the International Congress of the International Mathematical Union (IMU), a meeting that takes place every four years. The name of the award h ...
(1994)


Social scientists and philosophers

*
Urie Bronfenbrenner Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American psychologist who is most known for his ecological systems theory.Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979).The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University ...
, developmental psychologist *
Solomon Buber Solomon (or Salomon) Buber (2 February 1827 – 28 December 1906) was a Jewish Galician scholar and editor of Hebrew works. He is especially remembered for his editions of Midrash and other medieval Jewish manuscripts, and for the pioneering res ...
, Hebraist *
Ariel Durant Ariel Durant (; May 10, 1898 – October 25, 1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and writer. She was the coauthor of '' The Story of Civilization'' with her husband, Will Durant. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fi ...
, historian * Boris Eichenbaum, historian * Mikhail Epstein, literary theorist * Moshe Feldenkrais, inventor of the
Feldenkrais method The Feldenkrais Method is a type of exercise therapy devised by Israeli Moshé Feldenkrais (1904–1984) during the mid-20th century. Participants are led through varied patterns of body movement, either hands-on or verbally guided, with the ai ...
*
Alexander Gerschenkron Alexander Gerschenkron (russian: Александр Гершенкрон; 1 October 1904 – 26 October 1978) was a Russian-born American economic historian and professor at Harvard University, trained in the Austrian School of economics. Born ...
, economic historian * Jean Gottmann, geographer *
Lazar Gulkowitsch Lazar Gulkowitsch (russian: Лазарь Гулькович; 20 December 1898 – July 1941), also Gulkovich or Gulkowicz; was an eminent Estonian Jewish Studies scholar. He was killed by the Nazis in the summer of 1941. Life Born in Zirin, Mi ...
, Jewish Studies scholar *
Abraham Harkavy Abraham (Albert) Harkavy (, russian: Авраа́м Я́ковлевич Гарка́ви, translit=Avraám Yákovlevich Garkávi; 17 October 1835 – 15 March 1919) was a Russian historian and orientalist. Biography Harkavy was born in 1835 ...
, historian *
Zellig Harris Zellig Sabbettai Harris (; October 23, 1909 – May 22, 1992) was an influential American linguistics, linguist, mathematical syntactician, and methodologist of science. Originally a Semitic languages, Semiticist, he is best known for his work i ...
, linguist *
Roman Jakobson Roman Osipovich Jakobson (russian: Рома́н О́сипович Якобсо́н; October 11, 1896Kucera, Henry. 1983. "Roman Jakobson." ''Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America'' 59(4): 871–883. – July 18,Naum Krasner, economist *
Leonid Hurwicz Leonid Hurwicz (; August 21, 1917 – June 24, 2008) was a Polish-American economist and mathematician, known for his work in game theory and mechanism design. He originated the concept of incentive compatibility, and showed how desired outcome ...
, economist, Nobel Prize (2007) *
Simon Kuznets Simon Smith Kuznets (; rus, Семён Абра́мович Кузне́ц, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn ɐˈbraməvʲɪtɕ kʊzʲˈnʲɛts; April 30, 1901 – July 8, 1985) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1971 Nobel Memorial Pr ...
, economist, Nobel Prize (1971) * Juri Lotman, prominent semiotician and historian of culture *
Seymour Lubetzky Seymour Lubetzky (April 28, 1898 – April 5, 2003) was a major cataloging theorist and a prominent librarian. Biography Born in the Russian Empire as Shmaryahu Lubetzky, he worked for years at the Library of Congress. He worked as a teacher befo ...
, cataloging theorist * Jacob Marschak, economist *
Alexander Luria Alexander Romanovich Luria (russian: Алекса́ндр Рома́нович Лу́рия, p=ˈlurʲɪjə; 16 July 1902 – 14 August 1977) was a Soviet neuropsychologist, often credited as a father of modern neuropsychology. He develope ...
, neuropsychologist *
Alexander Nove Alexander Nove, FRSE, FBA (born Aleksandr Yakovlevich Novakovsky; russian: Алекса́ндр Я́ковлевич Новако́вский; also published under Alec Nove; 24 November 1915 – 15 May 1994) was a Professor of Economics at the ...
, economist * Jacob Rabinow, inventor *
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
, philosopher *
Anatol Rapoport Anatol Rapoport ( uk, Анатолій Борисович Рапопо́рт; russian: Анато́лий Бори́сович Рапопо́рт; May 22, 1911January 20, 2007) was an American mathematical psychologist. He contributed to genera ...
, game theorist *
Dietmar Rosenthal Dietmar Elyashevich Rosenthal ( rus, Ди́тмар Элья́шевич Розента́ль, p=) was a Russian Linguistics, linguist. Rosenthal created several Russian-Italian Dictionary, dictionaries and also translated the works of Italian w ...
, linguist * Leonid Roshal, pediatrician, negotiator * Isaak Russman, historian *
Max Seligsohn Max Seligsohn (April 13, 1865 – April 11, 1923 Manhattan) was an American Orientalist, born in Imperial Russia. Having received his rabbinical training at Slutsk, government ('' guberniya'') of Minsk, he went in 1888 to New York City, where he s ...
, Orientalist *
Lev Shestov Lev Isaakovich Shestov (russian: Лев Исаа́кович Шесто́в; 31 January .S. 13 February 1866 – 19 November 1938), born Yehuda Leib Shvartsman (russian: Иегуда Лейб Шварцман), was a Russian existentialist and r ...
, philosopher * Elye Spivak, linguist


Medical scientists and physicians

* Isaac Andreyevich Chatzkin, physician * Yevsey Gindes, pediatrician * Gavriil Ilizarov, orthopaedic surgeon *
Isaac Trachtenberg Isaac Mykhailovych Trachtenberg (11 November 1923 – 27 January 2023) was a Ukrainian hygienist, Professor, MD, a corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1992), academician of the Bogomolets National Medical Unive ...
, hygienist


Cultural figures


Fine artists

* Michael Matusevitch (1929–2007), painter * Eugene Abeshaus, painter * Meer Akselrod, painter * Benish Mininberg, painter *
Nathan Altman Nathan Isaiovych Altman (Ukrainian: , transliterated: ''Natan Isaiovych Altman''; – December 12, 1970) was a Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian artist, Cubist painter, stage designer and book illustrator. Early life He was born in Vinnytsia, i ...
, painter and stage designer from Vinnytsia *
Boris Anisfeld Boris Izrailevich Anisfeld (1878–1973) was a Russian-American painter and theater designer. Biography 1878 - October 2. Boris Izrailevich (Srulevich) Anisfeld is born in Bieltsy, in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present ...
, painter, theatre *
Mark Antokolsky Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky (russian: Марк Матве́евич Антоко́льский; 2 November 18409 July 1902) was a Russian Imperial sculptor of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Biography Mordukh Matysovich Antokolsky''Boris Schatz: The ...
, sculptor *
Boris Aronson Boris Aronson (October 15, 1898 – November 16, 1980) was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career. Biography The son of a Rabbi, Aronson was born in Ki ...
, painter and designer * Isaak Asknaziy, painter *
Mordechai Avniel Mordechai Avniel (1900–1989), variant name Mordecai Avniel, was an Israeli painter, sculptor and lawyer. Biography Mordecai Dickstein (later Avniel) was born in 1900 in Parychy, in the Minsk Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day ...
, painter *
Léon Bakst Léon Bakst (russian: Леон (Лев) Николаевич Бакст, Leon (Lev) Nikolaevich Bakst) – born as Leyb-Khaim Izrailevich (later Samoylovich) Rosenberg, Лейб-Хаим Израилевич (Самойлович) Розенбе ...
, painter and costume designer * Abraham Berline, painter * Eugène Berman, painter *
Leonid Berman Eugène Berman (russian: Евгений Густавович Берман, links=no; 4 November 1899, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 14 December 1972, Rome) and his brother Leonid Berman (1896 – 1976) were Russian Neo-romantic painters and thea ...
, painter *
Mikhail Bernshtein Mikhail Davidovich Bernshtein (russian: Михаил Давидович Бернштейн) (January 28, 1875, Rostov-on-Don – May 9, 1960, Leningrad) was a Soviet painter and art educator, who lived and worked in Leningrad, a member of the ...
, painter * Isaak Brodskiy, painter *
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
, painter from
Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...
*
Bella Chagall Bella Rosenfeld Chagall (russian: link=no, Бэлла Розенфельд-Шагал, 15 November 1895, Vitebsk – 2 September 1944, New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. ...
, wife of
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
* Joseph Chaikov, sculptor *
Ilya Chashnik Ilya Grigorevich Chashnik (1902, Lucyn, Russian Empire, currently Ludza, Latvia - 1929, Leningrad) was a suprematist artist, a pupil of Kazimir Malevich and a founding member of the UNOVIS school. Biography Chashnik was born to a Jewish family in ...
, painter *
Nudie Cohn Nuta Kotlyarenko ( uk, Нута Котляренко; December 15, 1902 – May 9, 1984), known professionally as Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other e ...
, fashion designer *
Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...
, painter *
Robert Falk Robert Rafailovich Falk (russian: Роберт Рафаилович Фальк, October 15, 1886 - October 1, 1958) was a painter. Biography Falk was born in Moscow in 1886. In 1903 to 1904 he studied art in the studios of Konstantin Yuon and ...
, painter *
Naum Gabo Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner (23 August 1977) (Hebrew: נחום נחמיה פבזנר), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century scul ...
, sculptor * Moisei Ginzburg, architect * Michail Grobman, painter *
Michel Kikoine Michel Kikoïne ( be, Міхаіл Кікоін; russian: Михаил Кико́ин, ''Michail Kikóin''; 31 May 1892 – 4 November 1968) was a Lithuanian Jewish-French painter. Life Kikoine was born in Rechytsa, present-day Belarus. The ...
, painter *
Boris Iofan Boris Mikhailovich Iofan ( rus, Борис Михайлович Иофан, p=ɪɐˈfan; April 28, 1891 – March 11, 1976) was a Soviet architect of Jewish origin, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like 1931 House on the Embankment a ...
, architect *
Ilya Kabakov Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov (Russian: Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в; born September 30, 1933), is a Russian–American conceptual artist, born in Dnipropetrovsk in what was then the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. He worked f ...
, conceptual artist (Jewish father) *
Komar and Melamid Komar and Melamid (pronunciation: ''Kómar and Melamíd'') is a tandem team of Russian-born American conceptualist artists Vitaly Komar (born 1943) and Alexander Melamid (born 1945). In an artists' statement they said that "even if only one of us ...
, art-duo * Jacob Kramer, painter *
Pinchus Kremegne Pinchus Krémègne, aka Pinchus Kremegne ( he, פנחס קרמין; russian: Пинхус Кремень; 28 July 1890 – 5 April 1981), was a Lithuanian Jewish-French artist, primarily known as a sculptor, painter and lithographer. He was ...
, painter * , painter *
Morris Lapidus Morris Lapidus (November 25, 1902 – January 18, 2001) was an architect, primarily known for his Neo-baroque "Miami Modern" hotels constructed in the 1950s and 60s, which have since come to define that era's resort-hotel style, synonymous w ...
, architect *
Felix Lembersky Felix Samoilovich Lembersky (russian: link=no, Феликс Самойлович Лемберский) (November 11, 1913 – December 2, 1970) was a Ukrainian/Soviet painter, artist, teacher, theater stage designer and an organizer of artis ...
painter *
Isaac Levitan Isaac Ilyich Levitan (russian: Исаа́к Ильи́ч Левита́н; – ) was a classical Russian landscape painter who advanced the genre of the "mood landscape". Life and work Youth Isaac Levitan was born in a shtetl of Kibarty ...
, painter *
El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...
, designer *
Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast ...
, sculptor *
Ernst Neizvestny Ernst Iosifovich Neizvestny (russian: Эрнст Ио́сифович Неизве́стный; 9 April 1925 – 9 August 2016) was a Russian sculptor, painter, graphic artist, and art philosopher. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1976 and lived and ...
, sculptor * Solomon Nikritin, painter *
Jules Olitski Jevel Demikovski (March 27, 1922 – February 4, 2007), known professionally as Jules Olitski, was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Olitski was born Jevel Demikovsky in Snovsk, in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ...
, painter *
Leonid Pasternak Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (born ''Yitzhok-Leib'', or ''Isaak Iosifovich, Pasternak''; russian: Леони́д О́сипович Пастерна́к, 3 April 1862 ( N.S.) – 31 May 1945) was a Russian post-impressionist painter. He was the f ...
, painter *
Antoine Pevsner Antoine Pevsner (12 April 1962) was a Russian-born sculptor and the older brother of Alexii Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Both Antoine and Naum are considered pioneers of twentieth-century sculpture. Biography Pevsner was born as Natan Borisovich P ...
, sculptor * Issachar Rybak, painter from
Yelizavetgrad Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast. Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name ...
* Semion Rotnitsky, painter *
David Shterenberg David Petrovich Shterenberg (russian: Давид Петрович Штеренберг; Zhitomir – May 1, 1948 Moscow) was a Ukrainian-born Russian Soviet painter and graphic artist. Life Born to a Jewish family in Zhitomir, Ukraine, Shterenb ...
, painter from
Zhitomir Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...
*
Chaïm Soutine Chaïm Soutine (13 January 1893 – 9 August 1943) was a Belarusian painter who made a major contribution to the expressionist movement while living and working in Paris. Inspired by classic painting in the European tradition, exemplified by the ...
, painter from
Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...
*
Raphael Soyer Raphael Zalman Soyer (December 25, 1899 – November 4, 1987) was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men ...
, American painter * Alexander Tetelbaum, Russian-American painter * Israel Tsvaygenbaum, Russian-American painter * Joseph Tepper, painter * Vladimir Weisberg, painter * Josephinne Yaroshevich, painter *
Lazar Yazgur Lazar Semionovich Yazgur (russian: Ла́зарь Семё́нович Язгу́р; June 7, 1928, Leningrad, USSR – 2000, Israel) was a Soviet, Russian Jewish realist painter, who lived and worked in Leningrad, a member of the Saint Peter ...
, painter *
Valentin Yudashkin Valentin Abramovich Yudashkin (russian: Валентин Абрамович Юдашкин; born October 14, 1963) is a Russian fashion designer. Career Born in Moscow Oblast, Yudashkin came to prominence during the 1980s, dressing Raisa Gorb ...
, fashion designer *
Ossip Zadkine Ossip Zadkine (russian: Осип Цадкин; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Belarusian-born French artist. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born on ...
, sculptor (Jewish father) * Saveliy Moiseyevich Zeydenberg, painter


Musicians

* Sophia Agranovich, pianist *
Leonid Agutin Leonid Nikolayevich Agutin (russian: link=no, Леонид Николаевич Агутин; born July 16, 1968) is a Russian pop musician and songwriter, Meritorious Artist of Russia (2008). He has been active since the 1990s. He has released te ...
, singer-songwriter *
Joseph Achron Joseph Yulyevich Achron, also seen as Akhron (Russian: Иосиф Юльевич Ахрон, Hebrew: יוסף אחרון) (May 1, 1886April 29, 1943) was a Russian-born Jewish composer and violinist, who settled in the United States. His preocc ...
, composer *
Modest Altschuler Modest (Moisei Isaacovich) Altschuler (February 15, 1873September 12, 1963) was a cellist, orchestral conductor, and composer.Leonard Slatkin, ''Conducting Business: Unveiling the Mystery Behind the Maestro'' (2012), Amadeus Press, p. 32. . Acces ...
, cellist, conductor, and composer *
Lera Auerbach Lera Auerbach (russian: Лера Авербах, born Valeria Lvovna Averbakh, russian: Валерия Львовна Авербах; October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born American classical composer and concert pianist.
, composer/pianist * Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (Jewish father) *
Nina Brodskaya Nina Brodskaya (russian: Ни́на Алекса́ндровна Бро́дская; born 11 December 1947 or 1949, Moscow) is a Soviet singer (soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of ...
, singer *
Yefim Bronfman Yefim "Fima" Naumovich Bronfman (russian: Ефим Наумович Бронфман; born April 10, 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist. Biography Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. H ...
, pianist * Simon Barere, pianist *
Rudolf Barshai Rudolf Borisovich Barshai (russian: Рудольф Борисович Баршай, link=no, September 28, 1924November 2, 2010) was a Soviet and Russian conductor and violist. Life Barshai was born on September 28, 1924, in Stanitsa Labinskay ...
, conductor * Dimitri Bashkirow, pianist *
Yuri Bashmet Yuri Abramovich Bashmet (russian: link=no, Юрий Абрамович Башмет; born 24 January 1953) is a Russian conductor, violinist, and violist. Biography Yuri Bashmet was born on 24 January 1953 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of A ...
, violist *
Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...
composer and lyricist *
Lazar Berman Lazar Naumovich Berman (russian: Ла́зарь Нау́мович Бе́рман, ''Lazarʹ Naumovič Berman''; February 26, 1930February 6, 2005) was a Soviet Russian classical pianist, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1988). He was hailed for a ...
, pianist * Mark Bernes, singer and actor *
Matvei Blanter Matvey Isaakovich Blanter (russian: Матве́й Исаа́кович Бла́нтер) (27 September 1990) was a Soviet composer, and one of the most prominent composers of popular songs and film music in the Soviet Union. Among many other work ...
, composer, author of Katyusha * Shura Cherkassky, pianist *
Vladimir Dashkevich Vladimir Sergeevich Dashkevich (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Дашкевич) (born 20 January 1934) is a Russian composer, known mainly for his film music. Originally, he studied chemical technology at Moscow State University o ...
, composer, wrote music for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson *
Bella Davidovich Bella Mikhaylovna Davidovich (Бэлла Миха́йловна Давидо́вич; born July 16, 1928) is a Soviet-born American pianist. Biography Davidovich was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, into a Jewish family of musicians and began studyi ...
, pianist * Issay Dobrowen, pianist and composer *
Larisa Dolina Larisa Aleksandrovna Dolina (russian: link=no, Лариса Александровна Долина, , née Kudelman, Кудельман, formerly Mionchinskaya, Миончинская; born 10 September 1955) is an Azerbaijani-born prominent Rus ...
, singer *
Isaak Dunayevsky Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operet ...
, composer *
Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (russian: Михаил Саулович Эльман; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-born American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. E ...
, violinist * Mark Ermler, conductor m I * Anthony Fedorov, singer, ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...
'' finalist *
Samuil Feinberg Samuil Yevgenyevich Feinberg (russian: Самуи́л Евге́ньевич Фе́йнберг, also Samuel; 26 May 1890, Odessa – 22 October 1962, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist. Biography Born in Odessa, Feinberg ...
, composer * Mikhaïl Faerman, pianist * Vladimir Feltsman, pianist *
Veniamin Fleishman Veniamin Iosifovich Fleishman, (russian: Вениами́н Ио́сифович Фле́йшман, July 20, 1913 in Bezhetsk, Tver Governorate – September 14, 1941 in Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Oblast) was a Soviet composer. ''Rothschild's Vi ...
, composer *
Yakov Flier Yakov Vladimirovich Flier (russian: Я́ков Влади́мирович Флие́р; , 1912 – December 18, 1977; last name also spelled Fliere or Fliyer) was a Jewish Russian concert pianist and teacher. Flier was born in Orekhovo-Zuy ...
, pianist *
Yan Frenkel Yan Abramovich Frenkel (russian: link=no, Ян Абрамович Френкель) (November 21, 1920, Kyiv – August 25, 1989, Riga, USSR) was a popular Soviet Ukrainian composer and performer of Jewish descent. Biography Yan Frenkel was a ...
, composer *
Grigory Frid Grigory Samuilovich Frid also known as Grigori Fried (russian: Григо́рий Самуи́лович Фри́д, 22 September N.S. 1915 – 22 September 2012) was a Russian composer of music written in many different genres, including chambe ...
, songwriter * Artur Friedheim, composer *
Kirill Gerstein Kirill Gerstein (russian: Кирилл Герштейн) (born 23 October 1979) is a Russian-American concert pianist. He is the sixth recipient of the Gilmore Artist Award. Born in the former Soviet Union, Gerstein is an American citizen based in ...
, pianist *
Josef Gingold Josef Gingold (; January 11, 1995) was a Russian-born American classical violinist and teacher who lived most of his life in the United States. At the time of his death he was considered one of the most influential violin masters in the United St ...
(1909–1995) violinist * Grigory Ginsburg, pianist * Emil Gilels, pianist *
Grigory Ginzburg Grigory Romanovich Ginzburg (russian: Григо́рий Рома́нович Ги́нзбург; 29 May 1904 in Nizhny Novgorod – 5 December 1961 in Moscow) was a Soviet pianist. Biography Ginzburg first studied with his mother before being a ...
, conductor *
Mark Gorenstein Mark Borisovich Gorenstein (russian: Марк Борисович Горенштейн, born 16 September 1946) is a Russian conductor. He grew up in Odessa and studied at the conservatory in Kishinev. He later played violin in the Bolshoi The ...
, conductor * Riva Gorohovskaya, pianist *
Emil Gorovets Rahmil "Emil" Yacovlevich Gorovets (in Russian Рахмиль Яковлевич Горовец; 10 June 1923, in Haisyn, Ukraine – 17 August 2001, in New York) was a famous Soviet Ukrainian singer of Jewish origin, Gorovets standing for Horo ...
, singer *
Maria Grinberg Maria Grinberg ( Russian: Mария Израилевна Гринберг, Marija Israilevna Grinberg; September 6, 1908 – July 14, 1978) was a Russian pianist. She was born in Odessa, Russian Empire. Her father was a Hebrew scholar and her mot ...
, pianist *
Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (russian: Наталья Григорьевна Гутман) (born 14 November 1942 in Kazan), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted t ...
, cellist *
Tamara Gverdtsiteli Tamara Mikhailovna Gverdtsiteli ( ka, თამარ გვერდწითელი}, russian: Тамара Михайловна Гвердцители; born 18 January 1962) is a Georgian-Russian singer and actress. Early life and educati ...
, singer *
Jascha Heifetz Jascha Heifetz (; December 10, 1987) was a Russian-born American violinist. Born in Vilnius, he moved while still a teenager to the United States, where his Carnegie Hall debut was rapturously received. He was a virtuoso since childhood. Fritz ...
, violinist * Mordechai Hershman, chazzan *
Jascha Horenstein Jascha Horenstein (russian: Яша Горенштейн;  – 2 April 1973) was an American conductor. Biography Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother (Marie Ettinger) came f ...
, conductor *
Vladimir Horowitz Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz; yi, וולאַדימיר סאַמוילאָוויטש האָראָוויץ, group=n (November 5, 1989)Schonberg, 1992 was a Russian-born American classical pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of al ...
, pianist *
Aleksey Igudesman Aleksey Mikhailovich Igudesman (russian: Алексей Михайлович Игу́десман, link=no; born 22 February 1973) is a Russian-German violinist, composer, conductor, comedian and actor. He performs in the comedy-musical duo Igude ...
, violinist *
Oleg Kagan Oleg Moiseyevich Kagan (Russian: Оле́г Моисе́евич Кага́н; 22 November 1946 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian SFSR – 15 July 1990, Munich, West Germany) was a Soviet violinist, known for his chamber collaborations with such mus ...
, violinist *
Ilya Kaler Ilya Kaler (born June 2, 1963) is a Russian-born violinist. Born and educated in Moscow, Kaler is the only person to have won Gold Medals at all three of the International Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1986); the Sibelius (Helsinki, 1985); ...
, violinist *
Tina Karol , native_name_lang = uk , birth_name = Tetiana Hryhorivna Liberman , birth_date = , birth_place = Orotukan, Russian SFSR, USSR , alma_mater = R. Glier Kyiv Institute of Music National Aviation University , ...
, singer *
Boris Khaykin Boris Emmanuilovich Khaikin (russian: Борис Эммануилович Хайкин; be, Барыс Эмануілавіч Хайкін; – 10 May 1978) was a Soviet and Russian conductor who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 197 ...
, conductor *
Evgeny Kissin Evgeny Igorevich Kissin (russian: link=no, Евге́ний И́горевич Ки́син, translit=Evgénij Ígorevič Kísin, yi, link=no, יעווגעני קיסין, translit=Yevgeni Kisin; born 10 October 1971) is a Russian concert piani ...
, pianist *
Alexander Knaifel Alexander Aronovich Knaifel (russian: Алекса́ндр Аро́нович Кна́йфель; also ''Knayfel'', ''Knayfel'', or ''Kneifel''; born 28 November 1943 in Tashkent, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Uzbekistan) is a Russian compos ...
, composer *
Joseph Kobzon Iosif (Joseph) Davydovich Kobzon (russian: link=no, Ио́сиф Давы́дович Кобзо́н; 11 September 1937 – 30 August 2018) was a Russian singer, known for his crooner style. Early life Kobzon was born to Jewish parents in th ...
, singer *
Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (russian: Леони́д Бори́сович Ко́ган; uk, Леонід Борисович Коган; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider ...
, violinist * Mikhail Kopelman, violinist *
Yakov Kreizberg Yakov Kreizberg (russian: Яков Крейцберг; born Yakov Mayevich Bychkov, 24 October 1959 – 15 March 2011) was a Russian-born American conductor. Early years In the Soviet Union Yakov Bychkov was born in Leningrad into a family ...
, conductor *
Maya Kristalinskaya Maya Vladimirovna Kristalinskaya (russian: Ма́йя Влади́мировна Кристали́нская, links=no; 24 February 1932, Moscow – 19 June 1985, Moscow) was a Soviet-Russian singer. In 1957 she performed at the 6th World Festiv ...
, singer *
Igor Krutoy Igor Yakovlevich Krutoy (russian: Игорь Яковлевич Крутой) or Ihor Yakovych Krutyi ( uk, Ігор Якович Крутий, born on July 29, 1954), is a Ukrainian and Russian music composer, performer, producer and musical p ...
, composer, pianist *
Josef Lhévinne Josef Lhévinne (13 December 18742 December 1944) was a Russian pianist and piano teacher. Lhévinne wrote a short book in 1924 that is considered a classic: ''Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing''. Asked how to say his name, he told ''The L ...
, pianist * Alexander Lokshin, composer (Jewish father) *
Arthur Lourié Arthur-Vincent Lourié, born ''Naum Izrailevich Luria'' (russian: Наум Израилевич Лурья), later changed his name to ''Artur Sergeyevich Luriye'' (russian: Артур Серге́евич Лурье) (14 May 1892 in Propoysk ...
, composer *
Andrey Makarevich Andrey Vadimovich Makarevich PAR (russian: link=no, Андре́й Вади́мович Макаре́вич; born 11 December 1953 in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian rock musician and the founder of Russia's oldest ...
, singer-songwriter *
Oleg Maisenberg Oleg Maisenberg (born 29 April 1945) is a Soviet-Austrian pianist and teacher. Early life and career Born to a Jewish family in Odessa, Oleg Maisenberg received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of five. He completed his studie ...
, pianist *
Samuel Maykapar Samuel Moiseyevich Maykapar () (18 December 18678 May 1938) was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of a number of piano practice pieces. Life Childhood Samuel Maykapar was bo ...
, composer/pianist *
Nathan Milstein Nathan Mironovich Milstein ( – December 21, 1992) was a Russian-born American virtuoso violinist. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Milstein was known for his interpretations of Bach's solo violin works and ...
, violinist * Lolita Milyavskaya, singer (Jewish father) *
Shlomo Mintz Shlomo Mintz (Hebrew: שלמה מינץ) (born 30 October 1957) is an Israeli violin virtuoso, violinist and conductor. He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music conc ...
, violinist *
Boris Moiseev Boris Mikhailovich Moiseev (russian: link=no, Бори́с Миха́йлович Моисе́ев; 4 March 1954 – 27 September 2022) was a Soviet and Russian singer, choreographer, dancer, writer, actor, head of a dance group, and author of ...
, dancer, showmaker *
Benno Moiseiwitsch Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE (22 February 18909 April 1963) was a Russian-born British pianist. Biography Moiseiwitsch was born to Jewish parents in Odessa, Russian Empire (today part of Ukraine), and began his studies at age seven with Dmitry Klim ...
, pianist *
Larisa Mondrus Larisa Izrailevna Mondrus ( lv, Larisa Mondrusa, russian: Лари́са Изра́илевна Мо́ндрус, german: Larissa Mondrus; born 15 November 1943) is a Soviet singer (soprano), who was popular in the USSR in the 1960s. In 1973 she em ...
, singer * Alexander Mordukhovich, composer *
Vadim Mulerman Vadim Iosifovich Mulerman (russian: Вади́м Ио́сифович Мулерма́н; 18 August 1938 – 2 May 2018) was a Soviet, Ukrainian and American singer (baritone). He was awarded the titles of Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1978) ...
, singer *
David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974), was a Soviet classical violinist, violist and conductor. Oistrakh collaborated with major orchestras and musicians from many parts of the world and was the dedicatee of numerous violin ...
, violinist * Igor Oistrakh, violinist (Jewish father) *
Leo Ornstein Leo Ornstein (born ''Лев Орнштейн'', ''Lev Ornshteyn''; – February 24, 2002) was an American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative ...
, composer * Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist *
Pokrass brothers The Pokrass brothers were Soviet composing siblings: * Dmitry Pokrass (1899–1978) * (1905–1954) — the youngest brother, Soviet musician * Samuel Pokrass (1897–1939) — the elder brother; emigrated to the United States in 1920s Dmitry wa ...
, composers * Mikhael Rauchverger, pianist and composer *
Viktor Reznikov Viktor Mikhailovich Reznikov (russian: link=no, Ви́ктор Михайлович Ре́зников; 9 May 1952 in Leningrad – 25 February 1992 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Soviet composer, lyricist and singer. He was mostly known ...
, composer, singer *
Alexander Rosenbaum Alexander Yakovlevich Rosenbaum PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Яковлевич Розенбаум, ''Aleksandr Jakovlevič Rozenbaum'') (born September 13, 1951) is a Russian bard from Saint Petersburg. Graduated from the First ...
, singer-songwriter *
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...
, pianist/composer *
Nikolai Rubinstein Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (russian: Николай Григорьевич Рубинштейн; – ) was a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...
, pianist/composer *
Samuil Samosud Samuil Abramovich Samosud (russian: Самуи́л Абра́мович Самосу́д) (Tbilisi, Georgia, — Moscow, 6 November 1964), PAU, was a Soviet and Russian conductor. He started his musical career as a cellist, before becoming ...
, conductor *
Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...
, composer (Jewish father) * Eduard Schmieder, conductor *
Joseph Schillinger Joseph Moiseyevich Schillinger ( Russian: Иосиф Моисеевич Шиллингер, (other sources: ) – 23 March 1943) was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher who originated the Schillinger System of Musical Compositio ...
, composer, music theorist, and composition teacher *
Vladimir Shainsky Vladimir Yakovlevich Shainsky ( rus, Владимир Яковлевич Шаинский, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ʂɐˈinskʲɪj; 12 December 1925 – 25 December 2017) was a Soviet and Russian composer. He was a recipient of the People's Artist ...
, composer *
Daniil Shafran Daniil Borisovich Shafran (russian: Даниил Борисович Шафран, January 13, 1923February 7, 1997) was a Soviet Union, Soviet Russian cello, cellist. Biography Early years Daniil Shafran was born in Saint Petersburg, Petrograd (l ...
, cellist * Mihail Shufutinskiy, singer, music producer * Leo Sirota, pianist *
Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...
, singer-songwriter and pianist *
Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern came to the US when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and ...
, violinist * Yevgeny Sudbin, pianist * Mikhail Tanich, songwriter *
Alexander Tsfasman Alexander Naumovich Tsfasman (russian: Александр Наумович Цфасман; born December 14, 1906 - died February 20, 1971) was a Soviet Jazz pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, publisher and activist. He was an important figu ...
, jazz pianist, composer, conductor, arranger *
Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...
, singer *
Lyubov Uspenskaya Lyubov Zalmanovna Uspenskaya (Russian: Любо́вь За́лмановна Успе́нская; born Sitsker (Си́цкер); 24 February 1954) is a Soviet, Russian and American performer of Russian popular music, much of which is the s ...
, singer *
Leonid Utyosov Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utiosov (russian: link=no, Леонид Осипович Утёсов, uk, link=no, Леонід Йосипович Утьосов); real name Lazar (Leyzer) Iosifovich Vaysbeyn or Weissbein ()) (, Odesa – 9 March ...
, singer and actor * Anzhelika Varum, singer
Aida Vedishcheva Aida Semyonovna Vedishcheva (russian: Аида Семёновна Ведищева, born Ida Solomonovna Weiss, russian: Ида Соломоновна Вайс, 10 June 1941) is a Soviet and American singer. In the 1960s, she contributed songs ...
, singer *
Maxim Vengerov Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov (russian: Максим Александрович Венгеров, , mɐkˈsʲim ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ vʲɪnˈɡʲerəf; he, מקסים ונגרוב; born 20 August 1974) is a Russian-born Israeli violinist, ...
, violinist * Alexander Veprik, composer *
Maria Yudina Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
, pianist *
Yakov Zak Yakov Izrailevich Zak ( uk, Яків Ізраїлович Зак), (russian: link=no, Яков Израилевич Зак), ''Jiakov Israilevič Sak''; Odessa, – Moscow, 28 June 1976) was a Soviet and Russian pianist and pedagogue. People's Ar ...
, pianist * Inna Zhvanetskaya, composer *
Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. ( – February 22, 1985) was a concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was born on April 9, 1888, O. S., equivalent to April 21, 1889, in the Greg ...
, Russian-born American violinist


Performing artists

*
Jacob Adler Jacob Pavlovich Adler (Yiddish: יעקבֿ פּאַװלאָװיטש אַדלער; born Yankev P. Adler; February 12, 1855 – April 1, 1926)IMDB biography was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and ...
, actor * Anatoly Adoskin, actor (Jewish father) *
Alexander Alov Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Alov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович А́лов) (September 26, 1923  – June 12, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter, he was granted the honorary title of People's Artist ...
, film director and screenwriter *
Lev Arnshtam Lev Oskarovich Arnshtam (russian: Лео Оскарович Арншта́м; 15 January 1905 – 26 December 1979) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed nine films between 1936 and 1967. Arnshtam was named People’s Artist ...
, film director * Dmitry Astrakhan, film director and actor * Abram Avdalimov, stage actor and theatre director * Leonid Bronevoy, actor *
Elina Bystritskaya Elina Avraamovna Bystritskaya (4 April 1928 – 26 April 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress and theater pedagogue. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses in the Soviet and Russian film industry. Her career spann ...
, actress *
Grigori Chukhrai Grigory Naumovich Chukhray (russian: Григо́рий Нау́мович Чухра́й; uk, Григорiй Наумович Чухрай; 23 May 1921 – 28 October 2001) was a Ukrainian Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. ...
, film director and screenwriter, father of
Pavel Chukhrai Pavel Grigoryevich Chukhray (russian: Па́вел Григо́рьевич Чухра́й; Bykovo, Moscow Oblast, October 14, 1946) is a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He is the son of the prominent Russian film directo ...
*
Pavel Chukhrai Pavel Grigoryevich Chukhray (russian: Па́вел Григо́рьевич Чухра́й; Bykovo, Moscow Oblast, October 14, 1946) is a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He is the son of the prominent Russian film directo ...
, film director and screenwriter, son of
Grigori Chukhrai Grigory Naumovich Chukhray (russian: Григо́рий Нау́мович Чухра́й; uk, Григорiй Наумович Чухрай; 23 May 1921 – 28 October 2001) was a Ukrainian Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. ...
* Maya Deren, filmmaker * Lev Dodin, theater director * Mark Donskoi, film director * Aleksandr Druz, longest-running contestant on the
What? Where? When? ''What? Where? When?'' (russian: Что? Где? Когда?, translit. ''Chto? Gde? Kogda?'') is an intellectual game show well known in Russian-language media and other CIS states since the mid-1970s. Today it is produced for televisio ...
game show. "Magister of the Game" * Boris Efimov, cartoonist *
Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
, film director (Jewish father) *
Fridrikh Ermler Fridrikh Markovich Ermler (russian: Эрмлер, Фридрих Маркович; born Vladimir Markovich Breslav; 13 May 1898 in Rēzekne – 12 July 1967 in Leningrad) was a Soviet film director, actor, and screenwriter. He was a four-tim ...
, film director, actor, and screenwriter *
Vladimir Etush Vladimir Abramovich Etush (russian: Влади́мир Абра́мович Э́туш; 6 May 1922 – 9 March 2019) was a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor of Jewish descent. People's Artist of the USSR (1984). Personal life Etush was ...
, actor *
Semyon Farada Semyon Lyvovich Ferdman PAR, better known by his stage name Semyon Farada (russian: Семён Львович Фердман, Семён Фарада, born December 31, 1933, Nikolskoye village of Moscow Oblast, USSR — died August 20, 2009 in Mo ...
, actor *
Aleksandr Faintsimmer Aleksandr Mikhailovich Faintsimmer (Feinzimmer, russian: Александр Михайлович Файнциммер; 31 December 1906 – 21 March 1982) was a Soviet film director. He has been cited as a filmmaker on the forefront of Russi ...
, cinematographer *
Maxim Galkin Maxim Alexandrovich Galkin (russian: Максим Алeксандpoвич Галкин; born 18 June 1976) is a Russian comedian, television presenter and singer. Galkin left Russia in March 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was ...
, comedian *
Valentin Gaft Valentin Iosifovich Gaft (russian: Валенти́н Ио́сифович Гафт; 2 September 1935 – 12 December 2020) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was People's Artist of the RSFSR (1984). Biography Early life and education Gaft was ...
, actor *
Oleg Gazmanov Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...
, singer *
Zinovy Gerdt Zinovy Yefimovich Gerdt (russian: Зино́вий Ефи́мович Гердт, which is a pseudonym, his real name being Zalman Afroimovich Khrapinovich (За́лман Афро́имович Храпино́вич); 21 September 1916 in Sebez ...
, actor * Aleksei German, cinematographer * Vitaliy Ginzburg, director *
Alexander Goldstein Alexander Goldstein (born August 10, 1948), also credited as ''Aleksandr Goldshteyn'' and ''Aleksandr Goldstein'' in films, is a Russian–American music composer, conductor, songwriter, record producer, film producer, director, editor and is ...
, director *
Abraham Goldfaden Abraham Goldfaden (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם גאָלדפֿאַדען; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yid ...
(1840–1908), playwright and theatre director * Yuli Gusman, director * Alexander Gutman, director *
Roman Izyaev Roman Savievich Izyaev (russian: Роман Савиевич Изъяев; he, ;רומן איזאייב January 29, 1940 - April 29, 2018) was a Soviet, Russian and Israeli stage actor, artistic director, screenwriter and scenic designer of the Ju ...
, stage actor and theatre director *
Roman Abelevich Kachanov Roman Abelevich Kachanov (russian: link=no, Роман Абелевич Качанов; 25 February 19214 July 1993) was a Soviet animator who worked primarily in the stop-motion animation technique. He directed the popular series of films about C ...
, animator * Aleksei Kapler, film artist *
Roman Karmen Roman Lazarevich Karmen (real name Efraim Leyzorovich Korenman) (russian: Роман Лазаревич Кармен; – 28 April 1978) was a Soviet film director, war cinematographer, documentary filmmaker, journalist, screenwriter, pedagogue and ...
, documentary filmmaker *
Roman Kartsev Roman Andreyevich Kartsev (russian: link=no, Рома́н Андре́евич Ка́рцев, born Roman Antshelevich Katz (russian: link=no, Рома́н А́ншелевич Кац); 20 May 1939 – 2 October 2018) was a Russian entertainer of ...
, comedian * Boris Kaufman, cinematographer *
Mikhail Kaufman Mikhail Abelovich Kaufman (russian: Михаи́л А́белевич Ка́уфман; 1897 – March 11, 1980) was a Russian cinematographer and photographer. He was the younger brother of filmmaker Dziga Vertov (Denis Kaufman) and the older ...
, cinematographer* Yevgeny Khaldei, photographer *
Gennady Khazanov Gennady Viktorovich Khazanov (russian: Геннадий Викторович Хазанов; born 1 December 1945) is a Russian stand-up comedian and part-time actor. His work includes parodies of Russian and Soviet politicians, and mockery of ...
, comedian * Iosif Kheifits, film director *
Yefim Kopelyan Yefim Zakharovich Kopelyan (russian: Ефим Захарович Копелян; 12 April 1912 – 6 March 1975) was a Soviet Union, Soviet actor of theatre and cinema, one of the legendary masters of the Bolshoi Theatre of Drama (BDT) in Leni ...
, actor *
Mikhail Kozakov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kozakov (in Russian: Михаил Михайлович Козаков) (14 October 1934, Leningrad – 22 April 2011, Ramat Gan) was a Soviet, Russian and Israeli film and theatre director and actor. Biography Early life Mi ...
, actor *
Grigori Kozintsev Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (russian: link=no, Григорий Михайлович Козинцев; 11 May 1973) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 196 ...
, theater and film director *
Savely Kramarov Savely Viktorovich Kramarov (russian: Саве́лий Ви́кторович Кра́маров; 13 October 1934 – 6 June 1995) was a Soviet, Russian and American actor. He acted in at least 42 Soviet films, and later appeared in several mo ...
, actor *
Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Since ...
, actress * Yuri Levitan, radio announcer *
Anatole Litvak Anatoly Mikhailovich Litvak (russian: Анатолий Михайлович Литвак; 21 May 1902 – 15 December 1974), better known as Anatole Litvak, was a Ukrainian-born American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in vari ...
, director *
Solomon Mikhoels Solomon (Shloyme) Mikhoels ( yi, שלמה מיכאעלס lso spelled שלוימע מיכאעלס during the Soviet era russian: Cоломон (Шлойме) Михоэлс, – 13 January 1948) was a Latvian born Soviet Jewish actor and the art ...
, actor and director * Lew Milinder, actor * Andrei Mironov, actor and singer, Jewish father *
Alexander Mitta Alexander Naumovich Mitta (russian: Алекса́ндр Нау́мович Митта́; born 28 March 1933 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter and actor. Mitta's birth name was Alexander Naumovich Rabinovich (russian: ...
, film director *
Alla Nazimova Alla Nazimova (Russian: Алла Назимова; born Marem-Ides Leventon, Russian: Марем-Идес Левентон; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._May_22.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O ...
, actress *
Vladimir Naumov Vladimir Naumovich Naumov (russian: Влади́мир Нау́мович Нау́мов; 6 December 1927 – 29 November 2021) was a Russian film director and writer. Naumov was named People’s Artist of the USSR in 1983. He was a schoolmate o ...
, director *
Yuri Norstein Yuri Borisovich Norstein, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts '' Hedgehog in the Fog'' and '' Tale of Tales''. Sin ...
, animator *
Klara Novikova Klara Borisovna Novikova (russian: Клаpа Бopисoвна Нoвикoва; born Herzer (russian: Ге́рцер), December 12, 1946, Kiev) is a Soviet and Russian pop artist, humorist. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (1992), People's Art ...
(born Herzer), comedian * Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina *
Iosif Prut Iosif Leonidovich Prut russian: Прут, Иосиф Леонидович (6 November 1900 – 16 July 1996) was a Russian playwright and the first Soviet screenwriter. Prut was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of the RSFSR (1983). Biography I ...
, playwright *
Yuli Raizman Yuli Yakovlevich Raizman (russian: Юлий Яковлевич Райзман; December 15, 1903 – December 11, 1994) was a Soviet Russian film director and screenwriter. Career In 1924 he became a literary consultant for Mezhrabpom-Rus, the G ...
, film director and screenwriter * Elena Ralph, model *
Faina Ranevskaya Faina Georgievna Ranevskaya (russian: Фаина Георгиевна Раневская, born Faina Girschevna Feldman, — 19 July 1984), is recognized as one of the greatest Soviet actresses in both tragedy and comedy. She was also famous for ...
, actress *
Arkady Raikin Arkady Isaakovich Raikin (russian: Аркадий Исаакович Райкин; – 17 December 1987) was a Soviet stand-up comedian, theater and film actor, and stage director. He led the school of Soviet and Russian humorists for about hal ...
, comedian *
Konstantin Raikin Konstantin Arkadyevich Raikin (russian: Константи́н Арка́дьевич Ра́йкин; July 8, 1950, Leningrad, USSR) is a Russian actor and theatre director, the head of the Moscow Satyricon Theatre (since 1988). Konstantin Raik ...
, actor and theatre director * Mikhail Romm, film director, scriptwriter, and educator (Jewish father) *
Abram Room Abram Matveyevich Room (russian: Абрам Матвеевич Роом; 28 June 1894 in Wilno, Russian Empire (now Vilnius, Lithuania) – 26 July 1976 in Moscow) was a Russian film director. He was a People's Artist of the RSFSR and winner of the ...
, film director *
Grigori Roshal Grigori Lvovich Roshal (russian: Григорий Львович Рошаль; October 21, 1899 – January 11, 1983) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 26 films between 1926 and 1968. Biography Grigori Roshal was born on ...
, film director and screenwriter * Hanna Rovina, actress *
Ida Rubinstein Ida Lvovna Rubinstein (russian: И́да Льво́вна Рубинште́йн; – 20 September 1960) was a Russian dancer, actress, art patron and Belle Époque figure. She performed with Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from 1909 to 1911 an ...
, dancer *
Lev Shekhtman Lev Shulimovich Shekhtman (russian: Лев Шулимович Ше́хтман; born March 10, 1951) is a Russian-American theatre director and actor. Life and career Lev Shekhtman received his earliest theatrical education at the local children ...
, theater director and actor * Alexander Schirwindt, actor, director and screenwriter *
Mikhail Schweitzer Mikhail (Moisei) Abramovich Schweitzer (russian: Михаил (Моисей) Абрамович Швейцер, 16 February 1920, Perm – 2 June 2000, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR ( ...
, screenwriter * Yefim Shifrin, comedian *
Viktor Shenderovich Viktor Anatolyevich Shenderovich (russian: Ви́ктор Анато́льевич Шендеро́вич; born August 15, 1958) is a Russian satirist, writer, scriptwriter and radio host. Biography Shenderovich was born in Moscow into a family of ...
, humorist *
Esfir Shub Esfir Ilyinichna Shub (Russian: Эсфи́рь Ильи́нична Шуб; 16 March 1894, Surazh, Russian Empire – 21 September 1959, Moscow, Soviet Union), also referred to as Esther Il'inichna Shub, was a pioneering Soviet filmmaker and edit ...
, editor, director, and writer of documentary films *
Yakov Smirnoff Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (russian: Яков Наумович Похис; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (russian: Яков Смирнов; ), is a Ukrainian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand ...
, American comedian *
Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...
, acting teacher *
Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky (russian: Геннадий Борисович Тартаковский, born ), commonly known as Tartakovsky (), is a Russian-American animator, director, producer, screenwriter, voice actor, storyboard artist, ...
, Russian-born American animation director *
Leonid Trauberg Leonid Zakharovich Trauberg (russian: Леонид Захарович Трауберг, 17 January 1902 – 14 November 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1924 and 1961 and was awarded the S ...
, film director, scriptwriter, and educator *
Ivan Urgant Ivan Andreyevich Urgant (russian: Ива́н Андре́евич У́ргант; born 16 April 1978) is a Russian television host, presenter, actor, musician and producer. His best known roles in film are Boris in the ''Yolki'' series and as Dani ...
, actor, comedian, host of the
Evening Urgant ''Evening Urgant'' (russian: Вечерний Ургант, Vecherniy Urgant) is a Russian late-night talk show hosted by Ivan Urgant on Channel One, a show based on similarly styled American late-night shows. The first episode aired on 16 April ...
television show * Dziga Vertov, documentary film director and film theoretician *
Vladimir Vinokur Vladimir Natanovich Vinokur (born 31 March 1948 in Kursk) is a Soviet and Russian entertainer, humorist, singer and actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1989). Early life Vladimir Vinokur was born on 31 March 1948 in Kursk to Natan Vinokur (191 ...
, comedian (Jewish father) *
Leonid Yakubovich Leonid Arkadyevich Yakubovich PARPole Chudes television show *
Leonid Yarmolnik Leonid Isaakovich Yarmolnik (russian: Леони́д Исаа́кович Ярмо́льник; born January 22, 1954) is a Soviet and Russian actor and film producer. Biography Was born on January 22, 1954, in Grodekovo, Primorsky Krai, where ...
, actor *
Anton Yelchin Anton Viktorovich Yelchin ( rus, Антон Викторович Ельчин, p=ɐnˈton ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtɕɪn; March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American actor. Born in the Soviet Union to a Russian Jewish family, he emigr ...
, Russian-born American film/television actor * Sergei Yursky, actor *
Sergei Yutkevich Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (russian: Серге́й Ио́сифович Ютке́вич, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of ...
, film director and screenwriter


Writers and poets

*
Grigory Adamov Grigory Borisovich Adamov (russian: link=no, Григорий Борисович Адамов; born Abram Borukhovich Gibs; Абрам Борухович Гибс; May 18, 1886, Kherson, then Russian Empire, now Ukraine, - June 14, 1945, Moscow, U ...
, writer *
M. Ageyev M. Ageyev (russian: М. Агеев) was the pen name of the writer of the Russian '' Novel with Cocaine''. He is believed to be Mark Lazarevich Levi (russian: Марк Ла́заревич Ле́ви; August 8, 1898August 5, 1973). Biography His ...
, novelist * David Aizman, writer and playwright *
Vasily Aksyonov Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov ( rus, Васи́лий Па́влович Аксёнов, p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ ɐˈksʲɵnəf; August 20, 1932 – July 6, 2009) was a Soviet and Russian novelist. He became known in the West as the aut ...
, writer (Jewish mother) *
Sholom Aleichem ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = New York City, U.S. , occupation = Writer , nationality = , period = , genre = Novels, sh ...
, Yiddish-language writer *
Semyon Altov Semyon Altov (russian: Семён Альтов) (born January 17, 1945) is a Soviet comedy writer. Original name: Semyon Teodorovich Altshuller (russian: Семён Теодо́рович Альтшуллер).Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
, science fiction writer *
Daniil Atnilov Daniil Atnilov (russian: Даниил Атнилович Атнилов, translit=; he, דניאל אטנילוב; born 1913 – 1968) was a Soviet poet of Mountain Jew origin. He wrote in a language of the Mountain Jew ( Juhuri). He was a USS ...
, poet * Hizgil Avshalumov, novelist, poet and playwright *
Isaac Babel Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel (russian: Исаак Эммануилович Бабель, p=ˈbabʲɪlʲ; – 27 January 1940) was a Russian writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' ...
, writer * Eduard Bagritsky, poet *
Grigory Baklanov Grigory Yakovlevich Baklanov (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Бакла́нов) (11 September 1923 – 23 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian writer, well known for his novels about World War II, and as the editor of the ...
, novelist * Mishi Bakhshiev, writer and poet * Agniya Barto, writer * Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Hebrew-language writer * Isaac Dov Berkowitz, writer *
Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ( he, חיים נחמן ביאַליק; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was part of the vangu ...
, poet * Rachel Bluwstein, poet *
Yosef Haim Brenner Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַיִּים בְּרֶנֶר, translit=Yosef Ḥayyim Brener; 11 September 1881 – 2 May 1921) was a Hebrew-language author from the Russian Empire, and one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature. Bi ...
, Hebrew-language writer * Osip Brik, author *
Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...
, Russian-language poet,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(1987) *
Sasha Cherny Alexander Mikhailovich Glikberg ( rus, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Гли́кберг, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲikbʲɪrk, a=Alyexandr Mikhaylovich Glickbyerg.ru.vorb.oga), better known as Sasha Chorny ( rus, ...
, poet *
Korney Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky ( rus, Корне́й Ива́нович Чуко́вский, p=kɐrˈnʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ tɕʊˈkofskʲɪj, a=Kornyey Ivanovich Chukovskiy.ru.vorb.oga; 31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most p ...
, writer (Jewish father) * Manuvakh Dadashev, poet *
Yuli Daniel Yuli Markovich Daniel ( rus, Ю́лий Ма́ркович Даниэ́ль, p=ˈjʉlʲɪj ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ dənʲɪˈelʲ, a=Yuliy Markovich Daniel'.ru.vorb.oga; 15 November 1925 — 30 December 1988) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident ...
, writer * Michael Dorfman, journalist and essayist *
Sergei Dovlatov Sergei Donatovich Dovlatov (russian: link=no, Сергей Донатович Довлатов; 1941 1990) was a Soviet journalist and writer. Internationally, he is one of the most popular Russian writers of the late 20th century. Biography ...
, journalist and writer (Jewish father) *
David Edelstadt David Edelstadt (Yiddish: דוד עדעלשטאַט; May 9, 1866, Kaluga, Russia – 17 October 1892, Denver, Colorado) was a Jewish, Russian-American anarchist poet in the Yiddish language. Edelstadt immigrated to Cincinnati and worked as a bu ...
, Yiddish-language anarchist poet *
Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (russian: link=no, Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable autho ...
, writer *
Natan Eidelman Natan Yakovlevich Eidelman (russian: Ната́н Я́ковлевич Эйдельма́н) (1930 in Moscow – 1989 in Moscow) was a Soviet Russian author and historian. He wrote several books on about the life and work of Alexander Pushkin, Dec ...
, writer * Alter Esselin, poet, carpenter * Alexander Galich, playwright poet * Vladimir Galperin, journalist and writer, literature professor * Boris Gavrilov, poet * Mikhail Gavrilov, writer and poet * Aleksandr Gelman, playwright * Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'Am), Hebrew-language writer *
Lydia Ginzburg Lidiya Yakovlevna Ginzburg (russian: Ли́дия Я́ковлевна Ги́нзбург; March 18, 1902, Odessa, Russian Empire – July 17, 1990, Leningrad, USSR) was a major Soviet literary critic and historian and a survivor of the siege of L ...
, writer *
Yevgenia Ginzburg Yevgenia Solomonovna Ginzburg (December 20, 1904 – May 25, 1977) (russian: Евге́ния Соломо́новна Ги́нзбург) was a Soviet writer who served an 18-year sentence in the Gulag. Her given name is often Latinized to Eugenia ...
, writer *
Jacob Gordin Jacob Michailovitch Gordin (Yiddish: יעקב מיכאַילאָװיטש גאָרדין; May 1, 1853 – June 11, 1909) was a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater. He is known for introducing realism an ...
, American playwright * Leon Gordon, writer *
Grigori Gorin Grigori Gorin (russian: Григо́рий Го́рин), real name Grigori Israilevich Ofshtein (russian: Григо́рий Изра́илевич Офштейн; March 12, 1940, Moscow — June 15, 2000, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian play ...
, playwright and writer *
Vasily Grossman Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...
, writer *
Igor Guberman Igor Mironovich Guberman ( rus, И́горь Миро́нович Губерма́н, p=ˈiɡərʲ mʲɪˈronəvʲɪtɕ ɡʊbʲɪrˈman, a=Igor' Mironovich Gubyerman.ru.vorb.oga, born 7 July 1936, Kharkiv) is a Russian writer and poet of Jewish an ...
, writer *
Peretz Hirshbein Peretz Hirshbein ( yi, פרץ הירשביין;7 November 1880, Melnik, Kleszczele, Grodno Governorate – 16 August 1948, Los Angeles) was a Yiddish-language playwright, novelist, journalist, travel writer, and theater director. Because ...
, playwright *
Ilya Ilf Ilya Arnoldovich Ilf (born Iehiel-Leyb Aryevich Faynzilberg, russian: Иехи́ел-Лейб Арьевич Фа́йнзильберг) ( in Odessa – 13 April 1937, Moscow), was a popular Soviet journalist and writer of Jewish origin who us ...
, writer *
Vera Inber Vera Mikhailovna Inber (russian: link=no, Вера Михайловна Инбер), born Shpenzer (10 July 1890, Odessa11 November 1972, Moscow), was a Russian and Soviet poet and writer. Biography Her father Moshe owned a scientific publishing ...
, poet *
Sergey Izgiyayev Sergey Davidovich Izgiyayev (russian: Сергей Давидович Изгияев; he, סרגיי איזגיאייב; born 24 November 1922 – 27 July 1972) was a member of the Union of Soviet Writers, the author of nine books of poetry and f ...
, poet *
Lev Kassil Lev Abramovich Kassil (russian: Лев Абрамович Кассиль; 10 July 1905 – 21 June 1970) was a Soviet and Russian writer of juvenile and young adult literature and screenwriter, depicting Soviet life, teenagers and their world, sc ...
, writer *
Veniamin Kaverin Veniamin Aleksandrovich Kaverin (russian: link=no, Вениами́н Алекса́ндрович Каве́рин; Вениами́н А́белевич Зи́льбер (Veniamin Abelevich Zilber); , Pskov – May 2, 1989, Moscow) was a Sov ...
, writer (Jewish father) * Arkady Khait, satirist and playwright () * A.M. Klein, poet * Pavel Kogan, poet *
Lev Kopelev Lev Zalmanovich (Zinovyevich) Kopelev (russian: Лев Залма́нович (Зино́вьевич) Ко́пелев, German: Lew Sinowjewitsch Kopelew, 9 April 1912, Kyiv – 18 June 1997, Cologne) was a Soviet author and dissident. Early ...
, author and dissident * Arkady Kotz, poet *
Lazar Lagin Lazar Iosifovich Lagin (russian: Ла́зарь Ио́сифович Лагин), real name Lazar Ginzburg (4 December 1903, Vitebsk – 4 June 1979, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian author of children's and science fiction books. Lagin is be ...
, writer * Vladimir Lantsberg, writer *
H. Leivick H. Leivick (Yiddish: ה. לײװיק; pen name of Leivick Halpern, December 25, 1888 – December 23, 1962) was a Yiddish language writer, known for his 1921 "dramatic poem in eight scenes" '' The Golem''. He also wrote many highly political, ...
, dramatist *
Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector ( uk, Хая Пінкасівна Ліспектор); December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovative, idiosyncratic works ex ...
, writer that settled in Brazil fleeing from
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
Civil's War * Benedikt Livshits, writer *
Nadezhda Mandelstam Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam ( rus, Надежда Яковлевна Мандельштам, p=nɐˈdʲeʐdə ˈjakəvlʲɪvnə mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam, , Хазина; 29 December 1980) was a Russian Jewish writer and educator, and the wife of ...
, writer *
Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam ( rus, Осип Эмильевич Мандельштам, p=ˈosʲɪp ɨˈmʲilʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mənʲdʲɪlʲˈʂtam; – 27 December 1938) was a Russian and Soviet poet. He was one of the foremost members of the A ...
, poet *
Samuil Marshak Samuil Yakovlevich Marshak (alternative spelling: Marchak) (russian: link=no, Самуил Яковлевич Маршак; 4 July 1964) was a Russian and Soviet writer of Jewish origin, translator and poet who wrote for both children and adults. ...
, poet *
Yunna Morits Yunna Petrovna Morits (Moritz) (russian: Ю́нна Петро́вна Мо́риц; born June 2, 1937), is a Soviet and Russian poet, poetry translator and activist.
, poet * Semen Nadson, poet (Jewish father) *
Seva Novgorodsev Seva Novgorodsev MBE (Russian: Се́ва Новгоро́дцев, which is a pseudonym, his real name being Vsevolod Borisovich Levenstein (Всеволод Борисович Левенштейн); born 9 July 1940) is a former radio presen ...
, musician and journalist (Jewish father) * Grigoriy Oster, author and scriptwriter * Yeremey Parnov, writer *
Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
, writer,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
(1958) *
Yakov Perelman Yakov Isidorovich Perelman (russian: Яков Исидорович Перельман; – 16 March 1942) was a Russian and Soviet science writer and author of many popular science books, including ''Physics Can Be Fun'' and ''Mathematics Can B ...
, writer *
Elizaveta Polonskaya Elizaveta Grigorevna Polonskaya ( rus, Елизаве́та Григо́рьевна Поло́нская, p=jɪlʲɪzɐˈvʲɛtə pɐˈlonskəjə), born Movshenson (russian: Мовшенсо́н; – January 11, 1969), was a Russian Jewish poet, ...
, translator, poet * Vladimir Posner, writer *
David Pinski David Pinski (Yiddish: דוד פּינסקי; April 5, 1872 – August 11, 1959) was a Yiddish language writer, probably best known as a playwright. At a time when Eastern Europe was only beginning to experience the industrial revolution, Pins ...
, writer *
Lev Razgon Lev Emmanuilovich Razgon (russian: Лев Эммануи́лович Разго́н; 1 April 1908 – 8 September 1999) was a Soviet journalist, a prisoner of the Gulag from 1938 to 1942 and again from 1950 to 1955, a Russian writer and, latterl ...
, writer,
gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...
inmate for 17 years *
Yevgeny Rein Yevgeni, Yevgeny, Yevgenii or Yevgeniy (russian: Евгений), also transliterated as Evgeni, Evgeny, Evgenii or Evgeniy, is the Russian form of the masculine given name Eugene. People with the name include: :''Note: Occasionally, a person may b ...
, poet *
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
, writer (born Alisa Rosenbaum) *
Ilya Reznik Ilya Rahmielevich Reznik (russian: Илья Pахмильeвич Peзник; born April 4, 1938) is a Russian poet and songwriter, People's Artist of Russia (2003). Honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts. People's Artist of Ukraine (2013 ...
, poet and songwriter * Anatoli Rybakov, writer *
David Samoylov David Samoylov (russian: Давид Самойлов), pseudonym of David Samuilovich Kaufman (russian: Давид Самуилович Кауфман; 1 June 1920 — 23 February 1990) was one of the most notable representatives of the War gener ...
, poet *
Genrikh Sapgir Genrikh Sapgir (russian: Ге́нрих Вениами́нович Сапги́р; November 20, 1928, Biysk, Altai Krai, Russia – October 7, 1999, Moscow) was a Russian poet and fiction writer of Jewish descent. Biography He was born in Bi ...
, poet *
Natalya Sats Natalya Il'inichna Sats (sometimes spelled Natalia Satz; russian: Наталия Ильинична Сац; 27 August Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._14_August.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki> O.S._14_Augus ...
, playwright (Jewish father) * Zoya Semenduyeva, poet *
Mendele Mocher Sforim Mendele Mocher Sforim ( yi, , he, מנדלי מוכר ספרים, also known as Moykher, Sfarim; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 .S. Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich ( yi, , russian: Соло ...
, founder of modern
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
and
modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
literature *
Viktor Shklovsky Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky ( rus, Ви́ктор Бори́сович Шкло́вский, p=ˈʂklofskʲɪj; – 6 December 1984) was a Russian and Soviet literary theorist, critic, writer, and pamphleteer. He is one of the major figures ass ...
, writer and critic (Jewish father) * Ilia Shtemler, writer *
Gary Shteyngart Gary Shteyngart (; born July 5, 1972) is a Soviet-born American writer. He is the author of five novels (including ''Absurdistan'' and '' Super Sad True Love Story'') and a memoir. Much of his work is satirical. Early life Born Igor Semyonovich ...
(Steinhart), writer * Yulian Semyonov, writer * Elena Shirman, poet * Boris Slutsky, war-time poet *
Mikhail Slonimsky Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky (russian: Михаи́л Леони́дович Слони́мский; – 8 October 1972) was a Soviet writer, member of the Serapion Brothers group. Mikhail was born in Saint Petersburg to the family of Intelli ...
, writer (Jewish father) *
Boris and Arkady Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky (russian: Аркадий Натанович Стругацкий; 28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky ( ru , Борис Натанович Стругацкий; 14 A ...
, science fiction writers (Jewish father) * Mikhail Svetlov, poet *
Shaul Tchernichovsky Shaul Tchernichovsky ( he, שאול טשרניחובסקי) or Saul Gutmanovich Tchernichovsky (russian: link=no, Саул Гутманович Черниховский; 20 August 1875 – 14 October 1943) was a Russian-born Hebrew poet. He is c ...
, poet and translator * Yuri Tynyanov, writer *
Vladimir Voinovich Vladimir Nikolayevich Voinovich (russian: Влади́мир Никола́евич Войно́вич, 26 September 1932 – 27 July 2018), was a Russian writer and former Soviet dissident, and the "first genuine comic writer" produced by the S ...
, writer *
Vladimir Vysotsky Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
, poet, singer, actor (Jewish father) * Semen Yushkevich, writer and playwright * Boris Zakhoder, children's poet and writer *
Mikhail Zhvanetsky ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) , death_date = , death_place = Moscow, Russia , genre = Satire , subject = , influences = , influe ...
, writer and comedian *
Zinovy Zinik Zinovy Zinik (russian: Зиновий Зиник; born 16 June 1945) is a Russian-born British novelist, short-story writer and essayist. Life and career A native of Moscow, Zinik studied art at one of the city's art schools and later studied ...
, writer *
Valentin Zorin Valentin Sergeyevich Zorin (; February 9 1925, Moscow – April 27 2016, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian political commentator, journalist, author, screenwriter and television presenter. Career Zorin was host of several Soviet television program ...
, Soviet and Russian political commentator, journalist, author, screenwriter and television presenter.


Religious figures

* Israel Isaac Kahanovitch, Orthodox Jewish rabbi *
Raïssa Maritain Raïssa Maritain (née Oumansoff) (12 September 1883 in Rostov-on-Don – 4 November 1960 in Paris) was a Russian poet and philosopher. She immigrated to France and studied at the Sorbonne, where she met the young Jacques Maritain, also a phil ...
, Catholic writer and philosopher *
Alexander Men Alexander Vladimirovich Men (russian: Александр Владимирович Мень; 22 January 1935 – 9 September 1990) was a Soviet Russian Orthodox priest, dissident, theologian, biblical scholar and writer on theology, Christian hi ...
, Russian Orthodox priest, theologian, Biblical scholar and writer. *
Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky (pronounced skĕr-ĕs-kūs'kĭ ; 6 May 1831 – 15 October 1906), also known as Joseph Schereschewsky, was the Anglican Bishop of Shanghai, China, from 1877 to 1884. He founded St. John's University, Shanghai, ...
, Anglican Bishop of Shanghai, China, from 1877 to 1884


Sport figures


Chess

*
Lev Alburt Lev Osipovich Alburt (born August 21, 1945) is a chess Grandmaster, writer and coach. He was born in Orenburg, Russia, and became three-time Ukrainian Champion. After defecting to the United States in 1979, he became three-time U.S. Champion. ...
*
Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenar ...
* Alexander Beliavsky *
Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian-French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born in Zhytomyr, ...
* Benjamin Blumenfeld *
Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer. Early caree ...
*
Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...
, World Champion *
David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narro ...
, World Championship challenger *
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
*
Maxim Dlugy Maxim Alexandrovich Dlugy (born January 29, 1966) is an American chess player with the FIDE title of Grandmaster. He was born in Moscow, USSR, and arrived with his family in the United States in 1977. He was awarded the International Master t ...
* Iossif Dorfman *
Mark Dvoretsky Mark Izrailevich Dvoretsky (russian: Марк Изра́илевич Дворе́цкий; December 9, 1947 – September 26, 2016) was a Russian chess trainer, writer, and International Master. Biography Dvoretsky was born in Moscow in 1947. H ...
*
Louis Eisenberg Louis R. Eisenberg (born 1876 – died ?) was a Ukrainian-American chess master. He was born in Odessa in 1876. After graduating from Nicholas College, he pursued journalism until, in 1901-1902, he won a chess tournament at Odessa 1901, and jou ...
* Yakov Estrin * Alexander Evensohn * Salo Flohr * Semen Furman * Boris Gelfand * Efim Geller * Eduard Gufeld * Boris Gulko * Dmitry Gurevich * Ilya Gurevich * Mikhail Gurevich (chess player), Mikhail Gurevich * Nicolai Jasnogrodsky * Gregory Kaidanov * Ilya Kan * Garry Kasparov, World Champion * Alexander Khalifman, FIDE World Champion * Alexander Konstantinopolsky * Viktor Korchnoi, World Championship challenger * Ljuba Kristol * Alla Kushnir, Women's World Championship challenger * Anatoly Lein * Konstantin Lerner * Grigory Levenfish * Irina Levitina * Vladimir Liberzon * Andor Lilienthal * Moishe Lowtzky * Vladimir Malaniuk * Sam Palatnik * Ernest Pogosyants * Iosif Pogrebyssky * Lev Polugaevsky * Lev Psakhis * Abram Rabinovich * Ilya Rabinovich * Leonid Shamkovich * Ilya Smirin * Gennadi Sosonko * Leonid Stein * Peter Svidler * Mark Taimanov * Boris Verlinsky * Yakov Vilner * Leonid Yudasin


Boxing

* Yuri Foreman, Belarusian-born Israeli US middleweight and World Boxing Association champion super welterweight * Kid Kaplan, Louis Kaplan ("Kid Kaplan"), Russian-born US, world champion featherweight, Hall of Fame * Shamil Sabirov, Russia, Olympic champion light flyweight


Canoeing

* Leonid Geishtor, USSR (Belarus), sprint canoer, Olympic champion (Canadian pairs 1,000-meter) * Michael Kolganov, Soviet (Uzbek)-born Israeli, sprint canoer, world champion, Olympic bronze (K-1 500-meter) * Naum Prokupets, Moldovan-born Soviet, sprint canoer, Olympic bronze (C-2 1,000-meter), gold (C-2 10,000-meter) at ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships


Fencing

* Yury Gelman (born 1955), Ukrainian-born American Olympic fencing coach * Vadim Gutzeit, Ukraine (saber), Olympic champion * Grigory Kriss, Soviet (épée), Olympic champion, 2x silver * Maria Mazina, Russia (épée), Olympic champion, bronze * Mark Midler, Soviet Union, Soviet (foil), 2x Olympic champion * Mark Rakita, Soviet (saber), 2x Olympic champion, 2x silver * Yakov Rylsky, Soviet (saber), Olympic champion * Sergey Sharikov, Russia (saber), 2x Olympic champion, silver, bronze * David Tyshler, Soviet (saber), Olympic bronze * Eduard Vinokurov, Russia (saber), 2x Olympic champion, silver * Iosif Vitebskiy, Soviet (épée), Olympic silver, 10x national champion


Figure skating

* Ilya Averbukh, Russia, ice dancer, Olympic silver * Oksana Baiul,
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
, figure skater, Olympic gold, world champion * Alexei Beletski, Ukrainian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian * Sasha Cohen, figure skater (U.S. National Champion and silver medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics) * Aleksandr Gorelik, Soviet, pair skater, Olympic silver, World Championship 2x silver, bronze * Natalia Gudina, Ukrainian-born Israeli, figure skater, Olympian * Gennadi Karponossov, Russia, ice dancer and coach, Olympic gold, World Championship 2x gold, silver, 2x bronze * Michael Shmerkin, Soviet-born Israeli, figure skater * Irina Slutskaya, Russia, figure skater, Olympic silver, bronze, World Championship 2x gold, 3x silver, bronze * Maxim Staviski, Russian-born Bulgarian, ice dancer, World Championship gold, silver, bronze * Alexandra Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian * Roman Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian


Football (American)

* Joe Magidsohn, Russia, halfback * Igor Olshansky, Ukraine, defensive lineman (Miami Dolphins)


Gymnastics

* Yevgeny Babich, Evgeny (or Yevgeny) Babich, Soviet, Olympic champion, world and European champion, 2x runner-up * Yanina Batyrchina, Russia, Olympic silver (rhythmic gymnastics) * Maria Gorokhovskaya, USSR, Olympic 2x champion (all-around individual exercises, team combined exercises), 5x silver (vault, asymmetrical bars, balance beam, floor exercises, team exercises with portable apparatus) * Natalia Laschenova, USSR, Olympic champion (team) * Tatiana Lysenko, Soviet/Ukraine, Ukrainian, 2x Olympic champion (balance beam, team combined exercises), bronze (horse vault) * Mikhail Perelman, USSR, Olympic champion (team combined exercises) * Vladimir Portnoi, USSR, Olympic silver (team combined exercises) and bronze (long horse vault) * Yulia Raskina, Belarus, Olympic silver (rhythmic gymnastics) * Alexander Shatilov, Uzbekistan/Israel, world bronze (artistic gymnast; floor exercises) * Yelena Shushunova, USSR, Olympic 2x champion (all-around, team), silver (balance beam), bronze (uneven bars)


Ice hockey

* Max Birbraer, Russian from Kazakhstan; lived and played in Israel; 1st Israeli drafted by NHL team (New Jersey Devils) * Vitaly Davydov, Soviet, defenseman, 3x Olympic champion, world and European champion 1963–71, runner-up * Alfred Kuchevsky, Soviet, Olympic champion, bronze * Yuri Lyapkin, Soviet, defenceman, Olympic champion * Yuri Moiseev, Soviet, Olympic champion, world champion * Vladimir Myshkin, Soviet, goaltender, Olympic champion, silver * Ian Rubin, Ukraine/Australia, Russia national team * Yevgeni Zimin, Soviet, Olympic champion 1968–72, world and European champion 1968–69, 1971 * Viktor Zinger, Soviet, Olympic champion; world champion 1965–69


Judo

* Ārons Bogoļubovs, USSR, Olympic bronze (lightweight)


Rugby league

* Ian Rubin, Ukraine/Australia, Russia national team


Sailing

* Valentyn Mankin, Soviet/Ukraine, only sailor in Olympic history to win gold medals in three different classes (yachting: finn class, tempest class, and star class), silver (yachting, tempest class)


Shooting

* Lev Vainshtein, USSR (Russia), 3x team world champion (25 m Center-Fire Pistol, 25 m and 50 m Pistol, 50 m pistol) and Olympic bronze medalist (300 metre rifle three positions, 300 m rifle)


Soccer (association football)

* Leonid Buryak, USSR/Ukraine, midfielder, Olympic bronze * Yakov Ehrlich, Russia, striker * Andriy Oberemko, Ukraine, midfielder (Illichivets and U21 national team) * Israel Olshanetsky, USSR, attacking midfielder at Dynamo Leningrad * Boris Razinsky, USSR/Russia, goalkeeper/striker, Olympic champion, manager * Boris Borisovich Rotenberg, Russia/Finland/Israel, defender * Mordechai Spiegler, Soviet Union/Israel, striker (Israel national team), manager


Speed skating

* Rafayel Grach, USSR, Olympic silver (500-meter), bronze (500-meter)


Swimming

* Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born Israeli, breaststroke * Semyon Belits-Geiman, USSR, Olympic silver (400-m freestyle relay) and bronze (800-m freestyle relay); world record in men's 800-m freestyle * Lenny Krayzelburg, Ukraine, Ukrainian-born US, 4x Olympic champion (100-m backstroke, 200-m backstroke, twice 4x100-m medley relay); 3x world champion (100-m and 200-m backstroke, 4×100-m medley) and 2x silver (4×100-m medley, 50-m backstroke); 3 world records (50-, 100-, and 200-m backstroke)


Table tennis

* Marina Kravchenko, Ukraine, Ukrainian-born Israeli, Soviet and Israel national teams


Tennis

*Anna Smashnova (born 1976), Belarus-born Israeli tennis player


Track and field

* Aleksandr Averbukh, Russian-born Israeli, 2002 and 2006 European champion (pole vault) * Maria Leontyavna Itkina, USSR, sprinter, world records (400-m & 220-yards, and 800-m relay) * Svetlana Krachevskaya, USSR, shot put, Olympic silver * Vera Krepkina, USSR, Olympic champion (long jump), world records (100-m dash and 4x100-m) * Faina Melnik, Ukrainian-born USSR, 11 world records; Olympic discus throw champion * Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Ukraine, sprinter, world 100-m and 200-m champion * Irina Press, USSR, 2x Olympic champion (80-m hurdles and pentathlon) * Tamara Press, USSR, 6 world records (shot put and discus); 3x Olympic champion (2x shot put and discus) and silver (discus)


Volleyball

* Nelly Abramova, USSR, Olympic silver * Larisa Bergen, USSR, Olympic silver * Yefim Chulak, USSR, Olympic silver, bronze * Nataliya Kushnir, USSR, Olympic silver * Yevgeny Lapinsky, USSR, Olympic champion, bronze * Georgy Mondzolevsky, USSR, 2x Olympic champion, 2x world champion * Vladimir Patkin, USSR, Olympic silver, bronze * Yuriy Venherovsky, USSR, Olympic champion


Water polo

* Boris Goikhman, USSR, goalkeeper, Olympic silver, bronze * Nikolai Melnikov, USSR, Olympic champion


Weightlifting

* Moisei Kas’ianik, Ukrainian-born USSR, world champion * Grigory Novak, Soviet, Olympic silver (middle-heavyweight); world champion * Rudolf Plyukfelder, Soviet, Olympic champion, 2x world champion (light heavyweight) * David Rigert, Kazakh-born USSR, Olympic champion, 5x world champion (light-heavyweight and heavyweight), 68 world records * Igor Rybak, Ukrainian-born USSR, Olympic champion (lightweight) * Valery Shary, Byelorussian-born USSR, Olympic champion (light-heavyweight)


Wrestling

* Grigorii Gamarnik, USSR, world champion (Greco-Roman lightweight), world championship silver * Samuel Gerson, Ukrainian-born US, Olympic silver (freestyle featherweight) * Boris Maksovich Gurevich, Soviet, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman flyweight), 2x world champion * Boris Michail Gurevitsch, USSR, Olympic champion (freestyle middleweight), 2x world champion * Oleg Karavaev, USSR, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman bantamweight), 2x world champion * Yakov Punkin, Soviet, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman featherweight) * David Rudman (wrestler), David Rudman, USSR, world championship bronze


Other sports

* Elena Altsjoel, Elena Altshul, Women's World Draughts Champion * Nissim Cahn, twice Bronze Medal for Israel, curling * Nikolay Epstein, Soviet hockey coach * Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet basketball coach * Andriy Oberemko, footballer * Grigory Surkis, chairman of the Football Federation of Ukraine


See also

* Bukharan Jews * History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union * List of Galician Jews * Lists of Jews * List of Russians


Footnotes


External links


Prominent Jews based on the ''Russian Jewish Encyclopedia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jews Born In The Former Russian Empire Ashkenazi Jews topics, Russian Empire born Belarusian Jews, * Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire, Jews and Judaism in the Soviet Union, * Lists of Jews by country, Russian Empire Russian Jews, * Ukrainian Jews, * Lists of people by ethnicity, Jews, Russian Empire