List of South-East European Jews
Encyclopedia
Many of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula
during the Spanish Inquisition
settled in the Ottoman Empire
, leaving large Sephardic communities in South-East Europe: mainly in Bulgaria
, Turkey
, Greece
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
and Serbia
(though the latter in particular also had a large Ashkenazi population).
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
during the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
settled in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, leaving large Sephardic communities in South-East Europe: mainly in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(though the latter in particular also had a large Ashkenazi population).
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Ivan Ceresnjes, architect-researcher, former president of the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities from 1992–1996
- Kalmi BaruhKalmi BaruhKalmi Baruh ; was a Bosnian scholar in the field of Judeo-Spanish language, pioneer of the Sephardic studies and Hispanic studies in former Yugoslavia.- Life and activities :...
, writer and philosopher - Emerik BlumEmerik BlumEmerik Blum was born to immigrant Hungarian parents on August 7, 1911 in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina which was then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and died on June 24, 1984 in Fojnica, Bosnia then a part of Yugoslavia...
, businessman, founder of Energoinvest, former Mayor of Sarajevo - Oskar DanonOskar DanonOskar Danon was a Bosnian Jewish composer and conductor.-Early life and education:Oskar Danon was born in 1913 in Sarajevo, then in the Austria-Hungarian Empire but now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He studied music in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he obtained his Ph.D...
, composer and conductor - David ElazarDavid ElazarDavid "Dado" Elazar was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.-Early life:...
, Israeli general and Chief of StaffRamatkalThe Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces is the supreme commander and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. At any given time, the Chief of Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, Rav Aluf , which is usually...
of Israel Defense ForcesIsrael Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel... - Robert RothbartRobert RothbartRobert Rothbart is a Bosnian-Israeli-Serbian professional basketball player playing the position of center for Union Olimpija.- Biography :Robert was born in Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time part of the former Yugoslavia...
, basketball player (Jewish mother) - Isak SamokovlijaIsak SamokovlijaIsak Samokovlija was a Bosnian-Herzegovinian writer, born in a Jewish Sephardic family. By profession he was a physician...
, writer
Bulgaria
- Albert AftalionAlbert AftalionAlbert Abram Aftalion was a French Jewish economist.He taught at the Paris University . He co-founded the academic journal Revue économique in 1950 and presided over its board of directors....
, Bulgarian-born French economist - Binyamin ArditiBinyamin ArditiBinyamin Arditi was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Herut and Gahal between 1955 and 1965.-Biography:Born in Vienna, Arditi attended high school in Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1917 he became a member of the central committee of the Zionist Organization of Bulgaria, on...
- Aron Aronov, tenor
- Mira AroyoMira AroyoMira Aroyo , born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1977, and now living in London, is a member of the electropop band Ladytron. She is also keyboardist, songwriter and producer. She writes and sings her songs for Ladytron in her native Bulgarian as well as in English....
, member of the band LadytronLadytronLadytron are an English electronic band formed in 1999 in Liverpool, Merseyside. The group consists of Helen Marnie , Mira Aroyo , Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu .Their sound blends electropop with New Wave and shoegazing elements. Ladytron described their sound as "electronic pop"... - Gabi AshkenaziGabi AshkenaziGavriel "Gabi" Ashkenazi , was the Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces from 2007 to 2011.- Background and early life :...
- Mira AwadMira AwadMīrā ’Anwar ‘Awaḍ is an Israeli Arab singer, actress, and songwriter.‘Awaḍ lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. In 2009, she was chosen to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest along with Jewish-Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, singing the song There Must Be Another Way. She was the first Arab to...
- Michael Bar-ZoharMichael Bar-ZoharDr Michael Bar-Zohar is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. His World War II-era nonfiction and fiction works have been published in English, French, Hebrew, and other languages. He was also a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party during the 1980s and early...
- Maxim Behar, president of M3 Communications Group
- Shimon BejarnoShimon BejarnoShimon Bejarno was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the General Zionists between 1951 and 1959.-Biography:Born in Plovdiv in Bulgaria, Bejarno was educated at a gymnasium in Switzerland before studying economics at the University of Milan. He made aliyah to Mandate...
- Alexander BozhkovAlexander BozhkovAlexander Bozhkov was Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister of Bulgaria from 1997 to 1999. He was born in Sofia and died there on August 23, 2009 after years of prolonged illness, most recently cancer. He was 58....
, vice-premier (Jewish mother)
- Elias CanettiElias CanettiElias Canetti was a Bulgarian-born modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer. He wrote in German and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power".-Life:...
, an author an a Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Winner - Carl DjerassiCarl DjerassiCarl Djerassi is an Austrian-American chemist, novelist, and playwright best known for his contribution to the development of the first oral contraceptive pill . Djerassi is emeritus professor of chemistry at Stanford University.He participated in the invention in 1951, together with Mexican Luis E...
- Marcus Ehrenpreis, Poland-born Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria
- Itzhak & Samuel Fintzi, dramatists
- Pini Gershon
- Moshe GueronMoshe Gueron-Introduction:Gueron was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and received his bachelors and M.D. degrees from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After World War II, he emigrated from Bulgaria to Israel and lived in Tel-Aviv with his parents...
- Shlomo KaloShlomo KaloShlomo Kalo is an Israeli prolific author and thinker, poet, composer and medical microbiologist who published 80 books, fiction and nonfiction. Some of his works are translated and published in 17 countries.- Biography :...
- Nikolay KaufmanNikolay KaufmanNikolay Yankov Kaufman is a Bulgarian musicologist, folklorist and composer, sometimes cited as Bulgaria's foremost scholar in his field.Kaufman was born in the Danubian town of Ruse to an Ashkenazi Jewish Bulgarian family. In 1952, he graduated in trumpet and music theory from the National...
, musicologist and composer
- Yehezkel LazarovYehezkel LazarovYehezkel Lazarov is an Israeli actor, dancer and choreographer. He played in Three Mothers next to Miri Mesika and The Debt.-Biography:...
- Moshe LeonMoshe LeonMoshe "Motsi" Leon is a former Israeli international footballer.-Footnotes:...
- Etien Levi, singer
- Sabin Levi
- Milcho LevievMilcho LevievMilcho Leviev is a Bulgarian composer, arranger, jazz performer and pianist.Milcho Leviev graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1960 majoring in Composition under Professor Pancho Vladigerov and in Piano under Professor Andrei Stoyanov...
, jazz composer (Jewish father)
- Raphael MechoulamRaphael MechoulamRaphael Mechoulam is an Israeli professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel...
- Moni MoshonovMoni Moshonov-Biography:Shlomo Moshonov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1951. He immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of four.His father, Moshe, who studied law in Sofia, sold textiles in the Ramla market. Moshonov grew up in Ramla. He did his military service in an IDF entertainment troupe...
- Ya'akov NitzaniYa'akov NitzaniYa'akov Nitzani was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai from 1952 until 1959.-Biography:Born in Plovdiv in Bulgaria, Nitzani studied law at the University of Sofia, and also attended a Hebrew teachers seminary. He worked as a teacher from 1920 until 1925, and was...
- Ya'akov NehushtanYa'akov NehushtanYa'akov Nehoshtan is a former Israeli politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Knesset for Gahal between 1969 and 1974 and as ambassador to the Netherlands between 1982 and 1985.-Biography:...
- Jules Pascin, artist (Jewish father)
- Isaac PassyIsaac PassyIsaac Passy was a Bulgarian philosopher specializing in aesthetics. He was a professor at Sofia University from 1952 until 1993. He was the most prolific philosopher in the history of Bulgaria. He published over 40 monographs and over 80 volumes of the philosophical classics...
, philosopher - Solomon PassySolomon PassySolomon Isaac Passy is a Bulgarian politician, foreign minister of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005, and the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE in 2004. Dr. Passy is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.- Summary :Solomon Passy was born in Plovdiv. He...
, foreign minister, son of Isaac Passy - David Peretz (ja)
- Valeri PetrovValeri PetrovValeri Petrov , pseudonym of Valeri Nisim Mevorah is a popular Bulgarian poet, screenplay writer, playwright and translator of paternal Jewish origin....
- Georgi Pirinski, Jr.
- David PrimoDavid PrimoDavid Primo , is a former Israeli international footballer who was part of the squad that competed at the 1970 World Cup, Israel's only world cup appearance.-External links:*...
- Sarah-TheodoraSarah-TheodoraSarah, Theodora or Sarah-Theodora is the name that the second wife of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria is known under nowadays. There are some Greek and French sources claiming her to be a daughter of a Venetian banker. Sources agree that she was Jewish, having lived with her family in the Jewish...
- Victor Shem-TovVictor Shem-TovVictor Shem-Tov is a former Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:Born in Bulgaria to a family of Samokov goldsmiths, Shem-Tov mostly lived in the capital Sofia and was a member of the Maccabi Youth movement. He made aliyah in 1939, the...
- Molly Sidi (now Molly Resnick), former NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
producer, journalist - Maxim StaviskiMaxim StaviskiMaxim Staviski is a Bulgarian ice dancer. With partner and fiancée Albena Denkova, he is the 2006 & 2007 World Champion, the 2003 & 2004 European silver medalist, and the 2006 Grand Prix Final champion...
- Angel Wagenstein, author & screenwriter
- Alexis WeissenbergAlexis Weissenberg-Early life and career:Born into a Jewish family in Sofia, Weissenberg began taking piano lessons at the age of three from Pancho Vladigerov. He gave his first public performance at the age of eight. After escaping to what was then Palestine in 1945, where he studied under Leo Kestenberg, he went...
, pianist - Jaime YankelevichJaime YankelevichJaime Yankelevich was an Argentine engineer and businessman who was a pioneer in the development of his country's radio and television media.-Life and times:...
- Emanuel ZismanEmanuel ZismanEmanuel Zisman was an Israeli politician and ambassador. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1999.-Biography:...
Croatia
- David FrankfurterDavid FrankfurterDavid Frankfurter was a Croatian Jew known for assassinating Swiss branch leader of the German NSDAP Wilhelm Gustloff in 1936 in Davos, Switzerland.-Background, family and education:...
, student - Branko LustigBranko LustigBranko Lustig is a prominent Croatian Jewish film producer. He is the only person born in Croatia to have won two Academy Awards.-Early life:...
, film producer - Branko GrünbaumBranko GrünbaumBranko Grünbaum is a Croatian-born mathematician and a professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. He received his Ph.D. in 1957 from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel....
, mathematician - David SchwarzDavid Schwarz (aviation inventor)David Schwarz was a Hungarian aviation pioneer of Jewish descent.Schwarz created the first flyable rigid airship. It was also the first airship with an external hull made entirely of metal. He died before he could see it finally fly...
, inventor of the ZeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899... - Slavko GoldsteinSlavko GoldsteinSlavko Goldstein is a Croatian Jewish historian, writer and publisher.Goldstein family was originally from Tuzla, but Slavko spend his childhood in Karlovac wherehis father Ivo was notable bookseller...
, historian
Cyprus
- Aristobulus of BritanniaAristobulus of BritanniaAristobulus of Britannia Aristobulus of Britannia Aristobulus of Britannia (Full title, in Greek: Aghios Apostolos Aristovoulos, Martyras, kai Protos Episkopos Vretannias; Welsh: Arwystli Hen Episcob Cyntaf Prydain; Latin: Sanctus Aristobulus Senex, Apostolus, Martyr, Episcopus Primus Britanniae;...
(converted to Christianity) - BarnabasBarnabasBarnabas , born Joseph, was an Early Christian, one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem. In terms of culture and background, he was a Hellenised Jew, specifically a Levite. Named an apostle in , he and Saint Paul undertook missionary journeys together and defended Gentile converts...
(mentioned in the New Testament) - Mike BrantMike BrantMike Brant was an Israeli pop star who achieved fame after moving to France. His most successful hit was "Laisse-moi t'aimer"...
, French-based singer (Cyprus-born) - Epiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of SalamisEpiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...
(converted to Christianity)- John the MercifulJohn the MercifulJohn the Merciful was the Patriarch of Alexandria in the early 7th century and a christian saint.- Early life :He was born at Amathus...
- John the Merciful
- Arie Zeev RaskinArie Zeev RaskinRabbi Arie Zeev Raskin, born in 1976, is the Chief Rabbi of Cyprus and the first rabbi on the island in many years.He moved to Cyprus in 2003 with his wife Shaindel and their children in an effort to introduce Jewish life onto the island. He had previously lived in Kiryat Malachi in Israel. He is...
, rabbi
Montenegro
Serbia
Turkey
- Music industry executive Morris LevyMorris LevyMorris Levy was an American music industry executive, best known as the founder and owner of Roulette Records...
- Cantor Rabbi Isaac Algazi
- Seyla BenhabibSeyla BenhabibSeyla Benhabib is Eugene Mayer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University, and director of the program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics, and a well-known contemporary philosopher. She is the author of several books, most notably about the philosophers Hannah Arendt and...
, political theorist - Victoria KamhiVictoria KamhiVictoria Kamhi de Rodrigo was a Turkish pianist of Sephardic Jewish heritage, and the wife of the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo....
, pianist - Elijah MizrachiElijah MizrachiElijah Mizrachi was a Talmudist and posek, an authority on Halakha. He is best known for his Sefer ha-Mizrachi, a supercommentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah...
, Hakham BashiHakham BashiHakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities... - Dario MorenoDarío MorenoDarío Moreno was a Turkish polyglot singer of Jewish origin, as well as an accomplished composer, lyricist and guitarist, who was born in Aydın, Turkey, in 1921, and who attained fame and made a remarkable career centered in France which also included films, during the fifties and the...
, singer - Chaim NahumChaim NahumChaim Nahum Effendi was a Jewish scholar, jurist, and linguist of the early 20th century. He was born in 1872 in İzmir. He was sent by his parents to a yeshiva in Tiberias, after which he studied at a French lycée for his secondary education and obtained a degree in Islamic law in Istanbul...
, Hakham BashiHakham BashiHakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities...