List of Ukrainian Jews
Encyclopedia
Presented below are lists of famous or notable Ukrainian
people of Jewish descent
and other Jews born in the territory of present day Ukraine
.
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
people of Jewish descent
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
and other Jews born in the territory of present day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
Politicians
- Pinhas Krasny, Ukrainian minister of Jewish Affairs for the Directorate of UkraineDirectorate of UkraineThe Directorate, or Directory was a provisional revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian National Republic, formed in 1918 by the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Skoropadsky's regime....
- Moisei RafesMoisei RafesMoisei Grigorevich Rafes was a prominent politician of the Ukrainian People's Republic as the Bundist representative...
, deputy secretary of National Affairs (Jewish Affairs) for the General SecretariatGeneral Secretariat of UkraineThe General Secretariat of Ukraine was the main executive institution of the Ukrainian People's Republic from June 28, 1917 to January 22, 1918.It closely related to the today's Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine... - Abraham Revutsky, Ukrainian minister of Jewish Affairs for the Directorate of UkraineDirectorate of UkraineThe Directorate, or Directory was a provisional revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian National Republic, formed in 1918 by the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Skoropadsky's regime....
- Moishe Zilberfarb, deputy secretary of National Affairs (Jewish Affairs) for the General SecretariatGeneral Secretariat of UkraineThe General Secretariat of Ukraine was the main executive institution of the Ukrainian People's Republic from June 28, 1917 to January 22, 1918.It closely related to the today's Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine...
- Alexander Zolotarev, state controller for the General SecretariatGeneral Secretariat of UkraineThe General Secretariat of Ukraine was the main executive institution of the Ukrainian People's Republic from June 28, 1917 to January 22, 1918.It closely related to the today's Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine...
- Yukhym ZvyahilskyYukhym ZvyahilskyYukhym Leonidovych Zvyahilsky is a Ukrainian politician. He was appointed acting Prime Minister on September 22, 1993...
, former Prime Minister of Ukraine and entrepreneur - Arseniy Yatseniuk, chairman of Verkhovna RadaVerkhovna RadaThe Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...
, candidate to the President of UkrainePresident of UkrainePrior to the formation of the modern Ukrainian presidency, the previous Ukrainian head of state office was officially established in exile by Andriy Livytskyi. At first the de facto leader of nation was the president of the Central Rada at early years of the Ukrainian People's Republic, while the...
in 2010
Russian/Soviet politicians
- Adolph JoffeAdolph JoffeAdolph Abramovich Joffe was a Communist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and a Soviet diplomat of Karaim descent.-Revolutionary career:...
, Bolshevik diplomat - Karl RadekKarl RadekKarl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution....
, Soviet politician - Grigory Sokolnikov, Bolshevik politician
- Abram SlutskyAbram SlutskyAbram Aronovich Slutsky headed the Soviet foreign intelligence service , then part of the NKVD, from May 1935 to February 1938.-Biography:...
, headed the Soviet foreign intelligence service (INO), then part of the NKVDNKVDThe People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin.... - Leon TrotskyLeon TrotskyLeon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, Soviet politician, the founder of the Red ArmyRed ArmyThe Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, commissar (Soviet minister) of Foreign Affairs - Moisei UritskyMoisei UritskyMoisei Solomonovich Uritsky was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader in Russia.He was born in the city of Cherkasy, Kiev Governorate, to a Jewish family. His father, a merchant, died when Moisei was little and his mother raised her son by herself.Moisei studied law at the University of Kiev...
, Soviet politician, chekistChekaCheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky... - Grigory Yavlinsky, Russian politician, head of a liberal "YablokoYablokoThe Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
" party (half Jewish) - Grigory ZinovievGrigory ZinovievGrigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
, Soviet politician
Israeli politicians
- Yitzhak Ben-ZviYitzhak Ben-ZviYitzhak Ben-Zvi was a historian, Labor Zionist leader, the second and longest-serving President of Israel.-Biography:...
, second President of Israel (1952–63) - Shmuel DayanShmuel DayanShmuel Dayan was a Zionist activist during the British Mandate of Palestine and an Israeli politician who served in the first three Knessets.-Biography:...
, Zionist activist, Israeli politician - Levi EshkolLevi Eshkol' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Biography:...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1963–69) - Ephraim KatzirEphraim KatzirEphraim Katzir was an Israeli biophysicist and former Israeli Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978.-Biography:...
, fourth President of Israel (1973–78) - Golda MeirGolda MeirGolda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, Israeli Prime Minister (1969–74) - Natan SharanskyNatan SharanskyNatan Sharansky was born in Stalino, Soviet Union on 20 January 1948 to a Jewish family. He graduated with a degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As a child, he was a chess prodigy. He performed in simultaneous and blindfold displays, usually against...
, Israeli politician - Moshe SharettMoshe SharettMoshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...
, Israeli Prime Minister (1954–55)
Israeli military persons
- Yaakov DoriYaakov DoriYaakov Dori was the first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces .Born in the present day Ukraine as Yakov Dostrovsky , son of Tzvi and Myriam, his family emigrated to Ottoman Palestine following the anti-Jewish pogrom in Odessa in 1905...
, the first Chief of Staff of the 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...
(IDF) (1948–1949) - Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of British Jewish Legion
- Tzvi TzurTzvi TzurAfter his retirement Tzur was appointed as the general manager of Mekorot, Israel's national water company. Under pressure from Moshe Dayan to enter the political fray, in the 1965 elections he was elected to the Knesset on the Rafi list, David Ben-Gurion's party...
, the sixth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1961–1964)
Soldiers and Revolutionaries
- Pavel AxelrodPavel AxelrodPavel Borisovich Axelrod was a Russian Menshevik.- Early life and career :Born Pinches Borutsch in Potscheff near Chernigov and raised to Shklov, a small provincial town in and Mogilev, the biggest town of the three in the Russian Empire , Axelrod was the son of a Jewish innkeeper.In 1875 in...
, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary - Yakov BlumkinYakov BlumkinYakov Grigoryevich Blumkin was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary, assassin, Bolshevik, Cheka agent, State Political Directorate spy, and adventurer, executed as Trotskyist.-Early life :...
, Soviet spy - Morris Childs (born Moishe Chilovsky), American communist and spy
- Leo DeutschLeo DeutschLev Grigorievich Deutsch, also known as Leo Deutsch was a Russian revolutionary who was an early member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and one of the leaders of that organization's Menshevik factions.-Early years:...
, revolutionary - Raya DunayevskayaRaya DunayevskayaRaya Dunayevskaya was the founder of the philosophy of Marxist Humanism in the United States of America. At one time Leon Trotsky's secretary, she later split with him and ultimately founded the organization News and Letters Committees and was its leader until her death.-Biography:Of Jewish...
, founder of Marxist humanismMarxist humanismMarxist humanism is a branch of Marxism that primarily focuses on Marx's earlier writings, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 in which Marx espoused his theory of alienation, as opposed to his later works, which are considered to be concerned more with his structural...
in the U.S. - Israel FisanovichIsrael FisanovichIsrael Ilyich Fisanovich born 1914, died 1944, was a Soviet Navy submarine commander and Hero of the Soviet Union. He died when his submarine, the former was sunk in a friendly fire incident....
, World War II submarine commander and Hero of the Soviet UnionHero of the Soviet UnionThe title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:... - Grigory GoldenbergGrigory GoldenbergGrigory Goldenberg was a Russian revolutionary and member of the «Narodnaya Volya» organisation.-Revolutionary life:...
, revolutionary - Jacob GolosJacob GolosJacob Golos, , was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary of ethnic Jewish heritage who became a secret police operative on behalf of the USSR in the United States...
, Soviet spy - Olga KamenevaOlga KamenevaOlga Davidovna Kameneva was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. She was the sister of Leon Trotsky and the first wife of Lev Kamenev.-Childhood and Revolutionary Career :...
, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of Leon TrotskyLeon TrotskyLeon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
) - Walter KrivitskyWalter KrivitskyWalter Germanovich Krivitsky was a Soviet intelligence officer who revealed plans of signing Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact before defecting weeks before the outbreak of World War II....
(born Samuel Ginsberg), Soviet spy - Rodion MalinovskyRodion MalinovskyRodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest...
, Soviet front commander, WWII, Minister of Defence (Jewish origin is disputed) - Alexander ParvusAlexander ParvusAlexander Lvovich Parvus , born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand , was a Marxist theoretician, a Russian revolutionary, and a controversial activist in the Social Democratic Party of Germany...
, revolutionary, major investor and financial supporter of the October RevolutionOctober RevolutionThe October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917... - Sidney ReillySidney ReillyLieutenant Sidney George Reilly, MC , famously known as the Ace of Spies, was a Jewish Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service Bureau and later the Secret Intelligence Service . He is alleged to have spied for at least four nations...
(born Shlomo Rosenblum), a Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent - Pinhas RutenbergPinhas RutenbergPinhas Rutenberg was a prominent engineer and a businessman, a Russian socialist and a Zionist leader. He played an active role in two Russian revolutions, in 1905 and 1917. During World War I, he was among the founders of the Jewish Legion and of the American Jewish Congress...
, Zionist, Social revolutionary - Grigori ShternGrigori ShternGrigori Mihailovich Shtern 1900, Smila, Kiev Governorate – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet officer in the Red Army and military advisor during the Spanish Civil War. He also served with distinction during the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars and the Winter War....
(Grigory Stern), Red Army commander (Colonel General) - Naum SorkinNaum SorkinNaum Semyonovich Sorkin was a Soviet military officer and diplomat.A Red Army veteran of the Russian Civil War, Sorkin was sent to Mongolia as an artillery instructor for the Mongolian People's Army in 1923, where he later served as a consular official in Altanbulag and first secretary at the...
, Red Army military intelligence chief in the Far East (Major-General) - V. VolodarskyV. VolodarskyV. Volodarsky was a Marxist revolutionary and early Soviet politician. He was assassinated in 1918.-Early years:Moisei Markovich Goldstein V. Volodarsky was a Marxist revolutionary and early Soviet politician. He was assassinated in 1918.-Early years:Moisei Markovich Goldstein V. Volodarsky was...
(born Moisei Goldstein), communist revolutionary - Mark ZborowskiMark ZborowskiMark Zborowski was an anthropologist and an NKVD agent...
, Soviet spy - Iona YakirIona YakirIona Emmanuilovich Yakir was the Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II.-Early years:...
, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II - Mishka YaponchikMishka YaponchikMishka Yaponchik was a Odessa gangster, Jewish revolutionary, and Soviet military leader.-Early years:Born as Moisei Wolfovich Vinnitskiy to family of a Jewish wagon-builder Meer-Wolf Mordkoich Vinnitskiy by some records in stanitsa Golta , Mishka was around 4 years of age, Vinnitsky's family...
, gangster, leader of the Odessa Jewish Resistance group in 1917-1921
Other Historical figures
- Michael DorfmanMichael DorfmanMichael Dorfman is a Jewish writer, essayist, journalist, and human rights activist. Revivalist of the Yiddish culture among the Russian Jews....
, Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist - Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), Rabbi, founder of Hasidic JudaismHasidic JudaismHasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
- Shlomo GanzfriedShlomo GanzfriedShlomo Ganzfried was an Orthodox rabbi and posek best known as author of the work of Halakha , the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch , by which title he is also known.- Biography :Ganzfried was born in the year 1804 in Uzhhorod in the Carpathian region of the...
, Rabbi - Fanny KaplanFanny KaplanFanny Yefimovna Kaplan , also known as Fanya Kaplan and as Dora Kaplan), was a Russian political revolutionary and an attempted assassin of Vladimir Lenin.-Biography:...
, would-be assassin of Lenin - Menachem Mendel SchneersonMenachem Mendel SchneersonMenachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
, RebbeRebbeRebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of the Chabad-LubavitchChabadChabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
branch of Hasidic JudaismHasidic JudaismHasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
Business figures
- Leon BagritLeon BagritSir Leon Bagrit was a leading British industrialist and pioneer of automation.Born to Russian-Jewish parents in Kiev, Ukraine , Sir Leon studied law at Birkbeck College in the University of London, formed his own company in 1935, and for many years headed the revamped firm of Elliott-Automation...
, pioneer of automation - Zino Davidoff
- Bernard DelfontBernard DelfontBernard Delfont, Baron Delfont , born Boris Winogradsky, was a leading Russian-born British theatrical impresario....
, impresario - Leslie GradeLeslie GradeLeslie Grade was a British talent agent and executive with The Grade Organisation. He was born Laszlo Winogradsky in Tokmak, Ukraine, Russian Empire...
, executive - Lew GradeLew GradeLew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
, founder of ATVAssociated TeleVisionAssociated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982... - Lev Hinsburh (Lev Ginsburg), Ukrainian proprietor, businessman, a member of the First Guild, famous for his skyscraper in Kyiv (Ginsburg House), later invited to ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
for similar projects - Max LevchinMax LevchinMax Rafael Levchin is a Ukrainian-born American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur widely known as one of the co-founders and for his role as the former chief technology officer of PayPal....
, co-founder of PayPalPayPalPayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders.... - Hryhoriy SurkisHryhoriy SurkisHryhoriy Surkis is a Ukrainian businessman and politician. Surkis is the president of Football Federation of Ukraine....
, head of public organization Football Federation of UkraineFootball Federation of UkraineThe Football Federation of Ukraine is the governing body of football in Ukraine. It governs the football competitions for the Ukrainian Professional League, including the Ukrainian Cup, the Amatory, the competitions among the youth , and also the Ukraine national football team. It also sets the...
, Ukrainian parliamentary - Viktor VekselbergViktor VekselbergViktor Felixovich Vekselberg is the owner and president of Renova Group, a large Russian conglomerate.-Business empire:Victor Vekselberg was born in 1957 in Western Ukraine. He graduated from the Moscow Transportation Engineering Institute in 1979...
, billionaire, steelmaker
Natural scientists
- Waldemar HaffkineWaldemar HaffkineWaldemar Mordecai Wolff Haffkine, CIE was a Russian Jewish bacteriologist, whose career was blighted in Russia because "he refused to convert to Russian Orthodoxy." He emigrated and worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where he developed an anti-cholera vaccine that he tried out successfully...
, biologist, vaccine against colera and plague - Boris HessenBoris HessenBoris Mikhailovich Hessen , also Gessen was a Soviet physicist, philosopher and historian of science...
, physicist - Abram Ioffe, nuclear scientist
- Veniamin LevichVeniamin LevichVeniamin Grigorievich Levich was a physicist, an expert in the field of electrochemical hydrodynamics. His research activities also included gas-phase collision reactions, the quantum mechanics of electron transfer...
, electrochemist - Alexander VilenkinAlexander VilenkinAlexander Vilenkin is Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute of Cosmology at Tufts University. A theoretical physicist who has been working in the field of cosmology for 25 years, Vilenkin has written over 150 papers and is responsible for introducing the ideas of eternal inflation and...
, cosmologist
- Selman WaksmanSelman WaksmanSelman Abraham Waksman was an American biochemist and microbiologist whose research into organic substances—largely into organisms that live in soil—and their decomposition promoted the discovery of Streptomycin, and several other antibiotics...
, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1952)
Mathematicians
- Georgy Adelson-VelskyGeorgy Adelson-VelskyGeorgy Maximovich Adelson-Velsky , is a Soviet mathematician and computer scientist. Along with E.M. Landis, he invented the AVL tree in 1962....
, mathematician
- Vladimir ArnoldVladimir ArnoldVladimir Igorevich Arnold was a Soviet and Russian mathematician. While he is best known for the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem regarding the stability of integrable Hamiltonian systems, he made important contributions in several areas including dynamical systems theory, catastrophe theory,...
, mathematician - Mark NaimarkMark NaimarkMark Aronovich Naimark was a Soviet mathematician.He was born in Odessa, Russian Empire into a Jewish family and died in Moscow, USSR...
Social scientists
- Solomon BuberSolomon BuberSolomon Buber 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 research surrounding those texts....
, Hebraist - Ariel DurantAriel DurantAriel Durant was the co-author of The Story of Civilization.-Biography:Durant was born in Proskurov as Chaya Kaufman to Ethel Appel Kaufman and Joseph Kaufman. The family emigrated to the United States in 1901. She met her future husband, Will Durant, while a student at Ferrer Modern School in...
, historian, - Boris EichenbaumBoris EichenbaumBoris Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum, or Eichenbaum was a Russian and Soviet literary scholar, and historian of Russian literature. He is a representative of Russian formalism.- Biography :...
, historian - Mikhail EpsteinMikhail EpsteinMikhail Naumovich Epstein is an American literary theorist and critical thinker. He is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia...
, literary theorist - Moshe FeldenkraisMoshé FeldenkraisMoshé Pinchas Feldenkrais was an Israeli physicist and the founder of the Feldenkrais Method, designed to improve human functioning by increasing self-awareness through movement.-Biography:...
, inventor of the Feldenkrais methodFeldenkrais methodThe Feldenkrais Method is a somatic educational system designed by Moshé Feldenkrais . The Feldenkrais method aims to improve movement repertoire, aiming to expand and refine the use of the self through awareness, in order to reduce pain or limitations in movement, and promote general well-being... - Alexander GerschenkronAlexander GerschenkronAlexander Gerschenkron was a Russian-born American Jewish economic historian and professor in Harvard, trained in the Austrian School of economics.Gerschenkron kept to his roots - in his economics, history and as a critic of Russian literature...
, economic historian - Jean GottmannJean GottmannJean Gottmann FRS was a French geographer who was most widely known for his seminal study on the urban region of the Northeast Megalopolis. His main contributions to human geography were in the sub-fields of urban, political, economic, historical and regional geography...
, geographer - Jacob MarschakJacob MarschakJacob Marschak was an American economist of Ukrainian Jewish origin.- Life :...
, economist
Musicians
- Simon BarereSimon BarereSimon Barere was a renowned Russian pianist. His Russian surname Барер is transliterated Barer, however, as an adult he changed the spelling to Barere in order to reduce the frequency of mispronunciation.-Biography:...
, pianist - Felix BlumenfeldFelix BlumenfeldFelix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld was a Russian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher.He was born in Kovalevka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire , the son of Austrian Mikhail Frantsevich Blumenfeld and the Polish Marie Szymanowska, and studied composition at the St...
, pianist - Shura CherkasskyShura CherkasskyShura Cherkassky was an American classical pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone...
, pianist - Isaak DunayevskyIsaak DunayevskyIsaak Osipovich Dunayevsky was the biggest Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who achieved huge success in music for operetta and film comedies, frequently working with the film director Grigori Aleksandrov...
, composer - Mischa Elman, violinist
- Anthony FedorovAnthony FedorovAnatoliy Vladimirovich "Anthony" Fedorov is an American singer who was the fourth place finalist on the fourth season of the American Idol.- Biography :...
, singer, American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
finalist - Samuil FeinbergSamuil FeinbergSamuil Yevgenyevich Feinberg was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist. Raised in Moscow, he entered the Moscow Conservatory and studied under Alexander Goldenweiser. He is most remembered today for his complete recording of Bach's The Well-Tempered Clavier and many transcriptions. Feinberg...
, composer - Emil GilelsEmil GilelsEmil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist, widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.His last name is sometimes transliterated Hilels.-Biography:...
, pianist - Maria GrinbergMaria GrinbergMaria Grinberg , was a Ukrainian pianist and teacher....
, pianist - Jascha HorensteinJascha HorensteinJascha Horenstein was an American conductor.Horenstein was born in Kiev, Russian Empire , into a well-to-do Jewish family; his mother came from an Austrian rabbinical family and his father was Russian....
, conductor - Vladimir HorowitzVladimir HorowitzVladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
, pianist - Tina KarolTina KarolTina Karol , born Tatiana Grigorievna Liberman , is a Ukrainian singer. Karol represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006.- Biography :...
, singer - Leonid Kogan, violinist
- Mikhail KopelmanMikhail KopelmanMikhail Kopelman is a Ukrainian violinist.He was born in 1947 in the Transkarpathian city of Mikhail Kopelman is a [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[violin]]ist.He was born in 1947 in the Transkarpathian city of...
, violinist - Oleg MaisenbergOleg Maisenberg-Early life and career:Born 29 April 1945 to a Jewish family in Odessa, Oleg Maisenberg received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of five. He completed his studies at the Central Music School Kishinev and at the Gnessin Institute in Moscow with Professor Jocheles...
, pianist - Samuel MaykaparSamuel MaykaparSamuil Moiseevich Maykapar was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of outstanding piano practice pieces that became international grand classics....
, composer/pianist - Nathan MilsteinNathan MilsteinNathan Mironovich Milstein 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 for works from the Romantic period...
, violinist - Benno MoiseiwitschBenno MoiseiwitschBenno Moiseiwitsch CBE was a Ukrainian-born British pianist.-Biography:Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Moiseiwitsch began his studies at age seven at the Odessa Music Academy. He won the Anton Rubinstein Prize when he was just nine years old. He later took lessons from Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna...
, pianist - David OistrakhDavid OistrakhDavid Fyodorovich Oistrakh , , David Fiodorović Ojstrakh, ; – October 24, 1974, was a Soviet violinist....
, violinist - Igor OistrakhIgor OistrakhIgor Oistrakh is a Russian violinist.He was born in Odessa, Ukraine and is the son of violinist David Oistrakh. He attended the Central Music School in Moscow and made his concert debut in 1948. From 1949 to 1955 he studied at the Moscow Conservatory, winning first prizes and international...
, violinist (Jewish father) - Leo OrnsteinLeo OrnsteinLeo Ornstein was a leading American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century...
, composer - Gregor PiatigorskyGregor PiatigorskyGregor Piatigorsky was a Russian-born American cellist.-Early life:...
, cellist - Pokrass brothers, composers
- Mark Donskoy, Soviet film director
- Heinrich SchenkerHeinrich SchenkerHeinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis....
, music theorist - Joseph SchillingerJoseph SchillingerJoseph Schillinger was a composer, music theorist, and composition teacher. He was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and died in New York City.-Life and career:...
, composer, music theorist, and composition teacher - Leo SirotaLeo SirotaLeo Sirota was a Jewish pianist born in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Podolskaya Guberniya, Russian Empire, now Ukraine....
, pianist - Isaac SternIsaac SternIsaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
, violinist - Yakov ZakYakov ZakYakov Izrailevich Zak , , Jiakov Israilevič Sak; Odessa, - Moscow, June 28, 1976) was a Soviet pianist and teacher of Jewish extraction.Born in Odessa, Zak studied piano at the Odessa Conservatory with Maria Starkhova, took classes on special harmony with Mykola Vilinsky, and later studied with...
, pianist
Performing and fine artists
- Jacob AdlerJacob Pavlovich AdlerJacob Pavlovich Adler , born Yankev P. Adler, was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and New York City....
, actor - Nathan AltmanNathan AltmanNathan Isaevich Altman was a Jewish, Russian and Soviet avant-garde artist, Cubist painter, stage designer and book illustrator who was born, grew up and began his art studies in Ukraine, Russian Empire.-Early life:He was born in Vinnytsia, Russian Empire to a family of Russian...
, painter and stage - Boris AronsonBoris AronsonBoris Aronson was an American scenic designer for Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He won the Tony Award for Scenic Design six times in his career.-Biography:...
, painter & designer - Nudie CohnNudie CohnNudie Cohn was a Russian-born American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as "Nudie Suits", and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era. He also became famous for his outrageous customized automobiles.-Early life:Cohn was...
, fashion designer - Sonia DelaunaySonia DelaunaySonia Delaunay was a Jewish-French artist who, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. Her work extends to painting, textile design and stage set design...
, painter - Maya DerenMaya DerenMaya Deren , born Eleanora Derenkowsky, was an American avant-garde filmmaker and film theorist of the 1940s and 1950s...
, filmmaker - Boris EfimovBoris EfimovBoris Yefimovich Yefimov was a Soviet political cartoonist best known for his critical political caricatures of Adolf Hitler and other Nazis produced before and during the Second World War, and was the chief illustrator of the newspaper Izvestia...
, cartoonist - Abraham GoldfadenAbraham GoldfadenAbraham Goldfaden ; was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays.Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.In 1876 he founded in...
(1840–1908), playwright and theatre director - Alexander GranachAlexander GranachAlexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
, Actor in theater and film (Berlin & Germany, Poland, USSR, Hollywood and Broadway). (1890–1945) - Boris IofanBoris IofanBoris Mihailovich Iofan was a Russian Soviet architect, known for his Stalinist architecture buildings like 1931 House on Embankment and the 1931-1933 winning draft of the Palace of Soviets.- Background :...
, architect - Ilya KabakovIlya KabakovIlya Kabakov, Russian Илья́ Ио́сифович Кабако́в , is a Russian-American conceptual artist of Jewish descent, born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. He worked for thirty years in Moscow, from the 1950s until the late 1980s. He now lives and works on Long Island...
, conceptualist artist (Jewish father) - Yevgeny KhaldeiYevgeny KhaldeiYevgeny Khaldei was a Red Army photographer, best known for his World War II photograph of a Soviet soldier Raising a flag over the Reichstag, in Berlin, capital of the vanquished Nazi Germany .-Life:...
, photographer - Aleksei KaplerAleksei KaplerAleksei Yakovlevich Kapler ;Kiev, was a Soviet filmmaker, screenwriter, actor, and writer. He was known as an anchor and director of the TV program Kinopanorama...
, film artist - Jerzy Kawalerowicz , polish filmmaker
- Jacob KramerJacob KramerJacob Kramer was a Ukrainian-born painter who spent all of his working life in England.-Life and work:...
, painter - Mila KunisMila KunisMilena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
, actress - Morris LapidusMorris LapidusMorris Lapidus was the architect of Neo-baroque Miami Modern hotels that has since come to define the 1950s resort-hotel style synonymous with Miami and Miami Beach....
, architect - Anatole LitvakAnatole LitvakAnatole Litvak was a Ukrainian-born filmmaker who wrote, directed, and produced films in a various countries and languages...
, director - Alla NazimovaAlla NazimovaAlla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...
, actress - Louise Nevelson, sculptor
- Solomon NikritinSolomon NikritinSolomon Nikritin was a Ukrainian painter, avant-garde artist , graphic artist, designer, and author.- Biography :Solomon Nikritin was born in Chernihiv, Ukraine.In 1909–1914 he attended Kiev Art School ....
, painter - Leonard NimoyLeonard NimoyLeonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
, actor - Jules OlitskiJules OlitskiJules Olitski was an American abstract painter, printmaker, and sculptor.-Early life:Olitski was born Jevel Demikovski in Snovsk, in the Russian SFSR , a few months after his father, a commissar, was executed by the Russian government...
, painter - Leonid PasternakLeonid PasternakLeonid Osipovich Pasternak was a Russian post-impressionist painter. He was the father of the poet and novelist Boris Pasternak.-Biography:...
, painter - Antoine PevsnerAntoine PevsnerAntoine Pevsner was a Belarusian and Russian sculptor and the older brother of Alexii Pevsner and Naum Gabo. Both Antoine and Naum are considered pioneers of twentieth-century sculpture.Pevsner was born in Klimavichy, Belarus...
, sculptor - Elena RalphElena RalphElena Ralph is a beauty queen who has represented Israel in the Miss Universe pageant.Ralph won the Miss Israel 2005 title and went on to represent Israel in the Miss Universe 2005 beauty pageant held in Bangkok, Thailand. She made the top ten in the internationally televised pageant, which was...
, model - William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, actor - Yakov SmirnoffYakov SmirnoffYakov Naumovich Pokhis , better known as Yakov Smirnoff, is a Ukrainian-born American comedian, painter and teacher. He was popular in the 1980s for comedy performances in which he used irony and word play to contrast life under the Communist regime in his native Soviet Union with life in the...
, American comedian - Mikhail TurovskyMikhail TurovskyMikhail Turovsky is an American artist-painter, and writer-aphorist, resident in New York since 1979.-Early life and education:Mikhail Turovsky was born in 1933 in Kiev. During the Second World War, he was evacuated to Samarkand with his mother and an older brother...
, painter - Roman Turovsky, painter
Writers and poets
- Sholom AleichemSholom AleichemSholem Aleichem was the pen name of Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich, a leading Yiddish author and playwright...
, Yiddish-language writer - Isaac BabelIsaac BabelIsaak Emmanuilovich Babel was a Russian language journalist, playwright, literary translator, and short story writer. He is best known as the author of Red Cavalry, Story of My Dovecote, and Tales of Odessa, all of which are considered masterpieces of Russian literature...
, writer - Eduard BagritskyEduard BagritskyEduard Bagritsky , real name Dzyubin , was an important Russian and Soviet poet of the Constructivist School.He was a Neo-Romantic early in his poetic career; he was also a part of the so-called Odessa School of Russian writers...
, poet - Hayyim Nahman BialikHayyim Nahman BialikHayim Nahman Bialik , also Chaim or Haim, was a Jewish poet who wrote in Hebrew. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet.-Biography:...
, poet - Yosef Haim BrennerYosef Haim BrennerYosef Haim Brenner was a Russian-born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature.-Biography:Brenner was born to a poor Jewish family in Novi Mlini, Russian Empire...
, Hebrew-language writer - Sasha ChernySasha ChernySasha Chorny , real name Alexander Mikhailovich Glickberg, was a Russian poet, satirist and children's writer.-Early years:...
, poet - Michael DorfmanMichael DorfmanMichael Dorfman is a Jewish writer, essayist, journalist, and human rights activist. Revivalist of the Yiddish culture among the Russian Jews....
, journalist and esseyst - Moysey FishbeinMoysey FishbeinMoysey Fishbeyn is an influential Ukrainian poet and translator of Jewish origin. He was born in 1946 in Chernivtsi, in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union .-Biography:...
, poet - Ilya EhrenburgIlya EhrenburgIlya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg was a Soviet writer, journalist, translator, and cultural figure.Ehrenburg is among the most prolific and notable authors of the Soviet Union; he published around one hundred titles. He became known first and foremost as a novelist and a journalist - in particular, as a...
, writer - Alexander Galich, playwright poet
- Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'Am), Hebrew-language writer
- Lydia GinzburgLydia GinzburgLidiya Yakovlevna Ginzburg was a major Soviet literary critic and historian and a survivor of the siege of Leningrad.She was born in Odessa in 1902 and moved to Leningrad in 1922...
, writer - Jacob Gordin, American playwright
- Alexander GranachAlexander GranachAlexander Granach was a popular German actor in the 1920s and 1930s.- Biography :Granach was born Jessaja Granach in Werbowitz to Jewish parents and rose to theatrical prominence at the Volksbühne in Berlin...
, Brilliant autobiography - Vasily GrossmanVasily GrossmanVasily Semyonovich Grossman was a Soviet writer and journalist. Grossman trained as an engineer and worked in the Donets Basin, but changed career in the 1930s and published short stories and several novels...
, writer - Ilya IlfIlya IlfIlya Ilf was an extremely popular Soviet author of the 1920s and 1930s, who worked in collaboration with Yevgeni Petrov. See Ilf and Petrov for more info....
, writer - Vera InberVera InberVera Mikhailovna Inber, born Shpenzer, was a Russian-Soviet poet and writer.-Biography:...
, poet - Alejandro JodorowskyAlejandro JodorowskyAlejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky, known as Alejandro Jodorowsky, is a Chilean filmmaker, playwright, actor, author, comic book writer and spiritual guru...
, Spanish-language writer and filmmaker - A.M. Klein, poet
- Pavel Kogan, poet
- Lev KopelevLev KopelevLev Zalmanovich Kopelev was a Soviet author and a dissident.- Biography :...
, author and dissident - Leonid A Lieberman, Soviet journalist for Chess & Checkers Sports Magazines
- Clarice LispectorClarice LispectorClarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist...
, writer from Brazil. - Benedikt LivshitsBenedikt LivshitsBenedikt Konstantinovich Livshits /January 6, 1887 — September 21, 1938) was a poet and writer of the Silver Age of Russian Poetry, a French–Russian poetry translator....
, writer - Nadezhda MandelstamNadezhda MandelstamNadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam was a Russian writer and educator, and the wife of the poet Osip Mandelstam, who died in 1938 in a transit camp to the gulag of Siberia...
, writer - Yunna MoritsYunna MoritsYunna Morits , is a Soviet and Russian artist of many talents primarily known as a poet, was born in Kiev, USSR in a Jewish family. Her father Pinchas Moritz, was imprisoned under Stalin, she suffered from tuberculosis in her childhood, and spent years of hardship in the Urals during WWII...
, poet - Anatoli Rybakov, writer
- Boris SlutskyBoris SlutskyBoris Slutsky was a Soviet poet of Russian language.Lived his childhood and youth in Harkov. In the year 1937 entered the law institute of Moscow, and since1939 studied also at the Institute of literature "Maxim Gorky" till 1941....
, war-time poet - Shaul TchernichovskyShaul TchernichovskyShaul Tchernichovsky , was a Russian-born Hebrew poet. He is considered one of the great Hebrew poets, identified with nature poetry, and as a poet greatly influenced by the culture of ancient Greece.- Life :...
, poet and translator
Chess players
- Alexander BeliavskyAlexander Beliavsky-External links:...
- Ossip BernsteinOssip BernsteinOssip Samoilovich Bernstein was a Russian chess grandmaster and a financial lawyer.-Biography:...
- Isaac BoleslavskyIsaac BoleslavskyIsaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
- David BronsteinDavid BronsteinDavid Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
, World Championship challenger - Iossif Dorfman
- Louis EisenbergLouis EisenbergLouis R. Eisenberg 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 journeyed to Monte Carlo to participate in the international masters’ tournament...
- Alexander EvensohnAlexander EvensohnAlexandr Moyseyevich Evensohn was a Russian chess master.-Biography:In 1909, Evensohn took 7th at Kiev. The event was won by Nikolaev. In 1911, he took 3rd, behind Efim Bogoljubow and Izbinsky, at Kiev. In 1911, he took 4th at Kiev. The event was won by Fedor Bohatirchuk...
- Efim GellerEfim GellerEfim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
- Eduard GufeldEduard GufeldEduard Yefimovich Gufeld was a Soviet International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess author.By the late 1950s he established himself as one of the strongest players in the world...
- Ilya GurevichIlya GurevichIlya Gurevich is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster.He became a chess master at 12 years, 3 months. He was a student at Yeshiva Academy in Worcester, Massachusetts.In 1983, he won the U.S...
- Mikhail GurevichMikhail Gurevich (chess player)Mikhail Naumovich Gurevich is a Soviet chess player. He lived in Belgium from 1991 to 2005 and since then resides in Turkey....
- Nicolai JasnogrodskyNicolai JasnogrodskyNicolai Jasnogrodsky was a Russian–born American chess master.Jasnogrodsky started to play competitive chess around 1885 in Vienna, and moved to England in the 1880s. He tied for 4-5th at Amsterdam 1889 Nicolai Jasnogrodsky (6 August 1859, Lubny – 23 April 1914, New York) was a Russian–born...
- Gregory KaidanovGregory KaidanovGregory Kaidanov is a Grandmaster of chess.As of April 2007, his Elo rating was 2587, making him the #9 player in the US and the 179th-highest rated player in the world. His peak rating was 2646 in 2002....
- Alexander KonstantinopolskyAlexander KonstantinopolskyAlexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky was a Soviet International Master of chess, chess coach and trainer, and a chess author. He was a five-time Kiev champion, and trained the world title challenger David Bronstein from a young age...
- Konstantin LernerKonstantin LernerKonstantin Zaivelevich Lerner was a Ukrainian chess grandmaster...
- Moishe LowtzkyMoishe Lowtzky-Biography:He was born into a Jewish family in Ukraine. In 1903, Lowtzky tied for 6-7th with Eugene Znosko-Borovsky in Kiev . The event was won by Mikhail Chigorin. In 1903, he took 4th in Dresden . In 1904, he tied for 2nd-3rd in Coburg . In 1910, he tied for 1st with Thoenes in Hamburg...
- Vladimir MalaniukVladimir MalaniukVladimir Pavlovich Malaniuk is a Ukrainian chess Grandmaster....
- Sam PalatnikSam PalatnikSemon Alexandrovich Palatnik is a Ukrainian-American chess Grandmaster, born in Odessa.He won four team and individual gold medals at the 20th World Student Team Chess Championship at Teesside 1974, and 21st World Student Team Championship at Caracas 1976.Some of his tournament results include...
- Ernest PogosyantsErnest PogosyantsErnest Levonovich Pogosyants was a Soviet composer of chess problems and endgame studies. He composed about 6,000 problems and studies, almost as many chess puzzles as the 6,500 created by T. R. Dawson...
- Iosif PogrebysskyIosif PogrebysskyIosif Benediktovich Pogrebyssky was a Ukrainian chess master.He played several times in Ukrainian Chess Championship, and took 3rd at Poltava 1927 , took 5th at Odessa 1928 , shared 1st at Kiev 1936, took 2nd, behind Fedor Bogatyrchuk, at Kiev 1937, and tied for 2nd-3rd...
- Leonid SteinLeonid SteinLeonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :...
- Mark TaimanovMark TaimanovMark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
- Boris VerlinskyBoris VerlinskyBoris Markovich Verlinsky was a Ukrainian-Russian International Master of chess. He was one of the top Soviet players of the 1920s, and was in the top 20 in the world in 1926, clearly of Grandmaster strength at that time...
- Yakov VilnerYakov VilnerYakov Vilner was a Ukrainian chess master.-Biography:Vilner won the Odessa chess championships four times . He won the Ukrainian championships three times; at Kiev 1924 , at Kharkov 1925 , and at Odessa 1928...
See also
- History of the Jews in UkraineHistory of the Jews in UkraineJewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of Kievan Rus' and developed many of the most distinctive modern Jewish theological and cultural traditions. While at times they flourished, at other times they faced periods of persecution and antisemitic discriminatory...
- List of Galician Jews
- List of Jews born in the former Russian Empire