List of Jews from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

:"This List of Jews contains individuals who, in accordance with Wikipedia's and policies, have been identified as Jews by ."

A few years before the Shoah, the Jewish population of the Soviet lands (excluding the Baltic states) stood at over 5 million, most of whom were Ashkenazic as opposed to Sephardic, with some Karaite minorities. It is estimated that over half died directly as a result of the Shoah. Many more emigrated to Israel, USA, Argentina, and Germany, though Russia and Ukraine still have among the larger Jewish populations in the world today (440,000 Russia, 300,000 Ukraine). The following is a list of Jews from the Soviet Union lands. It is geographically defined, so it includes people born before the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922 and people who became prominent subsequent to its break-up in 1991.

("Note": Baltic, East European and Asian Jews are on different lists.)

Historical figures

Politicians

* Georgy Arbatov, Soviet politician, academic & political advisor [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_a.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Dimitri Bogrov, Soviet politician [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSjews.htm Russian Jews ] ]
* Anatoly Chubais, Deputy Prime Minister, now Chairman of UES [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_c.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] (half-Jewish)
* Mikhail Fradkov, Prime Minister [ (half-Jewish) [http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/030104Fradkov.shtml] : "Russian Jew named prime minister ... If approved, Fradkov would be the first identified Jew to serve as Russia's prime minister".]
* Adolf Joffe, Bolshevik diplomat [Albert S. Lindemann. "Esau's Tears: Modern Anti-Semitism and the Rise of the Jews", Cambridge University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-521-79538-9 (pbk), p.430] [http://www.judaica.com.br/materias/020_04a10.htm Revista JUDAICA - No. 020 ] ]
* Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician [ [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9044306/Lazar-Moiseyevich-Kaganovich Encyclopaedia Britannica] ] [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_k.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] [ [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0714646199&id=bJBH5pxzSyMC&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&ots=xXDeElEHJL&dq=%22Lazar+Kaganovich%22+JEW&sig=Sc2pumbAJDJJjQE5VCKDegHACFM] ]
* Lev Kamenev, Bolshevik leader [http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=276745 FJC | News | A Jewish Renaissance in Russia ] ] (Jewish father)
* Maxim Litvinov, Soviet ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs [ [http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=69 Churchill and the Baltics - The Churchill Centre ] ]
* Julius Martov, Menshevik leader [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_m.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Boris Nemtsov, Deputy Prime Minister [ [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/5753/edition_id/107/format/html/displaystory.html j. - Russian Jewish reformist moves up Kremlin ladder ] ]
* Karl Radek, Soviet politician [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_r.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Grigory Sokolnikov, Bolshevik politician [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_s.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Yakov Sverdlov, Bolshevik leader, the first head of state of the Russian SFSR
* Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik politician, the founder of the Red Army [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_t.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] ["Trotsky was born of Jewish parents in the S Ukraine." [http://www.bartleby.com/65/tr/Trotsky.html "Trotsky, Leon"] , The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05.] ["His father was a prosperous Jewish farmer. After attending a Jewish primary school, Trotsky became a student at a state school in the city of Odesa (Odessa) in 1888..." [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761557000/Trotsky.html "Leon Trotsky"] , Encarta, 2007.]
* Moisei Uritsky, Soviet politician [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_u.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Genrikh Yagoda, head of Secret Police in the Stalin era (1934-1936) [Zvi Gitelman. A Century of Ambivalence: The Jews of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1881 to the Present, 2nd expanded edition, Indiana University Press, 1988, 2001, ISBN 0-253-21418-1 ] [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_y.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Grigory Yavlinsky, Russian politician, head of a liberal "Yabloko" party (half Jewish)
* Grigory Zinoviev, Soviet politician [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Zinovyev was born to lower middle-class Jewish parents"]
*Vladimir Zhirinovsky - a Russian politician, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vice-Chairman of the State Duma, and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1446759.stm Zhirinovsky admits Jewish roots] BBC News]

Israeli politicians

* Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister, Nobel Prize (1978) [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_b.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/begin.html Menachem Begin ] ]
* Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel (1952-63) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/ben-zvi.html Yitzhak Ben­Zvi ] ]
* Shmuel Dayan, Zionist activist, Israeli politician [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Sdayan.html Shemuel Dayan ] ]
* Levi Eshkol, Israeli Prime Minister (1963-69) [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_e.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/eshkol.html Levi Eshkol ] ]
* Ephraim Katzir, fourth President of Israel (1973-78) [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_k.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ] [ [http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/government/branches%20of%20government/executive/office%20of%20the%20president Office of the President ] ]
* Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs (2006-2008) [ [http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=214 Knesset Member, Avigdor Liberman ] ]
* Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister (1969-74) [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_m.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ] [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/meir.html Golda Meir ] ]
* Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister (1984-86), Nobel Prize (1994) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/peres.html Shimon Peres ] ]
* Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli Prime Minister (1983-84, 1986-92) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/shamir.html Yitzhak Shamir ] ]
* Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician [ [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/july-dec97/sharansky_7-22.html Online NewsHour: Natan Sharansky - July 22, 1997 ] ]
* Moshe Sharett, Israeli Prime Minister (1954-55) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sharett.html Moshe Sharett ] ]
* Zalman Shazar, third President of Israel (1963-73) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/shazar.html Zalman Shazar ] ]
* Chaim Weizman, first President of Israel (1949-52) [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_v.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ] [ [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/bios/weiz.html Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) ] ]

Israeli military persons

* Yaakov Dori, the first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (1948-1949) [ [http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kurenets/k_pages/stories_pintov_dori.html The Pintov/ Dori Family ] ]
* Vladimir Jabotinsky, founder of British Jewish Legion [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_z.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ] [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/jabotinsky.html Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky ] ]
* Chaim Laskov, the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1958-1961) [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Laskov.html Haim Laskov ] ]
* Yitzhak Sadeh, Palmach commander and one of the IDF founders. [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sadeh.html Born in Lublin, Poland, Sadeh began his military career in the Russian army during the First World War. He was decorated for bravery and rose to be a battalion commander. He emigrated to Erez Israel in 1920, upon hearing of the death of Joseph Trumpeldor, whom he had met three years earlier.] ]
* Joseph Trumpeldor, founder of British Jewish Legion and early pioneer-settler in Israel (born in Pyatigorsk) [Slutsky, Yehuda. "Trumpeldor, Joseph." Encyclopaedia Judaica Vol. 20. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 159-160]
* Tzvi Tzur, the sixth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1961-1964) [ [http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=588 Knesset Member, Zvi Tsur ] ]

oldiers and Revolutionaries

* Osip Aptekman, revolutionary [ [http://www.ditext.com/yarmolinsky/yar12.html Road to Revolution ] ]
* Pavel Axelrod, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary [ [http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Pavel+Axelrod%22+JEWish] ]
* Yevno Azef, revolutionary [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_a.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Yakov Blumkin, Soviet spy [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_b.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet Front Commander, WWII [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,885592,00.html?promoid=googlep Stage Wait - TIME ] ]
* Fedor Dan, revolutionary [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_d.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Leo Deutsch, revolutionary ["Deutsch, Leo" Encyclopaedia Judaica. Eds. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. Vol. 5. 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA]
* David Dragunsky, Soviet tank brigade commander, WWII
* Raya Dunayevskaya, founder of Marxist Humanism in the U.S. [ [http://www.newsandletters.org/Issues/2003/Jan-Feb/RDSRL_Jan03.htm Review: German scholar's view of Dunayevskaya's Luxemburg ] ]
* Gesya Gelfman, revolutionary [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_g.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Grigory Gershuni, revolutionary
* Moshe Gildenman, partisan commander [ [http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/albums/palbum/p03/a0167p3.html] ]
* Grigory Goldenberg, revolutionary
* Olga Kameneva, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of Leon Trotsky) [ [http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/harrison/archive/persa/041.pdf Microsoft Word - 041cover.doc ] ]
* Walter Krivitsky, Soviet spy
* Semyon Krivoshein, Soviet mechanized corps commander, WWII
* Rodion Malinovsky, Soviet front commander, WWII, Minister of Defence (Jewish origin is disputed)
* Mark Natanson, revolutionary [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_n.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Alexander Parvus, revolutionary [ [http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20021125&s=pipes112502] ]
* Sidney Reilly,(Born Shlomo Rosenblum) a Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent [Andrew Cook, "M: Mi5's First Spymaster (Revealing History)", 2004, Tempus Publishing, ISBN 0-7524-2896-9.]
* Theodore Rothstein, Russian-British communist [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_r.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Pinhas Rutenberg, Zionist, Social revolutionary
* Israel and Manya Shochat, fonders of the Hashomer movement
* Moisei Uritsky, communist revolutionary [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_u.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* V. Volodarsky, communist revolutionary [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_v.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Iona Yakir, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_y.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]

Others

* Michael Dorfman, Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist
* Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), Rabbi, founder of Chassidic Judaism
* David Dubinsky, American labor leader
* Shlomo Ganzfried, Rabbi
* Fanya Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin
* Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Chassidic Judaism
* Boris Volynov, Soviet Astronaut; the first Jewish person in space (Jewish mother)

Business figures

* Roman Abramovich, billionaire, owner of Chelsea F.C. [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=324066&contrassID=2&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y TheMarker.com ] ]
* Pyotr Aven, billionaire
* Leon Bagrit, pioneer of automation [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,940215,00.html?promoid=googlep Time Magazine] ]
* Bernhard Baron, cigarette maker and philanthropist [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr-uk/Community/Brightonh.htm JCR-UK - Paper on Brighton Jewish Community ] ]
* Sergey Brin,billionaire, co-founder of Google [ [http://bnaibrith.org/pubs/bnaibrith/spring2006bbm/searchmeisters2.cfm The Searchmeisters, page 2, Spring 2006 B'nai B'rith Magazine ] ]
* Zino Davidoff
* Bernard Delfont, impresario [ [http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/bernard%20delfont.htm East End history, London history, End End of London, Bernard Delfont, london vacation, Lew Grade, Spitalfields ] ]
* Mikhail Fridman, billionaire
* Arcadi Gaydamak, billionaire, owner of Portsmouth F.C., AJ Auxerre and Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin FC [ [http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/062805JTA_Gaydamak.shtml NCSJ - Profile: Russian Jewish Leader Arcadi Gaydamak ] ]
* Leslie Grade, executive [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/236393.stm BBC News | UK | Celebrities say farewell to Grade ] ]
* Lew Grade, founder of ATV [ [http://www.space1999.net/~catacombs/main/crguide/vcp.html Producers ] ]
* Vladimir Gusinsky, exile, billionaire, former media tycoon [ [http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/moscow/gusinsky.html FRONTLINE/WORLD . Moscow - Rich in Russia . How to Make a Billion Dollars - Vladimir Gusinsky | PBS ] ]
* Boris Khait, businessman and vice-president of the Russian Jewish Congress [ [http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp414.htm "The Role of Politics in Contemporary Russian Antisemitism" by Betsy Gidwitz ] ]
* Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal [ [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/26/BUGHIHDT5N1.DTL&hw=max+levchin&sn=001&sc=1000 Max Levchin likes the edge / Starting another company was the natural thing to do for PayPal co-founder ] ]
* Morris Markin, founder of Checker Cab [ [http://www.darnton.ws/~lane/Checker_story.html Checker Origin & History ] ]
* Michael Marks, co-founder of Marks and Spencers [ [http://www.bh.org.il/NAMES/POW/Marks.asp Personality of the Week - Marks ] ]
* Alexander Mashkevich, businessman [ [http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/030702Russia.shtml Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Jews of Former Soviet Countries Create International Council ] ]
* Louis B. Mayer, co-founder MGM [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Louis_Mayer.html Louis B. Mayer ] ]
* Leonid Nevzlin, billionaire,businessman [ [http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Home/About/Board+of+Governors/Members+of+the+BOG/Nevzlin.htm Nevzlin ] ]
* Ida Rosenthal, founder of Maidenform Brassieres [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/rosenthal_lo.html Who Made America? | Innovators | Ida Rosenthal ] ]
* David Sarnoff, head of RCA [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sarnoff.html David Sarnoff ] ]
* Viktor Vekselberg, billionaire, steelmaker [http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/Wkly060331.pdf]

cientists

Natural scientists

* Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, physicist, Nobel Prize (2003) [http://www.hightech-mag.com/index.php/vip/2005/06/alexei-alexeyevich-abrikosov-2003-nobel-prize-in-physics/] (Jewish mother)
* Zhores Alferov, physicist, Nobel Prize (2000) [ [http://www.jinfo.org/Nobels_Physics.html Jewish Nobel Prize Winners in Physics ] ] (Jewish mother)
* Gersh Budker, nuclear physicist [The Russian Scientist Today - William Shelton [http://www.jstor.org/view/00360341/ap000095/00a00030/0] ]
* Ilya Frank, physicist, Nobel Prize (1958) [The Encyclopedia of Russian Jewry, Biographies A-I, edited by Herman Branover (Jason Aronson, Northvale, NJ, 1998, pp. 351-352)]
* Yakov Frenkel, physicist [ [http://www.olemiss.edu/sciencenet/poronet/frenkel-bio.pdf Microsoft Word - frenkel-bio.doc ] ]
* Vitaly Ginzburg, physicist, Nobel Prize (2003) [ [http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/ScientistandRussia.html Russian Jew wins physics Nobel - JTA, Jewish & Israel News ] ]
* Emanuel Goldberg (1881-1970), pioneered Microdots and microfilm retrieval technology ^{[http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/goldberg.html]}
* Vladimir Gribov, physicist [http://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9801025]
* Mikhail Gurevich, co-inventor of the MiG [http://www.jewishquarterly.org/article.asp?articleid=91 The Jewish Quarterly ] ]
* Waldemar Haffkine, biologist, vaccine against colera and plague [ [http://www.asm.org/ASM/files/CCLIBRARYFILES/FILENAME/0000000248/530787p366.pdf Unknown ] ]
* Boris Hessen, physicist [ [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=191465 CJO - Abstract - The dilemmas of seditious men: the Crowther–Hessen correspondence in the 1930s ] ]
* Abram Ioffe, nuclear scientist [ [http://www.pbs.org/opb/citizenk/secrets/ioffe.html Citizen Kurchatov - Ioffe ] ]
* Vladimir Keilis-Borok, physicist [ [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=12485 JewishJournal.com ] ]
* Yuli Khariton, physicist [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19961223/ai_n14072795 Obituary: Yuli Khariton | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com ] ]
* Semyon Kosberg, engineer [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/newsletter/Kosberg.htm Belarus Newsletter ] ]
* Lev Landau, physicist, Nobel Prize (1962) [ [http://www.aip.org/pt/vol-57/iss-2/p53.html Family Lines Sketched in the Portrait of Lev Landau - Physics Today February 2004 ] ]
* Semyon Lavochkin, engineer
* Veniamin Levich, electrochemist [ [http://www.geocities.com/bioelectrochemistry/levich.htm Levich ] ]
* Alexander Vilenkin, cosmologist [ [http://www.templeton.org/multiverse4/vilenkin.htm] Dead link|date=March 2008]
* Selman Waksman, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1952) [ [http://waksman.rutgers.edu/Waks/Waksman/DrWaksman.html Dr. Selman Waksman ] ]

Mathematicians

* Georgy Adelson-Velsky, mathematician [ [http://www.municipal.co.il/pm/more.php?id=M116_0_1_0_M Ашдод:лента ежедневных событий ] ]
* Vladimir Arnold, mathematician [ [http://www.hightech-mag.com/index.php/people/science-technology-nobels/jewish-turing-mathematics-prizes-fields-medal-and-others/] : "Following is a list of Jewish or Israeli recipients of Turing Prize, Fields Medal and other Mathematical Prizes to date:" Accessed 8 Apr 2007]
* Joseph Bernstein, mathematician [ [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=234218 The Harvard Crimson :: News :: A Refugee at Harvard ] ]
* Alexander Brudno, mathematician [ [http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/full_record.php?iid=stl-430b9bbe49333 Brudno in Moscow ] ]

ocial scientists

* Solomon Buber, Hebraist [ [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1546&letter=B&search=Buber JewishEncyclopedia.com - BUBER, SOLOMON: ] ]
* Jean Gottmann, geographer [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "born in Kharkov, Ukraine ... the only child of prosperous Jewish parents"]
* Leonid Hurwicz, economist, Nobel Prize (2007)
* Simon Kuznets, economist, Nobel Prize (1971) [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/nobels.html Virtual Jewish Library, list of Nobel Prizewinners] ]
* Wassily Leontief, economist, Nobel Prize (1973)
* Jacob Marschak, economist [ [http://www.jinfo.org/Economists.html Jewish Economists ] ]
* Alexander Nove, economist (Jewish Year Book, 1990, p.202)

Cultural figures

Musicians

* Lera Auerbach, composer/pianist [ [http://www.leraauerbach.com/pages/profile_press.html "Lera Auerbach may have defected to the US in the dying days of the Cold War, but her music’s quixotic personality is shaped decisively by her Russian upbringing and Jewish heritage.”] ]
* Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (Jewish father)
* Yefim Bronfman, pianist
* Simon Barere, pianist
* Rudolf Barshai, conductor
* Dimitri Bashkirow, pianist
* Yuri Bashmet, violist
* Irving Berlin composer and lyricistcite web | last =Bloom| first =Nate| authorlink =| coauthors =| title=The Jews Who Wrote Christmas Songs| publisher =InterfaithFamily| date =2006-12-19 | url =http://www.interfaithfamily.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ekLSK5MLIrG&b=297399&ct=3303147| format =| accessdate =2006-12-19 ]
* Lazar Berman, pianist [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/14/db1402.xml Lazar Naumovich Berman was born to Jewish parents in what was then Leningrad on February 26 1930.] ]
* Matvei Blanter, composer, Katyusha
* Felix Blumenfeld, pianist
* Shura Cherkassky, pianist
* Bella Davidovich, pianist
* Issay Dobrowen, pianist
* Isaak Dunayevsky, composer
* Mischa Elman, violinist [ [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=16606] "Jascha Heifetz, Fritz Kreisler, Mischa Elman... were all Jews, too"]
* Mark Ermler, conductor [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_e.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Anthony Fedorov, singer, "American Idol" finalist [ [http://www.kidzworld.com/features/americanidol4/chat_anthony_02.htm] "Anthony Federov: I'm like half Christian, half Jewish. I'm like a mix."]
* Samuil Feinberg, composer [ [http://www.jinfo.org/Pianists.html Jewish Pianists ] ] [ [ http://www.planettree.org/2000/crussian.html Samuil Yevgen´yevich Feinberg (1890‚1962) was regarded as one the most gifted pianists of his day; his compositions, however, have only recently begun to be heard after many years of silence. His parents were of Jewish origin and in 1894 they moved to from Odessa to Moscow.] ]
* Vladimir Feltsman, pianist
* Veniamin Fleishman, composer
* Grigory Frid, songwriter
* Artur Friedheim, composer
* Kirill Gerstein, pianist
* Josef Gingold (1909-1995) violinist [ [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=16606] "His teacher was Joseph Gingold, and as Bell fondly recalled him, "He was a Russian Jewish violinist..."]
* Grigory Ginsburg, pianist
* Emil Gilels, pianist [ [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Gilels-Emil.htm He was born Samuil Hilels in Odessa to a musical Jewish family; both his parents were musicians.] ]
* Grigory Ginzburg, conductor
* Mark Gorenstein, conductor
*Riva Gorohovskaya,pianist
* Maria Grinberg, pianist
* Natalia Gutman, cellist
* Jascha Heifetz, violinist
* Jascha Horenstein, conductor
* Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
* Oleg Kagan, violinist
* Ilya Kaler, violinist
* Tina Karol, singer [ [http://www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=6899] "Ukrainian Jewish singer is country's star" [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/29372/format/html/displaystory.html] "A Ukrainian Jewish woman, Tanya Liberman, who performs under the name Tina Karol, came in seventh."]
* Boris Khaykin, conductor [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_k.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Evgeny Kissin, pianist
* Alexander Knayfel, composer
* Leonid Kogan, violinist
* Mikhail Kopelman, violinist
* Yakov Kreizberg, conductor
* Josef Lhévinne, pianist
* Alexander Lokshin, composer (Jewish father)
* Arthur Lourié, composer
* Oleg Maisenberg, pianist
* Andrei Makarevich, singer/songwriter [ [http://www.rjc.ru/eng/site.aspx?SECTIONID=157966&IID=179619] "This year, preparations for the Rosh ha-Shana involved people from all walks of the Moscow Jewish community. The capital’s foremost restaurants and caterers provided food and beverages for the reception, evidently trying to impress the guests with the quality of their specialties. Taking part in the entertainment program, called “Together for 200 Years,” were Iosif Kobzon, Mikhail Zhvanetsky, Maxim Dunaevsky and Andrei Makarevich"http://www.rg.ru/2006/01/26/makarevich.html "- Андрей, в этом твоем трудоголизме есть что-то нерусское. - Может, это еврейское? Не знаю... Я все-таки еврей наполовину."]
* Samuel Maykapar, composer/pianist [ [http://209.85.129.104/search?q=cache:HFqYGhMJyYUJ:www.library.taganrog.ru/res/book/bibliograficheskie_ukazateli/evrei.html+%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%B8%D0%BB+%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80+%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B9&hl=ru&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=ru] ]
* Nathan Milstein, violinist
* Shlomo Mintz, violinist
* Boris Moiseev, dancer, showmaker
* Benno Moiseiwitsch, pianist
* David Oistrakh, violinist
** Igor Oistrakh, violinist (Jewish father)
* Leo Ornstein, composer
* Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist
* Pokrass brothers, composers
* Alexander Rosenbaum, singer/songwriter
* Anton Rubinstein, pianist/composer
* Nikolai Rubinstein, pianist/composer
* Samuil Samosud, conductor
* Alfred Schnittke, composer (Jewish father)
* Joseph Schillinger, composer, music theorist, and composition teacher
* Daniil Shafran, cellist
* Leo Sirota, pianist [ [http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2001/gordon.html Fleeing revolution torn Russia, internationally known pianist Leo Sirota, a Russian Jew, settled in Vienna where his only child, a daughter, was born.] ]
* Regina Spektor, singer-songwriter and pianist [ [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music/gig-23351811-details/Regina+Spektor/gigReview.do?reviewId=23364423 "Regina Spektor, the Brooklyn-based, classically trained Jewish émigré whose family fled the Soviet Union for the Brooklyn when she was nine".] ]
* Isaac Stern, violinist [ [http://www.amuseum.org/jahf/virtour/page31.html Jewish-American Hall of Fame - Virtual Tour ] ]
* Sophie Tucker, singer
* Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-born American violinist
* Maxim Vengerov, prominent violinist
* Maria Yudina, pianist
* Yakov Zak, pianist

Performing and fine artists

* Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908), playwright and theatre director [ [http://www.jewish-theatre.com/visitor/article_display.aspx?articleID=1773 All About Jewish Theatre - Abraham Goldfaden : A Theater Pioneer Gets His Due ] ]
* Roman Kartsev, actor [ [http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=109110 FJC | News | Jewish Life in Khabarovsk ] ]
* Gennady Khazanov, comedian [ [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/11687/edition_id/225/format/html/displaystory.html Jewish News Weekly] : "One of the country's best-known entertainers has become president (of the Moscow Jewish Community). Comedian Gennady Khazanov, known as "Russia's Bob Hope," said he understood only recently the importance of being personally involved in the Jewish community. ... Last week, after the synagogue stabbing, Khazanov made several television appearances as president of the organization. Sporting a white silk kippah -- something he had rarely done before -- the comedian focused public attention on the incident. Khazanov isn't the only public figure who has been prompted by the stabbing incident to come out of the Jewish closet." Accessed 30 Oct 2006.]
* Jacob Kramer, painter [H. Read, S. Thorndike, and others, Jacob Kramer: a memorial volume (1969)]
* Mila Kunis, television actress Kunis explains at [ [http://www.jvibe.com/popculture/mila_kunis.shtml: "I'm pretty Jewish I gotta say. I was never raised Jewish but all my friends are and I have the quirks of a Jewish person. I go 'oy' and people are like 'oh you're very Jewish'. And when I'm in New York, I become super-Jew. All of a sudden I talk like a Jew from Long Island out of nowhere. Once in my new york, I'm super Jewish. I'm in L.A. and I'm like a California surfer girl... my parents raised me Jewish as much as they could and came to America. I love my religion. I think it's a beautiful religion but I took parts of it that I want for myself. I don't need to go to temple. I will, but I don't need to."] ]
* Ernst Neizvestny, sculptor [ [http://www.rogallery.com/Neizvestny_Ernst/Neizvestny_bio.htm Ernst Neizvestny ] ]
* Elena Ralph, model [ [http://www.jafi.org.il/arts/2005/nov/3.htm The Jewish Agency For Israel: Mag-Net ] ]
* Issachar Rybak, painter from Yelizavetgrad [ [http://jewisheritage.blogspot.com/search/label/Peinture JEWISHERITAGE Peinture ] ]
* Yakov Smirnoff, American comedian [ [http://www.bransontourismcenter.com/bransonarticle76.htm Branson Missouri News Article] : "Smirnoff, birth name Yakov Naumovich Pokhis, was born in a Jewish family in Odessa, Ukraine". Accessed 30 Oct 2006.] ]
* Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American film/television actor [ [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/31716/format/html/displaystory.html j. - Celebrity Jews ] ]
* Ossip Zadkine, sculptor [ [http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/art/art4jul/art0714.html ART / 4 / 2DAY ] ] (Jewish father)
* Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born American animation director

Writers and poets

<-- Please add a reference to confirm Jewishness and Russianness of any further additions -->
* Vasily Aksyonov, writer (Jewish mother)
* Sholom Aleichem, Yiddish-language writer [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_s.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer
* Isaac Babel, writer
* Eduard Bagritsky, poet
* Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Hebrew-language writer
* Isaac Dov Berkowitz, writer
* Hayyim Nahman Bialik, poet
* Rachel Bluwstein, poet
* Yosef Haim Brenner, Hebrew-language writer
* Osip Brik, author
* Joseph Brodsky, Russian-language poet, Nobel Prize (1987)
* Sasha Cherny, poet [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_c.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Yuli Daniel, writer
* Michael Dorfman, journalist and esseyst
* Sergei Dovlatov, writer (Jewish father)
* David Edelstadt, Yiddish-language anarchist poet
* Ilya Ehrenburg, writer
* Natan Eidelman, writer
* Alexander Galich, playwright poet [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_g.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'Am), Hebrew-language writer
* Lydia Ginzburg, writer
* Yevgenia Ginzburg, writer
* Jacob Gordin, American playwright
* Leon Gordon, writer
* Vasily Grossman, writer
* Igor Guberman, writer
* Peretz Hirshbein, playwright
* Ilya Ilf, writer [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_i.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* Vera Inber, poet
* Lev Kassil, writer
* Veniamin Kaverin, writer (Jewish father)
* A.M. Klein, poet
* Pavel Kogan, poet
* Lev Kopelev, author and dissident
* Arkady Kotz, poet
* Lazar Lagin, writer
* Vladimir Lantsberg, writer
* H. Leivick, dramatist
* Benedikt Livshits, writer
* Nadezhda Mandelstam, writer
* Osip Mandelstam, poet
* Samuil Marshak, poet
* Yunna Morits, poet
* Semen Nadson, poet (Jewish father)
* Boris Pasternak, writer, Nobel Prize (1958)
* Yakov Perelman, writer
* David Pinski, writer
* Lev Razgon, writer, gulag inmate for 17 years
* Yevgeny Rein, poet
* Ayn Rand, writer (born Alisa Rosenbaum)
* Anatoli Rybakov, writer [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/BELARUS/rje_r.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia] ]
* David Samoylov, poet
* Mendele Mocher Sforim, founder of modern Yiddish and modern Hebrew literature
* Viktor Shklovsky, writer and critic (Jewish father)
* Ilia Shtemler, writer
* Gary Shteyngart (Steinhart), writer
* Boris Slutsky, war-time poet
* Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, science fiction writers (Jewish father)
* Mikhail Svetlov, poet
* Shaul Tchernichovsky, poet and translator [ [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/tchernichovsky.html "Shaul Tchernichovsky was born in Mikhailovka, Russia, and grew up in a religious home that was open to the ideas of the Enlightenment and Zionism. He attended a modern Hebrew school, where he studied mainly Hebrew and Bible, and at ten entered a Russian school."] ]

port figures

Chess

* Lev Alburt
* Yuri Averbakh
* Alexander Beliavsky [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_b.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Ossip Bernstein
* Benjamin Blumenfeld
* Isaac Boleslavsky
* Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion
* David Bronstein, World Championship challenger
* Maxim Dlugy [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_d.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Iossif Dorfman
* Mark Dvoretsky
* Yakov Estrin
* Alexander Evensohn
* Salo Flohr [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_f.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Semen Furman
* Boris Gelfand [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_g.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Efim Geller
* Eduard Gufeld
* Boris Gulko
* Dmitry Gurevich
* Ilya Gurevich
* Mikhail Gurevich
* 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 [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_l.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Konstantin Lerner
* Grigory Levenfish
* Irina Levitina
* Vladimir Liberzon
* Andor Lilienthal
* Moishe Lowtzky
* Vladimir Malaniuk [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_m.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Sam Palatnik [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_p.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Ernest Pogosyants
* Iosif Pogrebyssky
* Lev Polugaevsky
* Lev Psakhis
* Abram Rabinovich
* Ilya Rabinovich
* Leonid Shamkovich [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_s.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Ilya Smirin
* Gennadi Sosonko
* Leonid Stein
* Peter Svidler
* Mark Taimanov [ [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_t.htm Russian Jewish Encyclopedia ] ]
* Boris Verlinsky
* Yakov Vilner
* Leonid Yudasin

Other sports

* Irena Szewińska (born Irena Kirszenstein) [ [http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=42451 Official website of the Olympic Movement] ]

ee also

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

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/rje_s.htm Prominent Jews based on "Russian Jewish Encyclopedia"]