Celebrities & Famous Jewish People

This page is a list of people identified as Jews, either by themselves or by others. "Jewishness" has the meanings both of "adherence to the religion of Judaism" and "membership in the ethnic group 'Jews.'" People of both groups are listed here. By other criteria, these people may be listed under other nationalities as well.

This page does not differentiate between Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Jews. It also does not take into account whether those listed acknowledge their Jewish identity or origins. Jewish tradition defines a Jew as a person with a Jewish mother. Most Jews would not agree with listing someone who was not brought up Jewish, or who does not adhere to Jewish beliefs as "Jewish." Many listed here may have spent their lives disguising their Jewish origins, and married gentile (non-Jewish) spouses. In many cases the individuals listed may have only one Jewish parent. They may have never practiced Judaism, and may even have adopted another faith, or may be secular or atheist.

  • Arts, Performing, Actors / Actresses

Musicians

Comedians

Cartoons & Comics

Directors

 

Business

Victor Vekselberg, Russian billionaire

Finance
Media and Entertainment
Trade and retailing
Manufacturing, fashion, and design
Services
Business executives
Miscellaneous, other, general

Europe

The Americas

Asia (excluding Israel)

International

Various levels of the worldwide wholesale diamond trade, from mining (De Beers) and trading, to cutting, distribution and sale to jewelers, are run almost exclusively by small close-knit communities of Jews. Business culture in the industry is shaped by Jewish religious and cultural traditions.[9]

Scholars and commentators on Jews and business

Law

Literature ,Journalism & Writers

 
 

Media

Commissioners, managers, and owners

Sportscasters & promoters

 

Military

  • Aguilar family serving England
  • Mordechaj Anielewicz, Polish Warsaw ghetto leader
  • Arbibi family serving Italy
  • Beddington family serving England
  • Claude Bloch serving United States
  • Augusto Capon servng Italy
  • Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Russian Soviet military commander
  • Morris "two-gun" Cohen served Chiang Kai-shek
  • Darius Dassault serving French
  • James D’avigdor-Goldsmid serving England
  • David Abramovich Dragunsky, Russian anti-Zionist Colonel-General
  • Alfred Dreyfus, the first Jewish officer in the French army, cause of national demonstrations, innocently sentenced to the prison island infamous for the Papillon fiction
  • JB Goldberg serving Russia
  • Samu Hazai serving Hungary
  • Vladimir Jabotinsky, Russian founder and leader of British Jewish Legion
  • Berek Joselewicz, Polish colonel, organized Jewish squads and uprisings
  • Josephus, Jewish priest and military leader who went over to the side of ancient Rome
  • Uriah Levy, US admiral and first captain who ruled his ship without whipping
  • Judah the Maccabee, Judean leader of Maccabees against ancient Greeks
  • Simon bar Kokhba Judean leader of Jewish revolt against ancient Rome
  • Lev Mekhlis serving Russia
  • John Monash, Australian-New Zealander general breaking German troops in WWI
  • Ben Moreel serving United States
  • Giuseppe Ottolenghi serving Italy
  • Schomberg family serving England
  • Leopold See serving Italy
  • Haym Solomon, Polish-born US financier of the American Revolution and Revolutionary War
  • Mardochee Valabregue serving Italy
  • Yona Yakir, (Jonah Zakir) a Soviet General, commander of Ukraine troops, purged by Stalin
  • Verner Voss, a German pilot who ranked 5th in the World Wide I shooting record statistics
  • Marton Zold serving Austria
  • Congressional Medal of Honor laureates in the US: Frederick Knefler, Leopold Blumenberg, Leopold Newman, Edward S. Salomon, Alfred Mordechai, Phineas Horowitz, Maurice Rose, Julius Ochs Adler, Hyman George Rickover, Melvin Krulewitch, Ben Moreel, Louis Dreller, Stanley H. Hyman and Robert B. Solomon

Israeli military

  • Ron Arad, Israeli pilot, missing in action
  • Ehud Barak, Israeli general and Prime Minister
  • Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Moshe Dayan, former Israeli chief of staff, minister of defense
  • Arie Eldad, former medical officer and surgeon
  • Uziel Gal, Israeli designer of the UZI submachine gun
  • Israel Galili, Israeli designer of the Galil assault rifle
  • David (Mickey) Marcus US colonel, assisted Israel in 1948 war, first Israeli Brigadier general
  • Shaul Mofaz, Israeli general, former chief of staff, minister of defense
  • Yoni Netanyahu, Israeli commander of Operation Entebbe, killed in action
  • Yitschak Rabin, Israeli chief of staff, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Ilan Ramon, Israeli pilot attacked Iraqi reactor; Israel's first astronaut, died on Columbia space shuttle
  • Ariel Sharon, Israeli general, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Israel Tal, Israeli general, oversaw development of Israel's Merkava tank
  • Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian soldier , founded Zion Mule Corps, killed in early Palestine
  • Moshe Yaalon, Israeli general and chief of staff

US military

  • Julius O. Adler Brigadier General,(World War II) Commanded the 77th Infantry Division
  • Jeremy Michael Boorda Admiral, (Vietnam; Kosovo)
  • Louis Bush, (Revolutionary war)
  • Mathias Bush, (Revolutionary war)
  • Solomon Bush, (Revolutionary war), Lieutenant Colonel, highest-ranking Jewish officer in the Continental Army
  • Leopold Blumenberg (Civil War)
  • David Camden DeLeon (Mexican War), "The Fighting Doctor", doctor under General Zachary Taylor, Congressional Citation
  • LeRoy Diamond (World War II, Pacific), Corporal, Navy Cross and Purple Heart
  • Hyman Epstein (World War II, Pacific), Army medical aide, killed in New Guinea after heroic rescues defying snipers
  • David Nunez Cardozo (American Revolution), South Carolina Grenadiers, led an assault on British-held Savannah, Georgia
  • Wesley Clark (Kosovo) (father Jewish) 4 Star General, NATO Supreme Allied Commander
  • Leon Dyer, (Civil War, Mexican War, Seminole War), Colonel, post-Alamo volunteer, escorted Gen. Santa Anna to D.C.
  • Herbert P. Grossman Private First Class {World War II) Silver Star for gallantry in action at Leyte, Philippine Islands
  • Levy Myers Harby (War of 1812), Navy Captain, began military at 14
  • Phineas Horowitz (Civil War)
  • Stanley H. Hyman (Vietnam)
  • Isadore S. Jachman Sergeant USA (World War II), Medal of Honor (posthumously) for actions saving his paratroop company during fighting in Flamierge, Belgium
  • Jack H. Jacobs Captain USA (Vietnam) Medal of Honor recipient
  • Leopold Karpeles (Civil War) Sergeant, Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery and heroism
  • Frederick Knefler (Civil War)
  • Melvin Krulewitch Major General (World War II) First person to personally captured Japanese prisoners, first to fly the American flag on Japanese territory
  • John L. Levitow Sergeant USAF (Vietnam) Medal of Honor recipient
  • Uriah P. Levy (War of 1812) First Jewish US Admiral; ended the Practice of Flogging; bought, restored, and gave Montecello (Jefferson's home) as a gift to the American people
  • Aaron Lopez, (American Revolution), Supplied transoceanic ships and coastal vessels to Navy
  • David "Mickey" Marcus, (World War II), US Army Lieutenant Colonel, West Point graduate, Divisional Judge Advocate, Division Commander, attended the "Big Five" meetings, volunteered to join D-Day airborne assault without formal training. Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, and British decorations. Volunteered to Israeli Army to defend against Transjordan Arab Legion. Became first Israeli brigadier general, and served as Commander of Jerusalem front.
  • Alfred Mordechai (Civil War)
  • Ben Moreel Admiral,(World War II) Formed the Seabees
  • Mordecai Myers, (War of 1812), Captain, New York City's first Jewish Mayor
  • Leopold Newman (Civil War)
  • Manuel M. Noah, (American Revolution), Served with General Marion, Financier
  • Hyman Rickover US Admiral, Father of the Nuclear Navy
  • Maurice Rose Major General, (World War II) Negotiated the unconditional surrender of the Germans in Tunisia, Commanded 3rd Armored Division: the first division to cross the German border and the first to breach the Siegfried line, killed in combat
  • Edward Rosewater, (Civil War), Union Army telegrapher for President Lincoln, transmitted Gettysburg Address
  • Ben L. Salomon (World War II, Pacific) Captain, USA Medical Corps, Medal of Honor (posthumously) for actions during Battle of Saipan
  • Edward S. Salomon (Civil War)
  • Haym Salomon (American Revolution), Sons of Liberty, Financier
  • Francis Salvador (American Revolution), "Paul Revere of the South"
  • Mordecai Sheftall (American Revolution), "The Great Rebel"
  • Seligman Brothers, (Civil War), Financeers
  • Frances Slanger, (World War II, France), Lieutenant, U.S. Army Nurses Corps. Killed in action.
  • Robert B. Solomon (Vietnam)
  • Judah Touro, (War of 1812), civilian volunteer in American Army, Philanthropist
  • John Ordroneaux (War of 1812), French Commodore, Continental Navy Privateersman
  • Max Warshaw, (World War II, North Africa), Staff Sergeant, Army Medic, two Silver Star medals, three Bronze Star medals, the Purple Heart, the Ex-Prisoner of War Medal, the Pre-Pearl Harbor Medal, the European Theater of Operations Medal with six campaign clusters, the Victory Medal, the New York State Conspicuous Cross Medal (for highly decorated veterans), and the Army Combat Medic Badge.
  • Raymond Zussman Second Lieutenant, (World War II) Medal of Honor, killed in action
 

Spies

  • Sarah Aaronsohn, British head of anti-Turkish Nili spy-ring
  • Denise Bloch, French World War II Special Operations Executive agent
  • Eli Cohen, Israeli spy, hanged by Syria
  • Avraham Marcus Klingberg, KGB spy, spent 15 years in Israeli prison for passing secrets about biological research to the Soviets.
  • Jonathan Pollard, United States Navy intelligence analyst, passed information to Israel
  • Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg, allegedly gave United States atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union
  • Krystyna Skarbek, Polish-born British Special Operations Executive agent
  • Hannah Szenes, Hungarian-born British-Palestine, Special Operations Executive agent
  • Mordechai Vanunu, Moroccon-born Israeli, spied on Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor, (converted to Christianity)
  • Moshe Marzouk, Israeli spy and Karaite Jew executed by Egypt, part of the Lavon Affair
 

Sports

Miscellaneous

Personalities with unproven and/or distant partial Jewish heritage

List of Jewish historians

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z

Jewish Nobel Prize Winners

 

At least 170 Jews and persons of half-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize,1 accounting for 22% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2005, and constituting 37% of all US recipients2 during the same period.  In the scientific research fields of Chemistry, Economics, Medicine, and Physics, the corresponding world and US percentages are 26% and 39%, respectively.  (Jews currently make up approximately 0.25% of the world’s population and 2% of the US population.)

 

  • Chemistry (28 prize winners, 19% of world total, 27% of US total)  
  • Economics (22 prize winners, 39% of world total, 53% of US total)  
  • Literature (13 prize winners, 13% of world total, 27% of US total)  
  • Physiology or Medicine (52 prize winners, 28% of world total, 42% of US total)  
  • Peace (9 prize winners, 10% of world total, 11% of US total)3  
  • Physics (46 prize winners, 26% of world total, 38% of US total)

Literature

  • 1910 - Paul Heyse
  • 1927 - Henri Bergson
  • 1958 - Boris Pasternak
  • 1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
  • 1966 - Nelly Sachs
  • 1976 - Saul Bellow
  • 1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer
  • 1981 - Elias Canetti
  • 1987 - Joseph Brodsky
  • 1991 - Nadine Gordimer
  • 2001 - Imre Kertesz
  • 2005 - Harold Pinter

World Peace

  • 1911 - Alfred Fried
  • 1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
  • 1968 - Rene Cassin
  • 1973 - Henry Kissinger
  • 1978 - Menachem Begin
  • 1986 - Elie Wiesel
  • 1994 - Shimon Peres
  • 1994 - Yitzhak Rabin
  • 1995 - Joseph Rotblat

Chemistry

  • 1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
  • 1906 - Henri Moissan
  • 1910 - Otto Wallach
  • 1915 - Richard Willstaetter
  • 1918 - Fritz Haber
  • 1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
  • 1961 - Melvin Calvin
  • 1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
  • 1972 - William Howard Stein
  • 1977 - Ilya Prigogine
  • 1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
  • 1980 - Paul Berg
  • 1980 - Walter Gilbert
  • 1981 - Roald Hoffmann
  • 1982 - Aaron Klug
  • 1985 - Herbert Hauptman
  • 1985 - Jerome Karle
  • 1989 - Sidney Altman
  • 1992 - Rudolph Marcus
  • 1998 - Walter Kohn
  • 2004 - Avram Hershko, Aaron Ciechanover and Irwin Rose
  • 2006 - Roger Kornberg
  • 2009 - Ada Yonath

Economics

  • 1970 - Paul Samuelson
  • 1971 - Simon Kuznets
  • 1972 - Kenneth Arrow
  • 1973 - Wassily Leontief
  • 1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
  • 1976 - Milton Friedman
  • 1978 - Herbert A. Simon
  • 1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
  • 1985 - Franco Modigliani
  • 1987 - Robert M. Solow
  • 1990 - Harry Markowitz
  • 1990 - Merton Miller
  • 1992 - Gary Becker
  • 1993 - Robert Fogel
  • 1994 - John Harsanyi
  • 1997 - Myron Scholes
  • 2001 - Joseph Stiglitz
  • 2001 - George A. Akerlof
  • 2002 - Daniel Kahneman
  • 2005 - Robert Aumann
  • 2007 - Leonid Hurwicz, Eric Maskin & Roger Myerson
  • 2008 - Paul Krugman

 

Medicine

  • 1908 - Elie Metchnikoff & Paul Ehrlich
  • 1914 - Robert Barany
  • 1922 - Otto Meyerhof
  • 1930 - Karl Landsteiner
  • 1931 - Otto Warburg
  • 1936 - Otto Loewi
  • 1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser
  • 1944 - Joseph Erlanger
  • 1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
  • 1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
  • 1947 - Gerty Cori*
  • 1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
  • 1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
  • 1953 - Hans Krebs & Fritz Lipmann
  • 1958 - Joshua Lederberg
  • 1959 - Arthur Kornberg
  • 1964 - Konrad Bloch
  • 1965 - Francois Jacob & Andre Lwoff
  • 1967 - George Wald
  • 1968 - Marshall Nirenberg
  • 1969 - Salvador Luria
  • 1970 - Julius Axelrod & Bernard Katz
  • 1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
  • 1975 - David Baltimore & Howard Temin
  • 1976 - Baruch Blumberg
  • 1977 - Rosalyn Sussman Yalow & Andrew V. Schally
  • 1978 - Daniel Nathans
  • 1980 - Baruj Benacerraf
  • 1984 - Cesar Milstein
  • 1985 - Michael Stuart Brown & Joseph Goldstein
  • 1986 - Stanley Cohen & Rita Levi-Montalcini
  • 1988 - Gertrude Elion
  • 1989 - Harold Varmus
  • 1994 - Alfred Gilman & Martin Rodbell
  • 1997- Stanley B. Prusiner
  • 1998 - Robert Furchgott
  • 2000 - Paul Greengard & Eric Kandel
  • 2002 - H. Robert Horvitz & Sydney Brenner

Physics

  • 1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
  • 1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
  • 1921 - Albert Einstein
  • 1922 - Niels Bohr
  • 1925 - James Franck & Gustav Hertz
  • 1943 - Otto Stern
  • 1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
  • 1945 - Wolfgang Pauli
  • 1952 - Felix Bloch
  • 1954 - Max Born#
  • 1958 - Igor Tamm & Il'ja Mikhailovich Frank
  • 1959 - Emilio Segrè
  • 1960 - Donald A. Glaser
  • 1961 - Robert Hofstadter
  • 1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
  • 1963 - Eugene Wigner
  • 1965 - Richard Feynman & Julian Schwinger
  • 1967 - Hans Bethe
  • 1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
  • 1971 - Dennis Gabor
  • 1972 - Leon Cooper
  • 1973 - Brian David Josephson
  • 1975 - Benjamin Mottleson
  • 1976 - Burton Richter
  • 1978 - Arno Penzias & Pyotr Kapitsa
  • 1979 - Stephen Weinberg & Sheldon Glashow
  • 1988 - Leon Lederman & Melvin Schwartz & Jack Steinberger
  • 1990 - Jerome Friedman
  • 1992- Georges Charpak
  • 1995 - Martin Perl & Fredrick Reines
  • 1996 - Douglas D. Osheroff & David M. Lee
  • 1997 - Claude Cohen-Tannoudji
  • 2000 - Zhores I. Alferov
  • 2003 - Vitaly Ginzburg & Alexei A. Abrikosov
  • 2004 - H. David Politzer & David Gross
  • 2005 - Roy Glauber

*Converted to Catholic
#Converted to Protestant


BRAZILIAN JEWISH

•Abraham Kasinsky
• Abrahão Farc
• Adolfo Aizen
• Adolfo Bloch
• Adriana Behar
• Ala Szerman
• Alberto Dines
• Alberto Goldman
• Alexandre Herchcovitch
• Alon Feuerwerker
• Amir Efraim
• Amora Mautner
• André Fischer
• André Singer
• Anita Leocádia Prestes
• Ariella Efraim
• Arnaldo Cohen
• Arnaldo Niskier
•Aviva Efraim

. B

• Barbara Efraim
• Berta Loran
• Bel Kutner
• Ben Abraham
• Benjamin Back
• Benjamin Steinbruch
• Berta Loran
• Bernard Rajzman
• Betty Gofman
• Boris Casoy
• Boris Fausto
• Boris Schnaiderman
• Briolanja Fernandes
• Bussunda (Cláudio Bessermann Viana)

. C

• Cacá Rosset
• Caco Ciocler
• Caio Blinder
• Cao Hamburger
• Carlos Arthur Nuzman
• Carlos Scliar
• Carlos Maltz
• Carlos Minc
• Celso Lafer
• César Lattes
• Cíntia Moscovich
• Clarice Lispector
• Cláudia Costin
• Cláudia Ohana
• Cora Rónai

. D

• Dan Stulbach
• Daniel Azulay
• Daniel Sabbá
• Daniel Waismann
• David Efraim
• David Lozada
• Débora Bloch
• Débora Colker
• Deborah Happ
• Didi Wagner
• Dina Sfat

. E

• Edmond Safra
• Eliana Guttman
• Elias Gleiser
• Elisa Lispector
• Erika Ruffino
• Eva Blay
• Eva Todor
• Etty Fraser

. F

• Frans Krajcberg
• Felícia Leirner
• Francisco Gotthilf
• Franz Weissmann

. G

• Germán Efromovich
• Gilberto Dimenstein
• Girz Aronson
• Giselda Leirner
• Giovanna Gold
• Guido Mantega

. H

• Hans Stern
• Héctor Babenco
• Hélio Rotenberg
• Henrique Luis Levy
• Henry Sobel
• Horácio Lafer
• Horozimbo Alves

. I

• Isaac Karabtchevsky
• Isaac Benayon Sabbá
• Isac Efraim
• Isis Efraim
• Israel Klabin

.J

• Jacob Gorender
• Jacob Guinsburg
• Jacob Pick Bittencourt (Jacob do Bandolim)
• Jacob Pinheiro Goldberg
• Jacques Klein
• James Strauss
• Jaques Wagner
• Jaime Lerner
• Jaime Spitzcovsky
• Joel Birman
• Jom Tob Azulay
• Jonas Bloch
• John Neschling
• Jorge Eurico Ribeiro
• Jorge Mautner
• José Isaac Peres
• José Lewgoy
• José Mindlin
• José Roitberg
• José Safra
• Joyce Pascowitch
• Juca Chaves
• Julia Frek
• Júlia Lemmertz

. L

LILIAN LEMMERTZ

• Lasar Segall
• Léo Gandelman
• Leôncio Basbaum
• Leon Feffer
• Leon Hirszman
• Leonor Ruffino
• Lilia Katri Moritz Schwarcz
• Lilian Lemmertz
• Lily Safra
• Luciano Huck
• Luciano Szafir
• Ludmila Ben Avraham Araújo
• Luis Favre
• Luiz Zveiter
. Luiza Mell

. M

MARCOS PLONKA

• Marcelo Frommer
• Marcelo Gleiser
• Marcelo Rosenbaum
• Marcelo Zaturansky Itagiba
• Marcos Plonka
• Mariana Kupfer
• Marina Zatz de Camargo (Luísa Mell)
• Mário Haberfeld
• Mário Schenberg
• Maurício Sherman
• Mauricio Waldman
• Mayana Zatz
• Michel Kohol
• Michael Leipziger
• Michel Melamed
• Michel Schlesinger
• Miriam Mehler
• Moacyr Scliar
• Moises Sragowicz Lipnik

. N

NELSON ASCHER

• Nathalia Timberg
• Nelson Ascher
• Nelson Leirner
• Nilton Bonder
• Noel Nutels

. O

• Odilon Wagner
• Olga Gutmann Benario Prestes
• Otto Maria Carpeaux

. P

• Paul Singer
• Paulo Rónai
• Pedro Bial
• Pedro Bloch

. R

• Raquel Alves Fabio
• Renata Sorrah
• Ricardo Rosset
• Ricardo Semler
• Roberto Burle Marx
• Roberto Civita
• Roberto Justus
• Rosana Hermann
• Rosane Gofman
• Ruben Sternschein

. S

• Salomão Schwartzman
• Samuel Benchimol
• Samuel Klein
• Samuel Wainer
• Sandra Annenberg
• Samuel Benchimol
• Serginho Groisman
• Sérgio Zveiter
• Sheila Leirner
• Sílvio Santos (Senor Abravanel)
• Simão Azulay

. T

• Tarso Genro
• Tatiana Belinky
• Tereza Rachel
• Tony Kanaan

. V

• Victor Civita
• Vladimir Herzog

.W

• Waldemar Levy Cardoso
• Waldemar Zveiter
• Walter Feldman
• William Bonner

. Y

• Yaron Efraim
• Yehuda Busquila

 

                 
 

 

 

                 
 

 

 

                 
 
 

List of Jewish feminists

 

Sportsmen

 

Artistic gymnastics

  • Ágnes Keleti, Hungary, Olympic champion (5 times)
  • Tad laferrierere
  • Matt Sherman

 

Baseball

 

Basketball

 

Boxing

 

Canoeing

 

Chess

 

Cricket

 

Fencing

 

Field Hockey

 

Figure skating

 

Football (American)

 

Football (Australian)

 

Football (soccer)

David Beckham,

Golf

Gymnastics

Hockey

Judo

Mixed martial arts

Motorsport

Rugby (league and union)

Sailing

Speed Skating

Swimming

Table tennis

Tennis

Track and field

Volleyball

Water Polo

 

Weightlifting

Wrestling

Professional wrestling