This is a list of Hungarian Jews. There has been a Jewish presence in today's Hungary since Roman times (bar a brief expulsion during the Black Death), long before the actual Hungarian nation. Jews fared particularly well under the Ottoman Empire, and after emancipation in 1867. At its height, the Jewish population of historical Hungary numbered more than 900,000, but the Holocaust and emigration, especially during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, has reduced that to around 100,000, most of whom live in Budapest and its suburbs.
This is a list of anyone who could be reliably described as "Hungarian" and is of significant Jewish heritage (ethnic or religious). See List of Hungarian Americans for descendents of Hungarian émigrés born in America, a significant number of whom are of Jewish ancestry.
The names are presented in the Western European convention of the given name preceding the family name, whereas in Hungary, the reverse is true, as in most Asian cultures.
György Aczél, official in charge of cultural life in Kádár's Hungary, 1957–1988
Leó Frankel, one of the leaders of the Paris Commune
Gyula Germanus, islamologist, (non-Jewish mother, Jewish father)
Ignác Goldziher, islamologist
Tivadar Herzl (Theodore Herzl), spiritual founder of Israel
Béla Kun, de facto leader of Hungary for 4 months in 1919 (non-Jewish mother, Jewish father)
Max Nordau, co-founder of the World Zionist Organization
Tom Lantos
György Lukács
Trebitsch Lincoln, British adventurer
Georges Politzer
Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher
Sándor Radó (Alexander Radó) Switzerland-based Soviet master spy in World War II
Mátyás Rákosi, de facto leader of Hungary, 1947–1956
Ervin Szabó director of the Budapest Public Library System, 1911–1918
Tibor Szamuely, politician
Ármin Vámbéry, orientalist and traveler
Vilmos Vázsonyi, first Jewish Justice minister of Hungary, 1917–1918
See Hungarian-Jewish Religious Figures
Inventors and scientists
László Bíró, inventor of the ballpoint pen.
Marcel Breuer architect
Dennis Gabor, inventor of the holography.
David Gestetner, inventor of the stencil duplicator
Peter Carl Goldmark, inventor of long-playing (LP) records
András Gróf (Andrew Grove), pioneer of the semiconductor industry, CEO of Intel
Rudolf E. Kálmán of Kalman filter
Gedeon Richter, pharmaceuticals - inventor & industrialist
David Schwarz, inventor of the Zeppelin
Charles Weissmann, biochemist
Eugene Wigner (Wigner Jenő), physicist and Nobel laureate (parents were Lutheran by religion)
Robert Bárány** (1914) - Medicine;
György Hevesy (George de Hevesy) (1943) - Chemistry; (born Roman Catholic)
Jenő Wigner (Eugene Wigner) (1963) - Physics; (Lutheran convert)
Dénes Gábor (Dennis Gabor) (1971) - Physics; (Lutheran convert)
Milton Friedman ** (1976) - Economics
János Polányi ** (John Charles Polanyi) (1986) - Chemistry;
Elie Wiesel ** (1986-2016) Peace;
János Harsányi (John Harsanyi) (1994) - Economics; (born Roman Catholic)
Imre Kertész (2002) - Literature;
Ferenc Herskó (Avram Hershko) (2004) - Chemistry
Dennis Gabor
Theodore von Kármán
John von Neumann
Leó Szilárd
Edward Teller
László Tisza
Eugene Wigner
Peter Thomas Bauer, economist
Milton Friedman, his parents emigrated from Beregszász, then in Hungary.
Frank Furedi, sociologist
John Harsanyi, economist, game theory; Nobel laureate (born Roman Catholic, from a Jewish background)
Nicholas Kaldor, British economist
János Kornai, economist
Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840–1899), educationist and orientalist
Karl Mannheim sociologist,
Adolf Neubauer, Hebraist
Hungarian Jews, while comprising some 5% of the population of Hungary, won 8 individual gold medals for Hungary out of 26 (30.8%) in the Olympic sports events between 1896 and 1936. In each of the 7 gold winning teams, there were Hungarian Jews making up 35.8% of the teams (19 out of 53 team members).
Alfred Hajós-Guttman (2) swimming, 100-meter freestyle, 1,500-meter freestyle
Henrik Hajós-Guttman, swimming, 800-meter freestyle relay
Dezső Földes, fencing, team saber
Dr.Jenő Fuchs (2), fencing, individual saber, team saber
Dr. Oszkár Gerde, fencing, team saber
Lajos Werkner, fencing, team saber
Richard Weisz, Greco-Roman wrestling, heavyweight
Dezső Földes, fencing, team saber
Dr. Jenő Fuchs (2), fencing, individual saber, team saber
Dr. Oszkár Gerde, fencing, team saber
Lajos Werkner, fencing, team saber
Alfred Hajós, Olympic art competition, architecture
János Garay, fencing, team saber
Dr. Sándor Gombos, fencing, team saber
Attila Petschauer, fencing, team saber
Dr. Ferenc Mező, Olympic art competition, epic works
István Barta, water polo
György Brody, water polo
Miklós Sárkány, water polo
Endre Kabos, fencing, team saber
Attila Petschauer, fencing, team saber
György Bródy, water polo
Miklos Sárkány, water polo
Endre Kabos (2), fencing, individual saber, team saber
Ilona Elek, individual foil
Károly Kárpáti, freestyle wrestling, lightweight
After the Holocaust, less than 1% of the population of Hungary remained of Jewish heritage. In individual sports events, Hungary won 48 gold medals between 1948 and 1972. Sportsmen and mainly sportswomen of Jewish extraction won 10 gold medals (20.8%). Hungarian Jewish women won 7 gold medals out of the 15 individual gold medals won by Hungarian women. In the 19 gold medal winning teams for Hungary, 9 had Jewish members.
There are no known Hungarian Jewish gold medalist since 1976. Overall, Hungarian Jews won 15.4% of the 117 individual gold medals of Hungary, and had part in at least 16 out of the 42 gold medals in team events.
Ilona Elek, individual foil
Robert Antal, water polo
Sándor Gellér, soccer
Ágnes Keleti, gymnastics, floor exercises
Éva Székely, swimming, 200-meter breaststroke
Ágnes Keleti (4)
gymnastics, asymmetrical bars, floor exercises, balance beam,
team exercise with portable apparatus
Aliz Kertész, gymnastics, team exercise with portable apparatus
László Fábián, kayak pairs, 10,000-meters
Gyula Török, boxing, flyweight
Tamás Gábor, fencing, team épée
Ildikó Rejtő (2), fencing, individual and team foil
Árpád Orbán, soccer
Mihály Hesz, kayak, K1 1000m
Gyorgy Gedó, boxing, light flyweight
Films and stage
George Cukor film director
Tony Curtis; his parents were born in Mátészalka.
Michael Curtiz, born Manó Kertész Kaminer, film director
Judit Elek, film director and screenwriter
Béla Gaál film director
Zsa Zsa Gabor, born in Budapest, Hungary
Viktor Gertler film editor and director
Harry Houdini
Leslie Howard's father was born in Hungary
Alexander Korda, born Sándor László Kellner, brother of Vincent and Zoltan Korda, film producer and director
Vincent Korda, born Vincent Kellner, brother of Alexander and Zoltan Korda, art director
Zoltán Korda, born Zoltán Kellner, brother of Alexander and Vincent Korda, film screenwriter, director, and producer
Peter Lorre
Paul Newman's father was born in Hungary, as was his Catholic mother.
Joe Pasternak
Emeric Pressburger
S. Z. Sakall
István Szabó, film director, screenwriter, and opera director
István Székely film director
Alexandre Trauner
Rachel Weisz's father was born in Hungary.
Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount Pictures
Ádám Fischer
Ivan Fischer
Ferenc Fricsay (half Jewish through mother)
István Kertész
Jenő Ormándy (Eugene Ormandy)
Fritz Reiner
Sir Georg Solti
György Széll (George Szell)
Pál Ábrahám (Paul Abraham)
Károly Goldmark
Imre Kálmán (Emmerich Kálmán)
György Kurtág (half Jewish)
György Ligeti
Rezső Seress
Leó Weiner
Gitta Alpár - voice, soprano & actress
Geza Anda- pianist (half Jewish)
Ilona Fehér - violin
Annie Fischer - piano
Joseph Joachim - violin
Endre Granat - violin
György Pauk - violin
László Polgár (bass) - voice, bass
Ede Reményi - violin
Márk Rózsavölgyi - violin
András Schiff - piano
János Starker - violoncello
Mihály Székely - voice, bass
Joseph Szigeti - violin
Imre Ámos - painter, born 1907 in Nagykálló, killed during the Holocaust
Béla Czóbel
André François, painter and graphic artist (Jewish father)
André Kertész, born Andor Kertész, photographer, photo-essayist
Robert Capa, photographer
Adolf Fényes
György Goldmann, sculptor
Béla Iványi-Grünwald
Ervin Marton
László Moholy-Nagy
Izsák Perlmutter
Kermit (Wayne) Weinberger - artist, designer,famous for his Las Vegas neon creations. Born to Jewish Hungarian parents
Lucien Hervé, born Laszlo Elkan, photographer, known best for his architectural photographs, particularly those associated with Le Corbusier.
Leo Castelli, Trieste-born American art dealer of note.
Paul Reichmann's parents were born in Hungary
George Soros, broke the British pound
Robert Maxwell, British media proprietor
Industrialists and bankers
Lipót Aschner, Tungsram - incandescent lamps
Móricz Fischer, china-factory in Herend in 1839
Leó Goldberger, textile
Manfred Weisz, heavy industry
Leó Lánczy
Jenő Vida
Ferenc Chorin
Wolfner
Mauthner
Fülöp Weisz
Kornfeld
Kohner
Korányi
Ullman
György Gedó, Olympic champion light flyweight
László Fábián, sprint canoer, Olympic champion (K-2 10,000 meter), 4x world champion (3x K-2 10,000 meter and 1x K-4 10,000 meter) and one silver (K-4 10,000 meter)
Imre Farkas, sprint canoer, 2x Olympic bronze (C-2 1,000 and 10,000 meter)
Klára Fried-Bánfalvi, sprint canoer, Olympic bronze (K-2 500 m), world champion (K-2 500 m)
Anna Pfeffer, sprint canoer, Olympic 2x silver (K-2 500 m), bronze (K-1 500 m); world champion (K-2 500 m), silver (K-4 500 m), 2x bronze (K-2 500)
Péter Bakonyi, saber, Olympic 3x bronze
Ilona Elek, saber, 2x Olympic champion (Roman Catholic, father Jewish)
Dr. Dezsö Földes, saber, 2x Olympic champion
Dr. Jenö Fuchs, saber, 4x Olympic champion
Támas Gábor, épée, Olympic champion
János Garay, saber, Olympic champion, silver, bronze, killed by the Nazis
Dr. Oskar Gerde, saber, 2x Olympic champion, killed by the Nazis
Dr. Sándor Gombos, saber, Olympic champion
Endre Kabos, saber, 3x Olympic champion, bronze
Attila Petschauer, saber, 2x team Olympic champion, silver, killed by the Nazis
Ildikó Újlaky-Rejtő, foil, 2x Olympic champion (half Jewish)
Lajos Werkner, saber, 2x Olympic champion
Lily Kronberger, World Championship 4x gold, 2x bronze, World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
Emília Rotter, pair skater, World Championship 4x gold, silver, 2x Olympic bronze
László Szollás, pair skater, World Championship gold, silver, 2x Olympic bronze
Samu Fóti, Olympic silver (team combined exercises)
Imre Gellért, Olympic silver (team combined exercises)
Ágnes Keleti, 5x Olympic champion (2x floor exercises, asymmetrical bars, floor exercises, balance beam, team exercise with portable apparatus), 3x silver (2x team combined exercises, individual combined exercises), 2x bronze (asymmetrical bars, team exercises with portable apparatus), International Gymnastics Hall of Fame
Alice Kertész, Olympic champion (team, portable apparatus), silver (team); world silver (team)
Gyula Bíró, midfielder/forward (national team)
Alfréd Brüll first owner of MTK Budapest FC
Sándor Geller, goalkeeper, Olympic champion
Béla Guttmann, midfielder, national team player & international coach
Gyula Mándi, half back (player & coach of Hungarian and Israeli national teams) and manager
Árpád Orbán, Olympic champion
Peter Fuzes, Born in Hungary. Soccer goalkeeper for Sydney Hakoah club and Australia, Maccabi Hall of Fame 2003. Played 1st grade 1964 till 1976; International career From 1966 to 1972, against Scotland 1967, Greece 1969, Israel 1969 & 1972. Played against various European club sides including AS ROMA 1966, Manchester United at the time of Bobby Charlton & Dennis Law.
Andrea Gyarmati, Olympic silver (100-m backstroke) and bronze (100-m butterfly); world championships bronze (200-m backstroke), International Swimming Hall of Fame (both parents half-Jewish)
Alfréd Hajós (born "Arnold Guttmann"), 3x Olympic champion (100-m freestyle, 800-m freestyle relay, 1,500-m freestyle), International Swimming Hall of Fame
Michael "Miki" Halika, Israel, 200-m butterfly, 200- and 400-m individual medley
József Munk, Olympic silver (4x200-m freestyle relay)
Rebecca Soni, her grandfather was born in Nagyvárad (now Oradea)
Mark Spitz, his great grandfather (Nathan) was born in Hungary
László Szabados, Olympic bronze (4x200-m freestyle relay)
András Székely, Olympic silver (200-m breaststroke) and bronze (4x200-m freestyle relay); died in a Nazi concentration camp
Éva Székely, Olympic champion & silver (200-m breaststroke); International Swimming Hall of Fame; mother of Andrea Gyarmati (mother Jewish, father Roman Catholic szekler)
Judit Temes, Olympic champion (4×100-m freestyle), bronze (100-m freestyle)
Imre Zachár, Olympic silver (4x200-m freestyle relay)
Viktor Barna (born "Győző Braun"), 22x world champion, International Table Tennis Foundation Hall of Fame ("ITTFHoF")
Laszlo Bellak, 7x world champion, ITTFHoF
Anna Sipos, 11x world champion, ITTFHoF
Miklós Szabados, 15x world champion
Zsuzsa Körmöczy, won 1958 French Singles
Track and field
Ödön Bodor, Olympic bronze (medley relay)
Ibolya Csák, Olympic champion & European champion high jumper
Mór Kóczán, javelin, Olympic bronze (Calvinist priest)
Robert Antal, Olympic champion
István Barta, Olympic champion, gold
György Bródy, (3g1b & 2g & 2g), goalkeeper, 2x Olympic champion
Dezső Gyarmati, Olympic water polo player & captain (3g1s1b) (half Jewish)
György Kárpáti, 3x Olympic champion, 1x bronze (half Jewish)
Béla Komjádi water polo player and coach, International Swimming Hall of Fame
Mihály Mayer, 2x Olympic champion, 2x bronze
Miklós Sárkány, 2x Olympic champion
Károly Kárpáti (also "Károly Kellner"), Olympic champion (freestyle lightweight), silver
Paul Havas, Columbia Quarterback
Ferenc Kemény, co-founder and first secretary of the IOC
