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List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union

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List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union

The following is a list of Jews born in the territory of the former Russian Empire. It is geographically defined, so it also includes people born after the dissolution of the Russian Empire in 1922 and its successor the Soviet Union in 1991.

Contents

A few years before The Holocaust, the Jewish population of the Soviet Union (excluding Western Ukraine and the Baltic states who were not part of the Soviet Union then) 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 in Russia, 300,000 in Ukraine).

Politicians

  • Georgy Arbatov, Soviet politician, academic & political advisor
  • Dimitri Bogrov, Soviet politician
  • Anatoly Chubais, Deputy Prime Minister, now Chairman of UES
  • Mikhail Fradkov, Prime Minister
  • Adolph Joffe, Bolshevik diplomat
  • Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician
  • Lev Kamenev, Bolshevik leader (Jewish father)
  • Maxim Litvinov, Soviet ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Julius Martov, Menshevik leader
  • Boris Nemtsov, Deputy Prime Minister
  • Karl Radek, Soviet politician
  • Grigory Sokolnikov, Bolshevik politician
  • Yakov Sverdlov, Bolshevik leader, the first head of state of the Russian SFSR
  • Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik politician, the founder of the Red Army
  • Moisei Uritsky, Soviet politician
  • Genrikh Yagoda, head of Secret Police in the Stalin era (1934–1936)
  • Grigory Zinoviev, Soviet politician
  • 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."

    • Israeli politicians

  • Menachem Begin, Israeli Prime Minister, Nobel Prize (1978)
  • Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel (1952–63)
  • Shmuel Dayan, Zionist activist, Israeli politician
  • Levi Eshkol, Israeli Prime Minister (1963–69)
  • Ephraim Katzir, fourth President of Israel (1973–78)
  • Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs (2006–2008)
  • Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister (1969–74)
  • Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister (1984–86), Nobel Prize (1994)
  • Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli Prime Minister (1983–84, 1986–92)
  • Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician
  • Moshe Sharett, Israeli Prime Minister (1954–55)
  • Zalman Shazar, third President of Israel (1963–73)
  • Chaim Weizmann, first President of Israel (1949–52)

    • Israeli military persons

  • Yaakov Dori, the first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (1948–1949)
  • Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of British Jewish Legion
  • Haim Laskov, the fifth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1958–1961)
  • Yitzhak Sadeh, Palmach commander and one of the IDF founders.
  • Joseph Trumpeldor, founder of British Jewish Legion and early pioneer-settler in Israel (born in Pyatigorsk)
  • Tzvi Tzur, the sixth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1961–1964)

    • Soviet soldiers and revolutionaries

  • Osip Aptekman, revolutionary
  • Pavel Axelrod, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary
  • Yevno Azef, revolutionary
  • Tuvie Bielski, Belarusian partisan
  • Yakov Blumkin, Soviet spy
  • Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet Front Commander, WWII
  • Fedor Dan, revolutionary
  • Leo Deutsch, revolutionary
  • David Dragunsky, Soviet tank brigade commander, WWII
  • Raya Dunayevskaya, founder of Marxist humanism in the U.S.
  • Gesya Gelfman, revolutionary
  • Grigory Gershuni, revolutionary
  • Moshe Gildenman, known as Dyadya ("Uncle") Misha, partisan commander
  • Grigory Goldenberg, revolutionary
  • Olga Kameneva, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of Leon Trotsky)
  • 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
  • Alexander Parvus, revolutionary
  • Sidney Reilly,(Born Shlomo Rosenblum) a Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent
  • Theodore Rothstein, Russian-British communist
  • Pinhas Rutenberg, Zionist, Social revolutionary
  • Israel and Manya Shochat, founders of the Hashomer movement
  • Moisei Uritsky, communist revolutionary
  • V. Volodarsky, communist revolutionary
  • Iona Yakir, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II

    • Others

  • Michael Dorfman, Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist
  • Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), Rabbi, founder of Hasidic Judaism
  • David Dubinsky, American labor leader
  • Shlomo Ganzfried, Rabbi
  • Fanny Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin
  • Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism
  • Boris Volynov, Soviet Astronaut; the first Jew in space (Jewish mother)
  • Natasha Epstein, beauty queen and a graduate of Harvard University
  • Dov Sudak, Rabbi of Krijopol before the war

    • Business figures

  • Roman Abramovich, businessman, owner of Chelsea F.C.
  • Pyotr Aven, businessman
  • Leon Bagrit, pioneer of automation
  • Bernhard Baron, cigarette maker and philanthropist
  • Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
  • Zino Davidoff
  • Bernard Delfont, impresario
  • Mikhail Fridman, businessman
  • Arcadi Gaydamak, owner of Portsmouth F.C., AJ Auxerre, and Bnei Sakhnin F.C.
  • Leslie Grade, executive
  • Lew Grade, impresario, Chairman of ATV from 1962
  • Vladimir Gusinsky, exile, former media tycoon
  • Boris Khait, businessman and vice-president of the Russian Jewish Congress
  • Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal
  • Morris Markin, founder of Checker Cab
  • Michael Marks, co-founder of Marks & Spencer
  • Alexander Mashkevitch, businessman
  • Louis B. Mayer, co-founder MGM
  • Leonid Nevzlin, businessman
  • Ida Rosenthal, founder of Maidenform Brassieres
  • David Sarnoff, head of RCA
  • Leo Wainstein, textile industrialist

    • Natural scientists

  • Anatole Abragam, physicist
  • Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, physicist, Nobel Prize (2003)
  • Zhores Alferov, physicist, Nobel Prize (2000)
  • Aleksander Akhiezer, physicist
  • Semen Altshuler, physicist
  • Lev Artsimovich, physicist (Jewish mother)
  • Gersh Budker, nuclear physicist
  • Matvei Bronstein, theoretical physicist
  • Ilya Frank, physicist, Nobel Prize (1958)
  • Yakov Frenkel, physicist
  • Vitaly Ginzburg, physicist, Nobel Prize (2003)
  • Emanuel Goldberg (1881–1970), pioneered Microdots and microfilm retrieval technology
  • Vladimir Gribov, physicist
  • Mikhail Gurevich, co-founder of the Mikoyan Gurevich (MiG) aircraft design bureau
  • Waldemar Haffkine, biologist, vaccine against cholera and plague
  • Boris Hessen, physicist
  • Naum Idelson, astronomer
  • Abram Ioffe, nuclear scientist
  • Vladimir Keilis-Borok, physicist
  • Isaak Khalatnikov, physicist
  • Yuli Khariton, physicist
  • Semyon Kosberg, engineer
  • Lev Landau, physicist, Nobel Prize (1962)
  • Grigory Landsberg, physicist
  • Semyon Lavochkin, engineer
  • Veniamin Levich, electrochemist
  • Evgeny Lifshitz, physicist
  • Alexander Migdal, physicist
  • Arkady Migdal, physicist
  • Lev Pitaevskii, physicist
  • Boris Podolsky, physicist
  • Alexander Polyakov, physicist
  • Isaak Pomeranchuk, physicist
  • Grigory Abramovich Shajn, astronomer
  • Mikhail Shifman, physicist
  • Iosif Shklovsky, astrophysicist, astronomer, biologist
  • Vladimir Veksler, physicist
  • Alexander Vilenkin, cosmologist
  • Selman Waksman, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1952)
  • Yakov Zel'dovich, astrophysicist

    • Mathematicians

  • Georgy Adelson-Velsky, mathematician
  • Naum Akhiezer, mathematician
  • Vladimir Arnold, mathematician
  • Grigory Barenblatt, mathematician
  • Joseph Bernstein, mathematician
  • Alexander Brudno, mathematician
  • Chudnovsky brothers, amateur mathematicians
  • Vladimir Drinfeld, mathematician, Fields Medal (1990)
  • Eugene Dynkin, mathematician
  • Paul Sophus Epstein, mathematician
  • Felix Gantmacher, mathematician
  • Israel Gelfand, mathematician
  • Alexander Gelfond, mathematician
  • Semyon Aranovich Gershgorin, mathematician
  • Victor Kac, mathematician
  • David Kazhdan, mathematician
  • Aleksandr Khinchin, mathematician
  • Mark Krasnoselsky, mathematician
  • Mark Krein, mathematician,
  • Alexander Kronrod, mathematician
  • Yevgeniy Landis, mathematician
  • Solomon Lefschetz, mathematician
  • Vladimir Levenshtein, mathematician
  • Leonid Levin, mathematician, computational complexity theory
  • Jacob Levitzki, Ukrainian-Israeli mathematician
  • Grigory Margulis, mathematician, Fields Medal (1978)
  • David Milman, mathematician
  • Hermann Minkowski, mathematician
  • Mark Naimark, mathematician
  • Grigori Perelman, mathematician
  • Vladimir Rokhlin, mathematician
  • Jakob Rosanes, mathematician
  • Lev Schnirelmann, mathematician
  • Zvi Hermann Schapira, mathematician
  • Moses Schönfinkel, logician
  • Samuil Shatunovsky, mathematician
  • Yakov G. Sinai, applied mathematician
  • Pavel Urysohn, mathematician
  • Boris Weisfeiler, mathematician
  • Victor Zalgaller, mathematician
  • Oscar Zariski, mathematician
  • Efim Zelmanov, mathematician, Fields Medal (1994)

    • Social scientists and philosophers

  • Urie Bronfenbrenner, developmental psychologist
  • Solomon Buber, Hebraist
  • Ariel Durant, historian,
  • Boris Eichenbaum, historian
  • Mikhail Epstein, literary theorist
  • Moshe Feldenkrais, inventor of the Feldenkrais method
  • Alexander Gerschenkron, economic historian
  • Jean Gottmann, geographer
  • Lazar Gulkowitsch, Jewish Studies scholar
  • Abraham Harkavy, historian
  • Zellig Harris, linguist
  • Roman Jakobson, Russian/American linguist
  • Naum Krasner, economist
  • Leonid Hurwicz, economist, Nobel Prize (2007)
  • Simon Kuznets, economist, Nobel Prize (1971)
  • Yuri Lotman, prominent linguist and historian of culture
  • Seymour Lubetzky, cataloging theorist
  • Jacob Marschak, economist
  • Alexander Luria, neuropsychologist
  • Alexander Nove, economist
  • Jacob Rabinow, inventor
  • Ayn Rand, philosopher
  • Anatol Rapoport, game theorist
  • Dietmar Rosenthal, linguist
  • Leonid Roshal, pediatrician, negotiator
  • Isaak Russman, historian
  • Max Seligsohn, Orientalist
  • Lev Shestov, philosopher

    • Medical scientists and physicians

  • Yevsey Gindes, pediatrician
  • Gavriil Ilizarov, orthopaedic surgeon
  • Isaac Trachtenberg, hygienist

    • Fine artists

  • Eugene Abeshaus, painter
  • Meer Akselrod, painter
  • Benish Mininberg, painter
  • Nathan Altman, painter and stage designer from Vinnytsia
  • Boris Anisfeld, painter, theatre
  • Boris Aronson, painter & designer
  • Isaak Asknaziy, painter
  • Mordechai Avniel, painter
  • Léon Bakst, painter & costume designer
  • Veniamin Basov, artist illustrator, painter
  • Abraham Berline, painter
  • Eugène Berman, painter
  • Leonid Berman, painter
  • Mikhail Bernshtein, painter
  • Isaak Brodskiy, painter
  • Marc Chagall, painter from Vitebsk
  • Bella Chagall, the wife of Marc Chagall
  • Joseph Chaikov, sculptor
  • Ilya Chashnik, painter
  • Nudie Cohn, fashion designer
  • Sonia Delaunay, painter
  • Robert Falk, painter
  • Naum Gabo, sculptor
  • Moisei Ginzburg, architect
  • Michail Grobman, painter
  • Michel Kikoine, painter
  • Moisei Khazanov, painter
  • Boris Iofan, architect
  • Ilya Kabakov, conceptual artist (Jewish father)
  • Komar and Melamid, art-duo
  • Jacob Kramer, painter
  • Pinchus Kremegne, painter
  • Jankieĺ Kruhier, painter
  • Morris Lapidus, architect
  • Felix Lembersky painter
  • Isaac Levitan, painter
  • El Lissitzky, designer
  • Abram Manevich, painter
  • Louise Nevelson, sculptor
  • Ernst Neizvestny, sculptor
  • Solomon Nikritin, painter
  • Jules Olitski, painter
  • Leonid Pasternak, painter
  • Antoine Pevsner, sculptor
  • Issachar Rybak, painter from Yelizavetgrad
  • Semion Rotnitsky, painter
  • David Shterenberg, painter from Zhitomir
  • Chaim Soutine, painter from Minsk
  • Raphael Soyer, American painter
  • Israel Tsvaygenbaum, Russian-American painter
  • Joseph Tepper, painter
  • Lazar Yazgur, painter
  • Valentin Yudashkin, fashion designer
  • Ossip Zadkine, sculptor (Jewish father)
  • Saveliy Moiseyevich Zeydenberg, painter

    • Musicians

  • Joseph Achron, composer
  • Modest Altschuler, cellist, conductor, and composer
  • Lera Auerbach, composer/pianist
  • Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (Jewish father)
  • Nina Brodskaya, singer
  • Yefim Bronfman, pianist
  • Simon Barere, pianist
  • Rudolf Barshai, conductor
  • Dimitri Bashkirow, pianist
  • Yuri Bashmet, violist
  • Irving Berlin composer and lyricist
  • Lazar Berman, pianist
  • Mark Bernes, singer and actor
  • Matvei Blanter, composer, author of Katyusha
  • Shura Cherkassky, pianist
  • Bella Davidovich, pianist
  • Issay Dobrowen, pianist and composer
  • Isaak Dunayevsky, composer
  • Mischa Elman, violinist
  • Mark Ermler, conductor
  • Anthony Fedorov, singer, American Idol finalist
  • Samuil Feinberg, composer
  • Vladimir Feltsman, pianist
  • Veniamin Fleishman, composer
  • Yakov Flier, pianist
  • Yan Frenkel, composer
  • Grigory Frid, songwriter
  • Artur Friedheim, composer
  • Kirill Gerstein, pianist
  • Josef Gingold (1909–1995) violinist
  • Grigory Ginsburg, pianist
  • Emil Gilels, pianist
  • Grigory Ginzburg, conductor
  • Mark Gorenstein, conductor
  • Riva Gorohovskaya, pianist
  • Emil Gorovets, singer
  • Maria Grinberg, pianist
  • Natalia Gutman, cellist
  • Jascha Heifetz, violinist
  • Mordechai Hershman, chazzan
  • Jascha Horenstein, conductor
  • Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
  • Aleksey Igudesman, violinist
  • Oleg Kagan, violinist
  • Ilya Kaler, violinist
  • Tina Karol, singer
  • Boris Khaykin, conductor
  • Evgeny Kissin, pianist
  • Alexander Knaifel, composer
  • Leonid Kogan, violinist
  • Mikhail Kopelman, violinist
  • Yakov Kreizberg, conductor
  • Maya Kristalinskaya, singer
  • Josef Lhévinne, pianist
  • Alexander Lokshin, composer (Jewish father)
  • Arthur Lourié, composer
  • Oleg Maisenberg, pianist
  • Samuel Maykapar, composer/pianist
  • Nathan Milstein, violinist
  • Shlomo Mintz, violinist
  • Boris Moiseev, dancer, showmaker
  • Benno Moiseiwitsch, pianist
  • Larisa Mondrus, singer
  • Vadim Mulerman, singer
  • David Oistrakh, violinist
  • Igor Oistrakh, violinist (Jewish father)
  • Leo Ornstein, composer
  • Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist
  • Pokrass brothers, composers
  • Mikhael Rauchverger, pianist and composer
  • 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
  • Regina Spektor, singer-songwriter and pianist
  • Isaac Stern, violinist
  • Alexander Tsfasman, jazz pianist, composer, conductor, arranger
  • Sophie Tucker, singer
  • Leonid Utyosov, singer and actor
  • Aida Vedishcheva, singer
  • Maxim Vengerov, prominent violinist
  • Alexander Veprik, composer
  • Maria Yudina, pianist
  • Yakov Zak, pianist
  • Efrem Zimbalist, Russian-born American violinist

    • Performing artists

  • Elina Bystritskaya, actress
  • Jacob Adler, actor
  • Alexander Alov, actor
  • Lev Arnshtam, film director
  • Leonid Bronevoy, actor
  • Grigori Chukhrai, film director and screenwriter, father of Pavel Chukhrai
  • Pavel Chukhrai, film director and screenwriter, son of Grigori Chukhrai
  • Maya Deren, filmmaker
  • Mark Donskoi, film director
  • Boris Efimov, cartoonist
  • Fridrikh Ermler, film director, actor, and screenwriter
  • Aleksandr Faintsimmer, cinematographer
  • Valentin Gaft, actor
  • Zinovy Gerdt, actor
  • Aleksei German, cinematographer
  • Vitaliy Ginzburg, director
  • Alexander Goldstein, director
  • Abraham Goldfaden (1840–1908), playwright and theatre director
  • Yuli Gusman, director
  • Alexander Gutman, director
  • Roman Abelevich Kachanov, animator
  • Aleksei Kapler, film artist
  • Roman Karmen, documentary filmmaker
  • Roman Kartsev, actor
  • Boris Kaufman, cinematographer
  • Mikhail Kaufman, cinematographer* Yevgeny Khaldei, photographer
  • Gennady Khazanov, comedian
  • Iosif Kheifits, film director
  • Yefim Kopelyan, actor
  • Mikhail Kozakov, actor
  • Grigori Kozintsev, theater and film director
  • Savely Kramarov, actor
  • Mila Kunis, television actress
  • Anatole Litvak, director
  • Solomon Mikhoels, actor & director
  • Lew Milinder, actor
  • Alexander Mitta, film director
  • Alla Nazimova, actress
  • Vladimir Naumov, director
  • Yuri Norstein, animator
  • Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina
  • Iosif Prut, playwright
  • Yuli Raizman, film director and screenwriter
  • Elena Ralph, model
  • Faina Ranevskaya, actress
  • Arkady Raikin, comedian
  • Konstantin Raikin, actor and theatre director
  • Mikhail Romm, film director, scriptwriter, and educator (Jewish father)
  • Abram Room, film director
  • Grigori Roshal, film director and screenwriter
  • Hanna Rovina, actress
  • Ida Rubinstein, dancer
  • Alexander Schirwindt, actor, director and screenwriter
  • Mikhail Schweitzer, screenwriter
  • Yefim Shifrin, comedian
  • Viktor Shenderovich, humorist
  • Esfir Shub, editor, director, and writer of documentary films
  • Yakov Smirnoff, American comedian
  • Lee Strasberg, acting teacher
  • Genndy Tartakovsky, Russian-born American animation director
  • Leonid Trauberg, film director, scriptwriter, and educator
  • Dziga Vertov, documentary film director and film theoretician
  • Anton Yelchin, Russian-born American film/television actor
  • Sergei Yursky, actor
  • Sergei Yutkevich, film director and screenwriter
  • Dmitry Astrakhan, film director and

    • actor

  • Anatoly Adoskin, actor (Jewish father)

    • Writers and poets

  • Grigory Adamov, writer
  • M. Ageyev, novelist
  • David Aizman, writer and playwright
  • Vasily Aksyonov, writer (Jewish mother)
  • Sholom Aleichem, Yiddish-language writer
  • Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer
  • Isaac Babel, writer
  • Eduard Bagritsky, poet
  • Grigory Baklanov, novelist
  • Agniya Barto, novelist
  • 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
  • Vladimir Galperin, journalist and writer, literature professor
  • Aleksandr Gelman, playwright
  • Yuli Daniel, writer
  • Michael Dorfman, journalist and essayist
  • David Edelstadt, Yiddish-language anarchist poet
  • Ilya Ehrenburg, writer
  • Natan Eidelman, writer
  • Alter Esselin, poet, carpenter
  • Alexander Galich, playwright poet
  • Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'Am), Hebrew-language writer
  • Lydia Ginzburg, writer
  • Yevgenia Ginzburg, writer
  • Jacob Gordin, American playwright
  • Leon Gordon, writer
  • Grigori Gorin, playwright and writer
  • Vasily Grossman, writer
  • Igor Guberman, writer
  • Peretz Hirshbein, playwright
  • Ilya Ilf, writer
  • Vera Inber, poet
  • Lev Kassil, writer
  • Veniamin Kaverin, writer (Jewish father)
  • Arkady Khait, satirist and playwright (ru:Хайт, Аркадий Иосифович)
  • 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)
  • Yeremey Parnov, writer
  • Boris Pasternak, writer, Nobel Prize (1958)
  • Yakov Perelman, writer
  • Elizaveta Polonskaya, translator, poet
  • Vladimir Posner, writer
  • David Pinski, writer
  • Lev Razgon, writer, gulag inmate for 17 years
  • Yevgeny Rein, poet
  • Ayn Rand, writer (born Alisa Rosenbaum)
  • Anatoli Rybakov, writer
  • David Samoylov, poet
  • Genrikh Sapgir, poet
  • Natalya Sats, playwright (Jewish father)
  • 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
  • Yulian Semyonov, writer
  • Boris Slutsky, war-time poet
  • Mikhail Slonimsky, writer (Jewish father)
  • Boris and Arkady Strugatsky, science fiction writers (Jewish father)
  • Mikhail Svetlov, poet
  • Shaul Tchernichovsky, poet and translator
  • Yuri Tynyanov, writer
  • Semon Yushkevich
  • Zinovy Zinik, writer
  • Mikhail Zhvanetsky, writer and comedian

    • Chess

  • Lev Alburt
  • Yuri Averbakh
  • Alexander Beliavsky
  • Ossip Bernstein
  • Benjamin Blumenfeld
  • Isaac Boleslavsky
  • Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion
  • David Bronstein, World Championship challenger
  • Maxim Dlugy
  • Iossif Dorfman
  • Mark Dvoretsky
  • Louis Eisenberg
  • Yakov Estrin
  • Alexander Evensohn
  • Salo Flohr
  • Semen Furman
  • Boris Gelfand
  • Efim Geller
  • Eduard Gufeld
  • Boris Gulko
  • Dmitry Gurevich
  • Ilya Gurevich
  • Mikhail Gurevich
  • Nicolai Jasnogrodsky
  • 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
  • Konstantin Lerner
  • Grigory Levenfish
  • Irina Levitina
  • Vladimir Liberzon
  • Andor Lilienthal
  • Moishe Lowtzky
  • Vladimir Malaniuk
  • Sam Palatnik
  • Ernest Pogosyants
  • Iosif Pogrebyssky
  • Lev Polugaevsky
  • Lev Psakhis
  • Abram Rabinovich
  • Ilya Rabinovich
  • Leonid Shamkovich
  • Ilya Smirin
  • Gennadi Sosonko
  • Leonid Stein
  • Peter Svidler
  • Mark Taimanov
  • Boris Verlinsky
  • Yakov Vilner
  • Leonid Yudasin

    • Boxing

  • Yuri Foreman, Belarusian-born Israeli US middleweight and World Boxing Association champion super welterweight
  • Louis Kaplan ("Kid Kaplan"), Russian-born US, world champion featherweight, Hall of Fame
  • Shamil Sabirov, Russia, Olympic champion light flyweight

    • Canoeing

  • Leonid Geishtor, USSR (Belarus), sprint canoer, Olympic champion (Canadian pairs 1,000-meter)
  • Michael Kolganov, Soviet (Uzbek)-born Israeli, sprint canoer, world champion, Olympic bronze (K-1 500-meter)
  • Naum Prokupets, Moldovan-born Soviet, sprint canoer, Olympic bronze (C-2 1,000-meter), gold (C-2 10,000-meter) at ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships

    • Fencing

  • Vadim Gutzeit, Ukraine (saber), Olympic champion
  • Grigory Kriss, Soviet (épée), Olympic champion, 2x silver
  • Maria Mazina, Russia (épée), Olympic champion, bronze
  • Mark Midler, Soviet (foil), 2x Olympic champion
  • Mark Rakita, Soviet (saber), 2x Olympic champion, 2x silver
  • Yakov Rylsky, Soviet (saber), Olympic champion
  • Sergey Sharikov, Russia (saber), 2x Olympic champion, silver, bronze
  • David Tyshler, Soviet (saber), Olympic bronze
  • Eduard Vinokurov, Russia (saber), 2x Olympic champion, silver
  • Iosif Vitebskiy, Soviet (épée), Olympic silver, 10x national champion

    • Figure skating

  • Ilya Averbukh, Russia, ice dancer, Olympic silver
  • Oksana Baiul, Ukraine, figure skater, Olympic gold, world champion
  • Alexei Beletski, Ukrainian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian
  • Aleksandr Gorelik, Soviet, pair skater, Olympic silver, World Championship 2x silver, bronze
  • Natalia Gudina, Ukrainian-born Israeli, figure skater, Olympian
  • Gennadi Karponossov, Russia, ice dancer & coach, Olympic gold, World Championship 2x gold, silver, 2x bronze
  • Michael Shmerkin, Soviet-born Israeli, figure skater
  • Irina Slutskaya, Russia, figure skater, Olympic silver, bronze, World Championship 2x gold, 3x silver, bronze
  • Maxim Staviski, Russian-born Bulgarian, ice dancer, World Championship gold, silver, bronze
  • Alexandra Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian
  • Roman Zaretski, Belarusian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian

    • Football (American)

  • Joe Magidsohn, Russia, Halfback
  • Igor Olshansky, Ukraine, DL (Miami Dolphins)

    • Gymnastics

  • Evgeny (or Yevgeny) Babich, Soviet, Olympic champion, world & European champion, 2x runner-up
  • Yanina Batyrchina, Russia, Olympic silver (rhythmic gymnastics)
  • Maria Gorokhovskaya, USSR, Olympic 2x champion (all-around individual exercises, team combined exercises), 5x silver (vault, asymmetrical bars, balance beam, floor exercises, team exercises with portable apparatus)
  • Natalia Laschenova, USSR, Olympic champion (team)
  • Tatiana Lysenko, Soviet/Ukrainian, 2x Olympic champion (balance beam, team combined exercises), bronze (horse vault)
  • Mikhail Perelman, USSR, Olympic champion (team combined exercises)
  • Vladimir Portnoi, USSR, Olympic silver (team combined exercises) and bronze (long horse vault)
  • Yulia Raskina, Belarus, Olympic silver (rhythmic gymnastics)
  • Alexander Shatilov, Uzbekistan/Israel, world bronze (artistic gymnast; floor exercises)
  • Yelena Shushunova, USSR, Olympic 2x champion (all-around, team), silver (balance beam), bronze (uneven bars)

    • Ice hockey

  • Max Birbraer, Russian from Kazakhstan; lived & played in Israel; 1st Israeli drafted by NHL team (New Jersey Devils)
  • Vitaly Davydov, Soviet, defenseman, 3x Olympic champion, world & European champion 1963–71, runner-up
  • Alfred Kuchevsky, Soviet, Olympic champion, bronze
  • Yuri Lyapkin, Soviet, defenceman, Olympic champion
  • Yuri Moiseev, Soviet, Olympic champion, world champion
  • Vladimir Myshkin, Soviet, goaltender, Olympic champion, silver
  • Ian Rubin, Ukraine/Australia, Russia national team
  • Yevgeni Zimin, Soviet, Olympic champion 1968–72, world & European champion 1968–69, 1971
  • Viktor Zinger, Soviet, Olympic champion; world champion 1965–69

    • Judo

  • Ārons Bogoļubovs, USSR, Olympic bronze (lightweight)

    • Rugby league

  • Ian Rubin, Ukraine/Australia, Russia national team

    • Sailing

  • Valentyn Mankin, Soviet/Ukraine, only sailor in Olympic history to win gold medals in three different classes (yachting: finn class, tempest class, and star class), silver (yachting, tempest class)

    • Shooting

  • Lev Vainshtein, USSR (Russia), 3x team world champion (25 m & 50 m pistol) and Olympic bronze medalist (300 m rifle)

    • Soccer (association football)

  • Leonid Buryak, USSR/Ukraine, midfielder, Olympic bronze
  • Yakov Ehrlich, Russia, striker
  • Andriy Oberemko, Ukraine, midfielder (Illichivets & U21 national team)
  • Israel Olshanetsky, USSR, attacking midfielder at Dynamo Leningrad.
  • Boris Razinsky, USSR/Russia, goalkeeper/striker, Olympic champion, manager
  • Boris Borisovich Rotenberg, Russia/Finland/Israel, defender
  • Mordechai Spiegler, Soviet Union/Israel, striker (Israel national team), manager

    • Speed skating

  • Rafayel Grach, USSR, Olympic silver (500-meter), bronze (500-meter)

    • Swimming

  • Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born Israeli, breaststroke
  • Semyon Belits-Geiman, USSR, Olympic silver (400-m freestyle relay) and bronze (800-m freestyle relay); world record in men's 800-m freestyle
  • Lenny Krayzelburg, Ukrainian-born US, 4x Olympic champion (100-m backstroke, 200-m backstroke, twice 4x100-m medley relay); 3x world champion (100-m and 200-m backstroke, 4×100-m medley) and 2x silver (4×100-m medley, 50-m backstroke); 3 world records (50-, 100-, and 200-m backstroke)

    • Table tennis

  • Marina Kravchenko, Ukrainian-born Israeli, Soviet and Israel national teams

    • Track and field

  • Aleksandr Averbukh, Russian-born Israeli, 2002 & 2006 European champion (pole vault)
  • Maria Leontyavna Itkina, USSR, sprinter, world records (400-m & 220-yards, and 800-m relay)
  • Svetlana Krachevskaya, USSR, shot put, Olympic silver
  • Vera Krepkina, USSR, Olympic champion (long jump), world records (100-m dash and 4x100-m)
  • Faina Melnik, Ukrainian-born USSR, 11 world records; Olympic discus throw champion
  • Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Ukraine, sprinter, world 100-m & 200-m champion
  • Irina Press, USSR, 2x Olympic champion (80-m hurdles & pentathlon)
  • Tamara Press, USSR, 6 world records (shot put & discus); 3x Olympic champion (2x shot put & discus) and silver (discus)

    • Volleyball

  • Nelly Abramova, USSR, Olympic silver
  • Larisa Bergen, USSR, Olympic silver
  • Yefim Chulak, USSR, Olympic silver, bronze
  • Nataliya Kushnir, USSR, Olympic silver
  • Yevgeny Lapinsky, USSR, Olympic champion, bronze
  • Georgy Mondzolevsky, USSR, 2x Olympic champion, 2x world champion
  • Vladimir Patkin, USSR, Olympic silver, bronze
  • Yuriy Venherovsky, USSR, Olympic champion

    • Water polo

  • Boris Goikhman, USSR, goalkeeper, Olympic silver, bronze
  • Nikolai Melnikov, USSR, Olympic champion

    • Weightlifting

  • Moisei Kas’ianik, Ukrainian-born USSR, world champion
  • Grigory Novak, Soviet, Olympic silver (middle-heavyweight); world champion
  • Rudolf Plyukfelder, Soviet, Olympic champion, 2x world champion (light heavyweight)
  • David Rigert, Kazakh-born USSR, Olympic champion, 5x world champion (light-heavyweight and heavyweight), 68 world records
  • Igor Rybak, Ukrainian-born USSR, Olympic champion (lightweight)
  • Valery Shary, Byelorussian-born USSR, Olympic champion (light-heavyweight)

    • Wrestling

  • Grigorii Gamarnik, USSR, world champion (Greco-Roman lightweight), world championship silver
  • Samuel Gerson, Ukrainian-born US, Olympic silver (freestyle featherweight)
  • Boris Maksovich Gurevich, Soviet, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman flyweight), 2x world champion
  • Boris Michail Gurevitsch, USSR, Olympic champion (freestyle middleweight), 2x world champion
  • Oleg Karavaev, USSR, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman bantamweight), 2x world champion
  • Yakov Punkin, Soviet, Olympic champion (Greco-Roman featherweight)
  • David Rudman, USSR, world championship bronze

    • Other sports

  • Elena Altshul, Women's World Draughts Champion
  • Nissim Cahn, twice Bronze Medal for Israel, curling
  • Sasha Cohen, figure skater (U.S. National Champion and silver medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics)
  • Nikolay Epstein, Soviet hockey coach
  • Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet basketball coach
  • Andriy Oberemko, footballer
  • Grigory Surkis, chairman of the Football Federation of Ukraine

    • References

    List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA