List of Hungarian Jews
There has been a Jewish presence in Hungary since Roman times (bar a brief expulsion during the Black Death). Jews fared particularly well under the Ottoman Empire, and after emancipation in 1867. At its height, the Jewish population of Greater Hungary numbered more than 900,000, but the Holocaust and emigration has reduced that to around 100,000, most of whom live in Budapest and its suburbs. Here is a list of some prominent Hungarian Jews.
Historical Figures
- Theodor Herzl, Zionist leader (Hungarian-born)
- Béla Kun, communist revolutionary
- Mátyás Rákosi, communist politician
- Rosika Schwimmer, feminist and diplomat
- Hannah Szenes, WW2 partisan
- Stephen Samuel Wise, Zionist leader & rabbi
Scientists
- Paul Erdos, mathematician
- Sandor Ferenczi, psychoanalyst
- Milton Friedman, economist; Nobel Prize (1976) (Hungarian parents)
- Dennis Gabor, physicist, holography; Nobel Prize (1971)
- Joseph Goldberger, cure for pellagra
- Peter Goldmark, inventor of the vinyl record and color television
- John Harsanyi, economist, game theory; Nobel Prize (1994)
- Avram Hershko, biologist, ubiquitin; Nobel Prize (2004)
- George de Hevesy, chemist, radioactive tracers; Nobel Prize (1943)
- Theodore von Kármán, engineer, aerodynamics
- John Kemeny, computer scientist, BASIC
- Imre Lakatos, philosopher of science
- Cornelius Lanczos, mathematician & physicist
- Peter Lax, mathematician
- Karl Mannheim, sociologist, sociology of knowledge
- John Von Neumann, computer scientist, mathematician
- George Olah, chemist; Nobel Prize (1994)
- Michael Polanyi, chemist, philosopher
- Alfréd Rényi, mathematician
- Frigyes Riesz, mathematician
- Leó Szilárd, physicist
- Edward Teller, physicist, hydrogen bomb
- Eugene Wigner, physicist; Nobel Prize (1963)
Films & Stage
- Tony Curtis, actor (Hungarian parents)
- Michael Curtiz, director
- Harry Houdini, magician
- Leslie Howard, actor
- Peter Lorre, actor
- Paul Lukas, actor
- Emeric Pressburger, director
Musicians
- Leopold Auer, conductor & violinist
- Antal Dorati, conductor
- Adam Fischer, conductor
- Annie Fischer, pianist
- Ivan Fischer, conductor
- Carl Flesch, violinist
- Joseph Joachim, violinist
- Emmerich Kálmán, composer
- Istvan Kertesz, conductor
- Joseph Kosma, composer
- Lili Kraus, pianist
- György Ligeti, composer
- Eugene Ormandy, conductor & violinist
- Fritz Reiner, conductor
- Sigmund Romberg, composer
- Márk Rózsavölgyi, composer, originator of csardas
- András Schiff, pianist
- Gene Simmons, bass player for KISS (Hungarian parents)
- Georg Solti, conductor
- Janos Starker, cellist
- George Szell, conductor
- Joseph Szigeti, violinist
Writers
- Béla Balázs, poet & film critic
- Susan Faludi, feminist writer (Hungarian father)
- Imre Kertész, author, Nobel Prize (2002)
- Ephraim Kishon, satirist
- Arthur Koestler, novelist & critic
- Melchior Lengyel, playwright & screenwriter
- Georg Lukács, philosopher & literary critic
- Ferenc Molnar, playwright
- Max Simon Nordau, social critic & Zionist leader
- Felix Salten, author (Hungarian-born)
- Tivadar Soros, Esperanto writer
Artists
- Brassaï, photographer
- Marcel Breuer, architect
- Robert Capa, photojournalist
- André Kertész, photographer
Business
- Andrew Grove, co-founder and chairman of Intel
- Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper baron (half Jewish)
- Paul Reichmann, real estate (Hungarian parents)
- George Soros, currency speculator & philanthropist
- Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount Pictures
Sports
- Zsuzsa & Judit Polgar, chess players
- Isidor Gunsberg, chess player
- Endre Kabos, Olympic fencer (3g1s)
- Ildiko Rejtö-Ujlaki, Olympic fencer (2g2s3b) (half Jewish)
- Ilona Elek, Olympic fencer (2g1s) (half Jewish)
- Lily Kronberger, figure skating World Champion (4g2b)
- Emilie Rotter & Laszlo Szollas, figure skating World Champions (4g1s) & Olympic medalists (2b)
- Ágnes Keleti, Olympic gymnast (5g4s1b)
- Bela Guttmann, soccer coach (10 championships, 2 European Cups)
- Alfréd Hajós, first Olympic swimming champion (2g)
- Eva Székely & Andrea Gyarmati, mother and daughter Olympic swimmers (1g1s & 1s1b)
- Eva was married to Dezso Gyarmati (see below), while Andrea married canoeist Mihaly Hesz (1g1s)
- Viktor Barna, table tennis World Champion (5 singles, 8 doubles, 2 mixed)
- Anna Sipos, table tennis World Champion (2 singles, 6 doubles, 2 mixed)
- Miklos Szabados, table tennis World Champion (1 singles, 6 doubles, 3 mixed)
- Dezso Gyarmati, Olympic water polo player & captain (3g1s1b)
- György Kárpáti, Bela Komjadi, Gyorgy Brody, Olympic water polo players (3g1b & 2g & 2g)
- Ferenc Kemeny, co-founder and first secretary of the IOC
See also: List of Jews, List of Hungarians