List of Jews born in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
The Jewish presence in Russia dates back to the 7th century, and a converted Jewish Khazar kingdom sprang up a hundred years later. By the formation of the Soviet Union, there were some 2.5 million Soviet Jews, mostly Ashkenazi. After its collapse, many emigrated to Israel, USA and Germany, though Russia still has one of the larger Jewish populations in the world. The following is a list of some prominent Russian Jews.
Politicians
- Mikhail Fradkov, Prime Minister (half Jewish)
- Lev Kamenev & Grigory Zinoviev, ruling triumvirate with Stalin
- Sergei Kiriyenko, Prime Minister (half Jewish)
- Julius Martov, Menshevik leader
- Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik politician
- Chaim Weizmann, Zionist leader & Israeli president
- Grigory Yavlinsky, liberal leader (half Jewish)
- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, nationalist (half Jewish)
Scientists
Natural Scientists
- Alexei Abrikosov, physicist, nobel prize (2003) (half Jewish)
- Zhores Alferov, physicist, nobel prize (2000) (half Jewish)
- Zora Arkus-Duntov, father of the Chevrolet Corvette
- Abram Besicovitch, mathematician
- Ilya Frank, physicist, nobel prize (1958) (half Jewish)
- Izrail Gel'fand, mathematician
- Vitaly Ginzburg, physicist, nobel prize (2003)
- Mikhail Gurevich, co-inventor of the MiG
- Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, nuclear scientist
- Maxim Kontsevich, mathematician, fields medal (1998) (unconfirmed)
- Lev Landau, physicist, nobel prize (1962)
- Solomon Lefschetz, mathematician
- Grigory Margulis, mathematician, fields medal (1978)
- Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, microbiologist, nobel prize (1908) (half Jewish)
- Grigori Perelman, mathematician
- Ilya Prigogine, chemist, nobel prize (1977)
- Selman Waksman, biochemist, nobel prize (1952)
- Efim Zelmanov, mathemaitican, fields medal (1994)
Social Scientists
- Urie Bronfenbrenner, developmental psychologist (unconfirmed)
- Aharon Dolgopolsky, linguist
- Moshe Feldenkrais, founder of the Feldenkrais Method
- Alexander Gerschenkron, economic historian
- Roman Jakobson, linguist
- Leonid Kantorovich, economist, nobel prize (1975)
- Mirra Komarovsky, sociologist of gender
- Simon Kuznets, economist, nobel prize (1971)
- Wassily Leontief, economist, nobel prize (1973) (half Jewish)
- Alexander Luria, neuropsychologist
- Abraham Maslow, psychologist
- Ayn Rand, philosopher
- Anatol Rapoport, game theorist
- Lev Vygotsky, developmental psychologist
Cultural Figures
Musicians
- Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (half Jewish)
- Yuri Bashmet, violist
- Irving Berlin, songwriter
- Lazar Berman, pianist
- Semyon Bychkov, conductor
- Isaak Iosifovich Dunayevsky, composer
- Vladimir Feltsman, pianist
- Emil Gilels, pianist
- Grigory Ginsburg, pianist
- Natalia Gutman, cellist
- Oleg Kagan, violinist
- Evgeny Kissin, pianist
- André Kostelanetz, conductor
- Serge Koussevitzky, conductor
- Josef Lhévinne, pianist
- Shlomo Mintz, violinist
- Anton Rubinstein, pianist
- Alfred Schnittke, composer (half Jewish)
- Daniil Shafran, cellist
- Beverly Sills, opera singer
- Nicolas Slonimsky, musicologist & composer
- Vladimir Spivakov, violinist
- Sophie Tucker, singer
- Maxim Vengerov, violinist
- Efrem Zimbalist, violinist
Others
- Sergei Eisenstein, director (half Jewish)
- Yevgeny Khaldei, photographer
- El Lissitzky, designer
- Alla Nazimova, actress
- Yuri Norstein, animator
- Maya Plisetskaya, ballerina
- Arkady Raikin, comedian
- Dziga Vertov, director
Authors & Poets
- Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer
- Isaac Babel, writer
- Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel Prize (1976) (Russian parents)
- Joseph Brodsky, poet, Nobel Prize (1987)
- Ilya Ehrenburg, writer
- Ilya Ilf, humorist
- Lev Kopelev, author & dissident
- Osip Mandelstam, poet
- Boris Pasternak, writer, Nobel Prize (1958)
Business Figures
Entrepreneurs
- Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google (half Jewish)
- Maurice Greenberg, founder of Coleco
- Michael Kogan, founder of Taito
- Rose & Morris Michtom, creators of the Teddy Bear
Oligarchs
- Roman Abramovich, billionaire, owner of Chelsea FC
- Boris Berezovsky, exiled ex-billionaire
- Mikhail Fridman, billionaire
- Vladimir Gusinsky, exiled former media tycoon
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky, imprisoned oil billionaire
Sport Figures
Chess
- Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion
- Garry Kasparov, World Champion (half Jewish)
- Viktor Korchnoi, World Championship challenger (half Jewish)
- Alla Kushnir, Women's World Championship challenger
- Vasily Smyslov, World Champion (unconfirmed half Jewish)
- Mark Taimanov, Grandmaster & concert pianist
Other Sports
- Nikolay Epstein, Soviet hockey coach
- Alexander Gomelsky, Soviet basketball coach
- Maria Itkina, sprinter
- Fania Melnik, discus thrower
- Irina Slutskaya, figure skater (half Jewish)
Miscellaneous
- Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet general
- Fanya Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin
- Immanuel Velikovsky, controversial writer on cosmology
See also: List of Jews, List of Russians