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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

This List of Jews contains individuals who, in accordance with Wikipedia's verifiability and no original research policies, have been identified as Jews by reliable sources.

A few years before the Holocaust, the Jewish population of the Soviet Union (excluding Western Ukraine and the Baltic states that 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 more than half died directly as a result of the Holocaust.

Politics and military

Politicians

Israeli politicians

Israeli military persons

Soviet soldiers and revolutionaries

  • Osip Aptekman, revolutionary[51]
  • Pavel Axelrod, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary[8][52]
  • Yevno Azef, revolutionary[1]
  • Tuvia Bielski, Belarusian partisan[53]
  • Yakov Blumkin, Soviet spy[53]
  • Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet Front Commander, WWII[54]
  • Fedor Dan, revolutionary[55]
  • Leo Deutsch, revolutionary[56]
  • David Dragunsky, Soviet tank brigade commander, WWII[55]
  • Raya Dunayevskaya, founder of Marxist humanism in the U.S.[57]
  • Hesya Helfman, revolutionary[58]
  • Grigory Gershuni, revolutionary[58]
  • Moshe Gildenman, known as Dyadya ("Uncle") Misha, partisan commander[59]
  • Mordechai Schlein, partisan and violinist.Tzvi (2020-08-17). "12-Year-Old Jewish Hero of WWII | Aish". Aish.com. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  • Grigory Goldenberg, revolutionary[58]
  • Olga Kameneva, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of Leon Trotsky)[60]
  • Walter Krivitsky, Soviet spy[10]
  • Semyon Krivoshein, Soviet mechanized corps commander, WWII[10]
  • Rodion Malinovsky, Soviet front commander, WWII, Minister of Defence[14] (Jewish origin is disputed)
  • Mark Natanson, revolutionary[61]
  • Alexander Parvus, revolutionary[8][62]
  • Grigoriy Plaskov, Soviet artillery lieutenant
  • Sidney Reilly (born Shlomo Rosenblum), Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent[63]
  • Theodore Rothstein, Russian-British communist[17]
  • Pinhas Rutenberg, Zionist, Social revolutionary[17]
  • Israel and Manya Shochat, founders of the Hashomer movement
  • Moisei Uritsky, communist revolutionary[22]
  • Volin (Vsevolod Eikhenbaum), leading Russian Anarchist. Senior member of Nestor Makhno's movement (1918–1921)
  • V. Volodarsky, communist revolutionary[64]
  • Iona Yakir, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II[24]

Others

Business figures

Scientists

Natural scientists

Mathematicians

Social scientists and philosophers

Medical scientists and physicians

Cultural figures

Fine artists

Musicians

Thumb
Joseph Kobzon, Russia's most decorated artist, often described as the "Russian Sinatra"

Performing artists

Writers and poets

Religious figures

Sport figures

Chess

Boxing

Canoeing

Fencing

Thumb
Grigory Kriss

Figure skating

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Irina Slutskaya

Football (American)

Gymnastics

Ice hockey

Judo

Rugby league

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

Soccer (association football)

Speed skating

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

Swimming

  • Vadim Alexeev, Kazakhstan-born Israeli, breaststroke[179]
  • 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

Tennis

Track and field

Volleyball

Water polo

Weightlifting

  • Moisei Kas’ianik, Ukrainian-born USSR, world champion[177]
  • Grigory Novak, Soviet, Olympic silver (middle-heavyweight); world champion
  • Rudolf Plyukfelder, Soviet, Olympic champion, 2x world champion (light heavyweight)[188]
  • David Rigert, Kazakh-born USSR, Olympic champion, 5x world champion (light-heavyweight and heavyweight), 68 world records[189]
  • Igor Rybak, Ukrainian-born USSR, Olympic champion (lightweight)
  • Valery Shary, Byelorussian-born USSR, Olympic champion (light-heavyweight)

Wrestling

Other sports

See also

Footnotes

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