List of Ukrainian Jews

Presented below are lists of famous or notable Ukrainian people of Jewish descent and other Jews born in the territory of present-day Ukraine, before 20 century borderland region in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (later in Russian Partition and Austrian Partition).

Athletes

Vadym Gutzeit

• Oksana Baiul, figure skater, Olympic gold^[1]
• Alexei Beletski, Ukrainian-born Israeli, ice dancer, Olympian^[2]
• Oleksii Bychenko, Ukrainian-born Israeli, figure skater, 2016 European silver medallist, Olympian
• Artem Dolgopyat, Ukrainian-born Israeli, Olympic gold (artistic gymnast - floor) for Israel^[3]
• Olena Dvornichenko, Israel/Ukraine, rhythmic gymnastics^[4]
• Grigoriy Gamarnik, Ukrainian-born Soviet, world wrestling champion (Greco-Roman lightweight), world championship gold and silver
• Samuel Gerson, Ukrainian-born US, Olympic silver wrestling (freestyle featherweight)
• Natalia Gudina, Ukrainian-born Israeli, figure skater, Olympian^[5]
• Vadym Gutzeit (born 1971), saber fencer, Olympic champion, Youth and Sport Minister of Ukraine^[6]
• Pavlo Ishchenko ("Wild Man"), Ukraine/Israel, bantamweight & lightweight boxer, 2x European Amateur Boxing Championships medalist, and European Games medalist^[7]
• Moisei Kas’ianik, Ukrainian-born USSR, world weightlifting champion
• Marina Kravchenko, Ukrainian-born Israeli, Soviet and Israel national table tennis teams^[8]
• Lenny Krayzelburg, Ukrainian-born US swimmer, 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)
• Grigory Kriss (born 1940), Ukrainian Soviet Olympic épée fencer who won four Olympic medals, including a gold medal
• Tatiana Lysenko, USSR/Ukraine gymnast, 2x Olympic champion (balance beam, team combined exercises), bronze (horse vault)
• Valeria Maksyuta, Ukraine/Israel gymnast, multiple World Cup medalist, Israeli Olympian, Maccabiah Games champion^[9][10][11]
• 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)
• Faina Melnik, Ukrainian-born USSR, 11 world records; Olympic discus throw champion
• Andriy Oberemko, soccer/football midfielder (Mariupol & U21 national team)^[12]
• Igor Olshansky, NFL American football defensive end
• Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, Ukraine, sprinter, world 100-m & 200-m champion
• Katerina Pisetsky, Israel/Ukraine, rhythmic gymnast^[13]
• Maxim Podoprigora, Ukrainian-born Austrian swimmer
• Ian Rubin, Ukraine/Australia, Russia national rugby league team^[14]
• Igor Rybak, Ukrainian-born USSR, Olympic weightlifting champion (lightweight)
• David Tyshler (1927–2014), Ukraine-born Soviet sabre fencer, Olympic bronze medalist
• Yulen Uralov (born 1924), Ukrainian Soviet Olympic foil fencer, and USSR champion
• Iosif Vitebskiy (born 1938), Soviet Ukrainian Olympic medalist and world champion épée fencer, and current US fencing coach
• Alexei Zhitnik, Ukraine-born Russia, hockey defenseman (NHL)^[15]
• Aleksandr Kolchinsky, heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler, Olympic gold.

Politicians

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy

• Mykhailo Dobkin, former governor of Kharkiv Oblast 2010-2014
• Volodymyr Groysman, former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2016–2019)
• Hennadiy Kernes, Mayor of Kharkiv 2010–2020
• Ihor Kolomoyskyi, former Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast 2014-2015
• Pinhas Krasny, Ukrainian minister of Jewish Affairs for the Directorate of Ukraine^[16]
• Vadim Rabinovich, 2014 presidential candidate
• Moisei Rafes, deputy secretary of National Affairs (Jewish Affairs) for the General Secretariat
• Abraham Revutsky, Ukrainian minister of Jewish Affairs for the Directorate of Ukraine
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (2019–present)
• Moishe Zilberfarb, deputy secretary of National Affairs (Jewish Affairs) for the General Secretariat
• Alexander Zolotarev, state controller for the General Secretariat
• Yukhym Zvyahilsky, former Prime Minister of Ukraine 1993-1994 and entrepreneur
• Oleksandr Feldman, People's Deputy of Ukraine (2002–present)
• Oleksii Reznikov, 17th Minister of Defence (2021-2023)

Russian/Soviet politicians

• Karl Radek, Soviet politician^[17]
• Grigory Sokolnikov, Bolshevik politician^[18]
• Abram Slutsky, headed the Soviet foreign intelligence service (INO), then part of the NKVD
• Leon Trotsky, Soviet politician, the founder of the Red Army,^{[19][20][21][22]} commissar (Soviet minister) of Foreign Affairs
• Lazar Kaganovich, Stalinist politician and one of the organizers of the Ukrainian Holodomor and Stalinist Great Purge
• Moisei Uritsky, Soviet politician,^[23][24] chekist
• Grigory Yavlinsky, Russian politician, head of a liberal "Yabloko" party^[25] (half Jewish)
• Grigory Zinoviev, Soviet politician^[26][20][27]

Israeli politicians

• Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel (1952–63)^[28][29][30]
• Shmuel Dayan, Zionist activist, Israeli politician^[31]
• Levi Eshkol, Israeli Prime Minister (1963–69)^[32][33]
• Ephraim Katzir, fourth President of Israel (1973–78)^[34][35]
• Golda Meir, Israeli Prime Minister (1969–74)^[36][37]
• Natan Sharansky, Israeli politician^[38]
• Moshe Sharett, Israeli Prime Minister (1954–55)^[18][39]

United States politicians

• Kirill Reznik, US Politician, Member, Maryland House of Delegates (2007–Present)

Israeli military persons

• Yaakov Dori, first Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) (1948–1949); President of Technion.^[40]
• Tzvi Tzur, sixth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1961–1964)^[41]

Soldiers and Revolutionaries

• Pavel Axelrod, Menshevik, Marxist revolutionary^[26][42]
• Yakov Blumkin, Soviet spy ^[43]
• Naftali Botwin, revolutionary terrorist
• Morris Childs (born Moishe Chilovsky), American communist and spy
• Leo Deutsch, revolutionary^[44]
• Raya Dunayevskaya, founder of Marxist humanism in the U.S.^[45]
• Israel Fisanovich, World War II submarine commander and Hero of the Soviet Union
• Grigory Goldenberg, revolutionary^[46]
• Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of British Jewish Legion ^[47][48]
• Jacob Golos, Soviet spy
• Olga Kameneva, Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician (sister of Leon Trotsky) ^[49]
• Walter Krivitsky (born Samuel Ginsberg), Soviet spy
• Alexander Parvus, revolutionary,^[26][50] major investor and financial supporter of the October Revolution
• Sidney Reilly (born Shlomo Rosenblum), a Ukrainian-born adventurer and Secret Intelligence Service agent ^[51]
• Pinhas Rutenberg, Zionist, Social revolutionary^[52]
• Grigori Shtern (Grigory Stern), Red Army commander (Colonel General)
• Naum Sorkin, Red Army military intelligence chief in the Far East (Major-General)^[53]
• V. Volodarsky (born Moisei Goldstein), communist revolutionary^[54]
• Mark Zborowski, Soviet spy
• Iona Yakir, Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II^[55]
• Mishka Yaponchik, gangster, leader of the Odesa Jewish Resistance group in 1917-1921

Other Historical figures

• Michael Dorfman, Russian-Israeli essayist and human rights activist
• Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Baal Shem Tov), Rabbi, founder of Hasidic Judaism
• Shlomo Ganzfried, Rabbi
• Fanny Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin
• Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism
• Isroel Shmulson, architect
• Simon Wiesenthal, holocaust survivor from the Nazi Holocaust, Nazi hunter, writer
• Semion Mogilevich, "boss of all bosses" of the worldwide Russian Mafia, former member of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

Business figures

• Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp
• Leon Bagrit, pioneer of automation^[56]
• Zino Davidoff
• Bernard Delfont, impresario^[57]
• Lew Grade, founder of ATV^[58]
• Ihor Kolomoyskyi, a major Ukrainian business oligarch
• Max Levchin, co-founder of PayPal^[59]
• Hryhoriy Surkis, head of public organization Football Federation of Ukraine, Ukrainian parliamentary
• Viktor Vekselberg, billionaire, steelmaker^[60]
• Gennadiy Korban, Ukrainian businessman, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish community of Dnipro, Patron of the Jewish community of Krivoy Rog^[61][62]
• Boris Lohzkin, President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine^[63]
• Michael Kogan, entrepreneur, founder of Taito

Natural scientists

• Aleksander Akhiezer, physicist
• Matvei Petrovich Bronstein
• Mikhail Gurevich
• Waldemar Haffkine, biologist, developed vaccine against cholera and plague^[64][65]
• Boris Hessen, physicist^[66]
• Abram Ioffe, nuclear scientist^[67]
• Isaak Markovich Khalatnikov
• Veniamin Levich, electrochemist^[68]
• Boris Podolsky
• Isaak Pomeranchuk
• Jacob Rabinow
• Anatol Rapoport
• Grigory Shajn
• Iosif Shklovsky
• Vladimir Veksler
• Alexander Vilenkin, cosmologist^[69]
• Selman Waksman, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1952)^[70]

Mathematicians

• Naum Akhiezer
• Vladimir Arnold^[71]
• Chudnovsky brothers
• Vladimir Drinfeld
• Felix Gantmacher
• Israel Gelfand
• Alexander Goncharov
• Marc Kac
• Naum Krasner
• Mark Krasnoselsky
• Mark Krein
• Evgenii Landis
• Boris Levin
• Leonid Levin
• Boris Levitan
• Jacob Levitzki
• David Milman
• Pierre Milman
• Vitali Milman
• Mark Naimark
• Moses Schönfinkel
• Samuil Shatunovsky
• Pavel Urysohn
• Oscar Zariski

Social scientists

• Solomon Buber, Hebraist^[72]
• Ariel Durant, historian,
• Boris Eichenbaum, historian
• Mikhail Epstein, literary theorist
• Moshe Feldenkrais, inventor of the Feldenkrais method
• Alexander Gerschenkron, economic historian
• Jean Gottmann, geographer^[73]
• Zellig Harris
• Jacob Marschak, economist^[74]
• Elye Spivak

Musicians

• Sophia Agranovich, pianist^[75]
• Simon Barere, pianist
• Sidor Belarsky,^[76] operatic basso and music educator
• Felix Blumenfeld, pianist
• Shura Cherkassky, pianist
• Michael Ben David, singer
• Isaak Dunayevsky, composer
• Mischa Elman, violinist^[77]
• Anthony Fedorov, singer, American Idol finalist^[78]
• Samuil Feinberg, composer^[79][80]
• Emil Gilels, pianist^[81]
• Maria Grinberg, pianist
• Eden Golan, singer
• Mordechai Hershman, cantor and singer
• Jascha Horenstein, conductor
• Vladimir Horowitz, pianist
• Leonid Kogan, violinist
• Mikhail Kopelman, violinist
• Oleg Maisenberg, pianist
• Samuel Maykapar, composer/pianist^[82]
• Nathan Milstein, violinist
• Benno Moiseiwitsch, pianist
• David Oistrakh, violinist
• Igor Oistrakh, violinist
• Leo Ornstein, composer
• Gregor Piatigorsky, cellist
• Pokrass brothers, composers
• Mark Reizen, operatic bass
• Yossele Rosenblatt, cantor and composer
• Heinrich Schenker, music theorist
• Joseph Schillinger, composer, music theorist, and composition teacher
• Leo Sirota, pianist ^[83][84]
• Isaac Stern, violinist ^[85]
• Roman Turovsky-Savchuk, lutenist-composer
• Lyubov Uspenskaya, singer
• DJ Vlad, DJ, producer, interviewer, journalist, and YouTuber
• Yakov Zak, pianist

Fine artists

• Michael Matusevitch (1929–2007), painter
• Nathan Altman, painter and stage designer
• Boris Aronson, painter and designer
• Nudie Cohn, fashion designer
• Sonia Delaunay, painter
• Maya Deren, filmmaker
• Boris Efimov, cartoonist
• Naum Gabo, sculptor
• Boris Iofan, architect
• Ilya Kabakov, conceptualist artist
• Yevgeny Khaldei, photographer
• Jacob Kramer, painter^[86]
• Morris Lapidus, architect
• Louise Nevelson, sculptor
• Solomon Nikritin
• Jules Olitski, painter
• Leonid Pasternak, painter
• Antoine Pevsner, sculptor
• Olga Rapay-Markish (1929–2012), ceramicist
• Mikhail Turovsky, painter
• Roman Turovsky, painter

Performing artists

• Jacob Adler, actor
• Yosl Cutler, puppeteer
• Abraham Goldfaden (1840–1908), playwright and theatre director^[87]
• Alexander Granach (1890–1945), actor in theater and film (Berlin & Germany, Poland, USSR, Hollywood and Broadway)
• Aleksei Kapler, film artist
• Mila Kunis, actress ^[88]
• Mark Donskoy, Soviet film director
• Anatole Litvak, director
• Alla Nazimova, actress
• Otto Preminger, director, producer, actor
• Ingo Preminger, producer, literary agent
• Elena Ralph, model^[89]
• Yakov Smirnoff, American comedian^[90]
• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian screenwriter, actor, comedian, and director, who was elected the President of Ukraine in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election.

Writers and poets

• Sholom Aleichem, Yiddish-language writer^[91]
• Eli Schechtman, Yiddish writer^[92]
• Isaac Babel, writer^[28]
• Eduard Bagritsky, poet^[28]
• Hayyim Nahman Bialik, poet^[28]
• Yosef Haim Brenner, Hebrew-language writer^[28]
• Sasha Cherny, poet^[93]
• Michael Dorfman, journalist and essayist
• Moysey Fishbein, poet
• Ilya Ehrenburg, writer^[32]
• Alexander Galich, playwright poet^[94]
• Asher Hirsch Ginsberg (Ahad Ha'Am), Hebrew-language writer
• Lydia Ginzburg, writer^[94]
• Jacob Gordin, American playwright^[94]
• Erol Güney, journalist and translator^[95]
• Vasily Grossman, writer^[94]
• Ilya Ilf, writer^[96]
• Vera Inber, poet^[96]
• Alejandro Jodorowsky, Spanish-language writer and filmmaker
• A.M. Klein, poet
• Pavel Kogan, poet
• Lev Kopelev, author and dissident
• Clarice Lispector, writer from Brazil
• Benedikt Livshits, writer
• Nadezhda Mandelstam, writer
• Yunna Morits, poet
• Anatoli Rybakov, writer^[97]
• Boris Slutsky, war-time poet
• Shaul Tchernichovsky, poet and translator ^[98]

Chess players

• Alexander Beliavsky^[99]
• Ossip Bernstein^[99]
• Isaac Boleslavsky^[99]
• David Bronstein, World Championship challenger^[99]
• Iossif Dorfman^[100]
• Louis Eisenberg
• Alexander Evensohn^[101]
• Efim Geller^[102]
• Eduard Gufeld^[102]
• Ilya Gurevich^[102]
• Mikhail Gurevich^[102]
• Nicolai Jasnogrodsky
• Gregory Kaidanov^[103]
• Alexander Konstantinopolsky^[103]
• Konstantin Lerner^[104]
• Moishe Lowtzky^[104]
• Vladimir Malaniuk^[105]
• Sam Palatnik^[106]
• Ernest Pogosyants^[106]
• Iosif Pogrebyssky^[106]
• Leonid Stein^[107]
• Mark Taimanov^[108]
• Boris Verlinsky^[54]
• Yakov Vilner^[54]

See also

• History of the Jews in Ukraine
• List of Galician Jews
• List of Jews born in the former Russian Empire