list of polish jews

From the Middle Ages until the Holocaust, Jews were a significant part of the Polish population. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, known for its religious tolerance as a "Jewish paradise", attracted numerous Jews who fled persecution from other European countries. By the Second World War Poland had the largest Jewish population in the world (about 3 million), most of whom were then killed by the Nazis. Poland was therefore a major spiritual and cultural center for the Ashkenazi Jewry for many centuries, and many of Europe's famous Jews were born in Poland. Many Polish Jews contributed to Jewish culture and religious teaching. There were also many who assimilated with Poles and made great contributions to Polish cultural, economic and political life, including Jews who were ardent Polish patriots. The following is a list of some prominent Polish Jews.

Historical Figures

Politicians

David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Israeli prime minister
Jakub Berman (1901-1984), Secretary of PUWP (Polish United Workers' Party)
Bronisław Geremek (b. 1932), Polish foreign minister
Shimon Peres (b. 1923), Israeli prime minister, Nobel prize (1994)
Adam Rotfeld (b. 1938), Polish foreign minister
Yitzhak Shamir (b. 1915), Israeli prime minister
Saul Wahl (1541-1617), according to tradition, temporary King of Poland in 1586
Szmul Zygielbojm (1895-1943), Polish Jewish leader

Soldiers & Fighters

Mordechaj Anielewicz (1919-1943), leader of Warsaw ghetto uprising
Berek Joselewicz (1764-1809), colonel during Kościuszko Uprising and Napoleonic wars
Hyman Rickover (1900-1986), US Navy Admiral
Krystyna Skarbek (1915-1952), WW2 spy

Activists

Joseph Rotblat (b. 1908), founder of Pugwash, Nobel Prize (1995)
Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959), human rights lawyer
Rosa Luxembourg (1870-1919), Marxist
Adam Michnik (b. 1946), dissident
Henry Morgentaler (b. 1923), abortion activist
Ludwik Rajchman (1881-1965), founder of UNICEF
Ernestine Rose (1810-1892), feminist

Religious Figures

Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) (ca 1700-1760), Hasiddic rabbi
Jacob Frank (1726-1791), messiah claimant
Arthur Hertzberg, (b. 1921) rabbi
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), theologian
Zevi Hirsch Kalischer (1795-1874), rabbi & zionism pioneer
Elimelech of Leżajsk (1717-1786), Hasiddic rabbi
Dovber of Mezeritch (d. 1772), Hasiddic rabbi

Academics

Natural Scientists

Paul Baran, engineer: packet switching
Salomon Bochner, mathematician
Jacob Bronowski, scientist & broadcaster
Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel prize (1992)
Samuel Eilenberg, mathematician: category theory
Kasimir Fajans, physicist
Casimir Funk, biochemist: vitamins
Roald Hoffmann, chemist and writer, Nobel prize (1981)
Witold Hurewicz, mathematician
Leopold Infeld, physicist
Mark Kac, mathematician
Abraham Lempel, computer scientist: LZW compression
Adolf Lindenbaum, logician
Benoit Mandelbrot, mathematician: fractals
Szolem Mandelbrojt, mathematician
Emil Leon Post, mathematician
Mojzesz Presburger, logician
Tadeus Reichstein, chemist, Nobel prize (1950)
Stanislaw Saks, mathematician
Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral Polio vaccine
Andrew V. Schally, endocrinologist, Nobel prize (1977)
Juliusz Schauder, mathematician
Hugo Steinhaus, mathematician
Alfred Tarski, logician (converted to Catholicism)
Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician

Social Academics

Solomon Asch, Gestalt psychologist
Szymon Aszkenazy, historian
Salo Wittmayer Baron, Jewish historian
Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist
Ivan Bloch, military writer
Isaac Deutscher, historian
Henryk Grossmann, economist
Joseph Jastrow, psychologist
Lewis Namier, historian
Paul Radin, anthropologist
Manfred Sakel, neurophysiologist & psychiatrist
Milton Rokeach, psychologist
Michael Thomas, language teacher
Ludwik Zamenhof, doctor and inventor of esperanto

Cultural Figures

Artists

Balthus, painter (Jewish mother)
Chim, photographer
Leon Chwistek, painter & philosopher (unconfirmed)
Tamara de Lempicka, painter (Jewish father)
Moise Kisling, painter
Joe Kubert, comic book artist
Daniel Libeskind, architect
Helena Rubinstein, fashion designer
Max Weber, painter
Esther Wertheimer, sculptor

Musicians

Emanuel Ax, pianist
Adolph Baller, pianist
Leonard & Phil Chess, founders of Chess Records
Walter Damrosch, conductor
Ignaz Friedman, pianist
Szymon Goldberg, violinist/conductor
Ida Haendel, violinist
George Henschel, singer/conductor
Bronislaw Huberman, violinist
Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
Geddy Lee, vocalist in Rush (Polish parents)
Artur Rodzinski, conductor
Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
Artur Schnabel, pianist
Henryk Szeryng, violinist
Władysław Szpilman pianist, author of The Pianist memoir
Alexandre Tansman, composer, pianist
Moisei Vainberg, composer

Screen & Stage

Artur Brauner, film producer
Samuel Goldwyn, film producer
Anna Held, stage actress
Agnieszka Holland, film director, screenwriter (Jewish father)
Ida Kaminska, actress & theatre manager
Jan Kott, theatre critic
Roman Polański, film director
Lew Rywin, film producer
Harry, Sam & Albert Warner, film producers

Writers & Poets

Polish-language

Kazimierz Brandys, writer
Jan Brzechwa, poet
Henryk Grynberg, writer
Mieczysław Jastrun, poet
Janusz Korczak, pediatrician, children's writer, pedagogist
Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, satirical poet
Hanna Krall, author
Bolesław Leśmian, poet
Bruno Schulz, prose writer
Antoni Słonimski, poet
Julian Stryjkowski, prose writer
Julian Tuwim, poet

Yiddish-language

Sholem Asch, writer
Isaac Bashevis Singer, writer, Nobel prize (1978)
Israel Joshua Singer, novelist

Other Writers

Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Hebrew writer, Nobel prize (1966)
Lisa Appignanesi, English writer
Jurek Becker, German writer
Naphtali Herz Imber, Hebrew poet
Jerzy Kosinski, American writer
Anna Langfus, French writer, Prix Goncourt (1962)
Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet
Uri Orlev, Hebrew writer, Hans Christian Andersen Award (1996)
Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic

Business Figures

Henry & Helal Hassenfeld, founders of Hasbro
Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore

Sport Figures

Chess Players

David Janowski, chess player
Miguel Najdorf, chess player
Akiba Rubinstein, chess player
Samuel Reshevsky, chess player
Savielly Tartakower, chess player
Daniel Yanofsky, chess player
Johannes Zukertort, chess player

Others

Charley Goldman, boxing trainer (International Boxing Hall of Fame)
Myer Prinstein, long- and triple-jumper (4 Olympic golds)
Irena Kirszenstein Szewinska, sprinter (7 medals over 4 Olympics)

Miscellaneous

Meyer Lansky, US gangster