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

Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried, rabbi
Theodor Herzl, Zionist leader (Hungarian-born)
Bla Kun, communist revolutionary
Mtys Rkosi, communist politician
Rosika Schwimmer, feminist and diplomat
Hannah Szenes, WW2 partisan
Stephen Samuel Wise, Zionist leader & rabbi

Scientists

Laszlo Biro, inventor of the biro
Joseph Dallos, physician, contact lens pioneer
Paul Erds, mathematician
Dennis Gabor, physicist, holography; Nobel Prize (1971)
Joseph Goldberger, cure for pellagra
Peter Goldmark, inventor of the vinyl record and color television
Alfrd Haar, mathematician
Paul Halmos, mathematician
Avram Hershko, biologist, ubiquitin; Nobel Prize (2004)
George de Hevesy, chemist, radioactive tracers; Nobel Prize (1943)
Moritz Kaposi, dermatologist, Kaposi's sarcoma
Theodore von Krmn, aeronautical engineer
John Kemeny, computer scientist, BASIC
Nicholas Kurti, physicist
Cornelius Lanczos, mathematician & physicist
Imre Lakatos, philosopher of science
Peter Lax, mathematician
John von Neumann, computer scientist, mathematician
George Olah, chemist; Nobel Prize (1994)
Rzsa Pter, mathematician
George Plya, mathematician
Alfrd Rnyi, mathematician
Frigyes & Marcel Riesz, mathematicians
Bla Schick, pediatrician, diphtheria test
Gbor Szeg, mathematician
Le Szilrd, physicist
Edward Teller, physicist, hydrogen bomb
Paul Turn, mathematician
Abraham Wald, statistician
Eugene Wigner, physicist; Nobel Prize (1963)

Social Scientists

Franz Alexander, psychoanalyst
Michael Balint, psychoanalyst
Peter Bauer, economist
Sandor Ferenczi, psychoanalyst
Milton Friedman, economist; Nobel Prize (1976) (Hungarian parents)
Ignaz Goldziher, orientalist
John Harsanyi, economist, game theory; Nobel Prize (1994)
Nicholas Kaldor, economist
Margaret Mahler, psychologist
Karl Mannheim, sociologist, sociology of knowledge
Karl Polanyi, economist
Michael Polanyi, polymath
Aurel Stein, archeologist
Thomas Szasz, psychiatrist

Films & Stage

Tony Curtis, actor (Hungarian parents)
Michael Curtiz, director
Harry Houdini, magician
Leslie Howard, actor
Alexander Korda, director & producer
Zoltan Korda, director
Robert Lantos, producer
Peter Lorre, actor
Paul Lukas, actor
Emeric Pressburger, director
Istvn Szab, director

Musicians

Paul Abraham, composer
Leopold Auer, conductor & violinist
Gbor Darvas, composer & musicologist (unconfirmed)
Antal Dorati, conductor
Adam Fischer, conductor
Annie Fischer, pianist
Ivan Fischer, conductor
Carl Flesch, violinist
Joseph Joachim, violinist
Emmerich Klmn, composer
Istvan Kertesz, conductor
Joseph Kosma, composer
Lili Kraus, pianist
Gyrgy Ligeti, composer
Eugene Ormandy, conductor & violinist
Fritz Reiner, conductor
Sigmund Romberg, composer
Mrk Rzsavlgyi, composer, originator of csardas
Andrs Schiff, pianist
Paul Simon, singer/songwriter (Hungarian parents)
Gene Simmons, bass player for KISS (Hungarian parents)
Georg Solti, conductor
Janos Starker, cellist
George Szell, conductor
Joseph Szigeti, violinist

Writers

Bla Balzs, poet & film critic
Gyrgy Faludy, poet, writer (unconfirmed)
Susan Faludi, feminist writer (Hungarian father)
Imre Kertsz, author, Nobel Prize (2002)
Ephraim Kishon, satirist
Arthur Koestler, novelist & critic
Melchior Lengyel, playwright & screenwriter
Paul Lendvai, journalist
Georg Lukcs, philosopher & literary critic
Ferenc Molnar, playwright
Max Simon Nordau, social critic & Zionist leader
Mikls Radnti, poet
Carl Rakosi, poet
Felix Salten, author (Hungarian-born)
Tivadar Soros, Esperanto writer
Gyrgy Spir, writer
Antal Szerb, scholar & writer
George Tabori, writer & theatre director

Artists

Brassa, photographer
Marcel Breuer, architect
Robert Capa, photojournalist
Isidor Kaufman, painter
Andr Kertsz, photographer
Lszl Moholy-Nagy, painter, photographer
Martin Munkacsi, photographer
Sylvia Plachy, photographer (Jewish mother)

Business

Andrew Grove, co-founder and chairman of Intel
Este Lauder, cosmeticist (Hungarian parents)
Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper baron (Jewish father)
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 (3g1 s)
Ildiko Rejt-Ujlaki, Olympic fencer (2g2s3b) (does not identify)
Ilona Elek, Olympic fencer (2g1s) (Jewish father)
Lily Kronberger, figure skating World Champion (4g2b)
Emilie Rotter & Laszlo Szollas, figure skating World Champions (4g1s) & Olympic medalists (2b)
gnes Keleti, Olympic gymnast (5g4s1b)
Bela Guttmann, soccer coach (10 championships, 2 European Cups)
Alfrd Hajs, first Olympic swimming champion (2g)
Eva Szkely & 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)
Gyrgy Krpti, Bela Komjadi, Gyorgy Brody, Olympic water polo players (3g1b & 2g & 2g)
Ferenc Kemeny, co-founder and first secretary of the IOC