List of French Jews

List of Jews by
country

(*most are Jewish)

Jews have lived in France since Roman times, and since the French Revolution (and emancipation) have contributed to all aspects of French culture and society. A significant number perished in the Holocaust, deported to Nazi death camps by the French Vichy government. After the war, France served as a haven for Jewish refugees, and an influx of immigration (mostly of Sephardi Jews from North Africa) saw the Jewish population triple to around 600,000, making it the largest Jewish community in Western Europe at the present time.

The following is a list of some prominent French Jews and people of Jewish origins (not all of them practice, or practiced, the Jewish religion).

Contents

1 Historical figures

1.1 Politicians
1.2 Activists
1.3 Clergymen
1.4 Military

2 Academic figures

2.1 Scientists
2.2 Social scientists

3 Cultural figures

3.1 Film and stage
3.2 Musicians
3.3 Artists

Historical figures

Politicians

Robert Badinter, Justice Minister (1981-6; abolished the death penalty)
Léon Blum, Prime Minister (1936-7, 1938, 1946-7)
Adolphe Crémieux, Justice Minister (1848, 1870-1)
Michel Debré, Prime Minister (1959-1962; leading Gaullist) (Jewish father)
Laurent Fabius, Prime Minister (1984-6) (Jewish father)
Georges Mandel, Interior Minister (1939)
René Mayer, Prime Minister (1953) (unconfirmed)
Pierre Mendès-France, Prime Minister (1954-5; withdrew from Indochina)
Jules Moch, Transport Minister (1945-7), Interior Minister (1947-50), Defense Minister (1950-1)
Simone Veil, Health Minister (1974-6; legalized abortion), President of the European Parliament (1979-82)
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Finance Minister (1997-9)

Activists

René Cassin, drafted Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Nobel Peace Prize (1968)
Daniel Cohn-Bendit, student leader and Green MEP
Alain Geismar, student leader
Bernard Kouchner, founder of Médecins Sans Frontières
Alain Krivine, student leader and Trotskyist MEP

Clergymen

Jean-Marie Lustiger, former archbishop of Paris and cardinal (born Jewish; converted to Roman Catholicism)

Military

Denise Bloch, WW2 Spy
Paul Bloch, resistance general (brother of Marcel Bloch, aka Marcel Dassault, see below)
Alfred Dreyfus, military officer
Manouchian Group, French Resistance group (mostly Jewish)

Academic figures

Scientists

Hippolyte Bernheim, hypnosis pioneer
Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel Prize (1992) (Polish born)
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, physicist, Nobel Prize (1997)
Mikhail Gromov, mathematician, Wolf Prize (1993) (Russian born)
Alexander Grothendieck, mathematician, Fields Medal (1966) (Jewish father) (German-born)
Jacques Hadamard, mathematician
François Jacob, biologist, Nobel Prize (1965)
Henri Kagan, chemist, Wolf Prize (2001)
Paul Lévy, mathematician
Albert Libchaber, chaos theorist, Wolf Prize (1986)
Gabriel Lippmann, physicist, Nobel Prize (1908)
Michel Loève, mathematician
André Lwoff, microbiologist, Nobel Prize (1965)
Benoît Mandelbrot, mathematician, Wolf Prize (1993) (Polish born)
Szolem Mandelbrojt, mathematician (uncle of Benoît) (Polish born)
Henri Moissan, chemist, Nobel Prize (1906) (Jewish mother)
Olinde Rodrigues, mathematician & social reformer
Laurent Schwartz, mathematician, Fields Medal (1950)
André Weil, mathematician, Wolf Prize (1979)

Social scientists

Raymond Aron, sociologist
Jacques Attali, economist, writer
Julien Benda, philosopher & novelist
Émile Benveniste, linguist
Henri Bergson, philosopher, Nobel Prize (1927)
Marc Bloch, historian & Resistance leader
Léon Brunschvicg, philosopher
Hélène Cixous, feminist critic
Hartwig Derenbourg, arabian linguist. osn of Joseph Derenbourg
Jacques Derrida, philosopher
Émile Durkheim, sociologist
Alain Finkielkraut, essayist
André Glucksman, philosopher
Gersonides, philosopher
Georges Gurvitch, sociologist, jurist
Maurice Halbwachs, sociologist
Robert Hertz, sociologist
Vladimir Jankélévitch, philosopher & music critic
Bernard-Henri Lévi, philosopher
Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist
Lucien Lévy-Bruhl, philosopher & anthropologist
Emmanuel Levinas, philosopher
Gabriel Marcel, philosopher (Jewish mother)
Marcel Mauss, sociologist
Nostradamus, astrologer & seer (Jewish parents)
Rashi, religious commentator
Maxime Rodinson, historian
George Steiner, literary critic (French-born)
Simone Weil, philosopher & mystic

Cultural figures

Film and stage

Alexandre Arcady, director
Arthur, radio and TV host, producer
Anouk Aimée, actress
Yvan Attal, director & actor
Jean-Pierre Aumont, actor (Jewish father)
Jean-Pierre Bacri, actor
Harry Baur, actor (Jewish father)
Jean Benguigui, actor
Sarah Bernhardt, stage actress (Jewish mother)
Claude Berri, director
Michel Boujenah, actor, director, humorist
David Charvet, TV actor
Elie Chouraqui, director
Gad Elmaleh, humorist, actor
Charlotte Gainsbourg, actress (Jewish father)
Judith Godrèche, actress
Vanessa Guedj, actress
Roger Hanin, actor
Agnès Jaoui, director & actress
Marin Karmitz, producer
Mathieu Kassovitz, director & actor (Jewish father)
Véra Korène, actress & stage director
Claude Lanzmann, director
Claude Lelouch, director
Marcel Marceau, mime artist
Jean-Pierre Melville, director
Raphaël Mezrahi, humorist
Serge Moati, director, TV host
Marcel Ophuls, director
Rachel, stage actress
Elie Semoun, humorist, actor
Simone Signoret, actress (Jewish father)
Patrick Timsit, humorist, actor
François Truffaut, director (Jewish biological father whom he never met)
William Wyler, director
Elsa Zylberstein, actress

Musicians

Adolphe Adam, composer
Charles-Valentin Alkan, composer & pianist
Barbara, singer
Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schonberg, musical writers
Dany Brillant, singer
Patrick Bruel, singer, actor, world poker champion
Jacques Canetti, music producer (brother of writer Elias Canetti)
Claude Challe, club impresario and DJ
Philippe Cohen Solal, member of Gotan Project
Joe Dassin, singer
Sacha Distel, singer (Jewish mother)
Paul Dukas, composer
Laïka Fatien, jazz singer (Jewish mother)
Serge Gainsbourg, singer
Jean-Jacques Goldman, singer, composer
Joseph Kosma, film composer
Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
Enrico Macias, singer
Darius Milhaud, composer
Mireille, singer, composer
Pierre Monteux, conductor
Jacques Offenbach, composer
Catherine Ringer, singer, actress (Jewish father)
Sapho, singer
Alexandre Tansman, composer, pianist
Emil Waldteufel, composer

Artists

Balthus, painter (Jewish mother)
Brassaï, photographer
Claude Cahun, photographer
Marc Chagall, painter
André François, cartoonist
Michel Kikoine, painter
Moise Kisling, painter
Pinchus Kremegne, painter
Jules Pascin, painter
Camille Pissarro, painter
Sonia Rykiel, fashion designer
Joann Sfar, cartoonist
Chaim Soutine, painter
Philippe Starck, designer (unconfirmed)
Pauline Trigère, fashion designer
Ossip Zadkine, sculptor

Writers and poets

Tristan Bernard, playwright & novelist
Paul Celan, poet
Jerome Federman, writer
Romain Gary, novelist
Françoise Giroud, journalist, L'Express co-founder
Eugène Ionesco, playwright (Jewish mother)
Isidore Isou, poet
Max Jacob, poet
Edmond Jabès, poet
Gustave Kahn, poet & art critic
Joseph Kessel, novelist & journalist
Jacques Lanzmann, writer
Bernard-Henri Lévy, writer
André Maurois, author
Albert Memmi, novelist & sociologist
Patrick Modiano, writer (Jewish father)
Michel de Montaigne, essayist (Jewish mother)
Georges Perec, novelist
Marcel Proust, writer (Jewish mother)
Yasmina Reza, playwright
Claude Sarraute, journalist, writer
Jean-Jacques Schuhl, writer
Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, journalist, L'Express co-founder
Tristan Tzara, poet

Business figures

Marcel Bleustein & Maurice Lévy, founder and head of Publicis Groupe
Isaac & Daniel Carasso, founders of Danone
André Citroën, founder of Citroën
Marcel Dassault (born Marcel Bloch), aerospace industrialist
Maurice Girodias, founder of Olympia Press (Jewish father)
Philippe Kahn, founder of Borland
Alexandre, Simon & Elie Lazard, founders of Lazard
Armand, Georges, Maurice & Paul Marciano, founders of GUESS
Gilbert Trigano, founder of Club Med (unconfirmed)
Pierre Wertheimer, co-founder of Chanel

Sport figures

Alain Calmat, figure skater
François Cévert, racing driver (Jewish father)
Robert Cohen, boxer: World Bantamweight Champion
Pierre Darmon, tennis player
René Dreyfus, racing driver
Alphonse Halimi, boxer: World Bantamweight Champion
Savielly Tartakower, chess grandmaster