List of South-East European Jews
From Academic Kids
| List of Jews by country |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Arab World | Israel* |
| South-East Europe |
| Austria | Hungary |
| Poland | East Europe |
| Russia | North Europe |
| UK | Germany | Italy |
| France | West Europe |
| Iberia | Latin America |
| Caribbean | Canada |
| US | Asia | Oceania |
| (*most are Jewish) |
Many of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Spanish Inquisition settled in the Ottoman Empire, leaving large Sephardic communities in South-East Europe: mainly in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia (though the latter in particular also had a large Ashkenazi population). Here is a list of some prominent South-East European Jews, arranged by country of origin.
| Contents |
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Bosnia-Herzegovina
- Ammiel Alcalay, poet & scholar (Bosnian parents)
- Judah Alkalai, rabbi, early Zionist
- Isak Samokovlija, writer
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Bulgaria
- Maxim Behar, president of M3 Communications Group
- Alexander Bozhkov, vice-premier (Jewish mother)
- Elias Canetti, novelist, Nobel prize (1981)
- Carl Djerassi, developer of the oral contraceptive pill (Bulgarian father)
- Itzhak & Samuel Fintzi, actors
- Mia Kirshner, actress (Bulgarian mother)
- Milcho Leviev, jazz musician
- Andrey Lukanov, prime minister (Jewish mother)
- Jules Pascin, artist
- Isaac Passy, philosopher
- Solomon Passy, foreign minister
- David Peretz, painter
- Ivan Shishman, czar (1371-1393) (Jewish mother)
- Pancho Vladigerov, composer
- Angel Wagenstein, author & screenwriter
- Alexis Weissenberg, pianist
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Croatia
- William Feller, mathematician
- Mira Furlan, actress
- Branko Lustig, film producer
- Artur Rodzinski, conductor (Croatian-born)
- David Schwarz, inventor of the Zeppelin
- Leo Sternbach, inventor of Valium
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Cyprus
- Mike Brant, French-based singer (Cyprus-born)
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Greece
- Maurice Abravanel, conductor
- Saul Amarel, Artificial Intelligence pioneer
- Hank Azaria, voice actor (Greek grandparents)
- Gina Bachauer, pianist
- Moisis Michail Bourlas, member of the World War II resistance.
- Isaac Carasso, founder of Danone
- Gabrielle Carteris, tv actress (Greek parents)
- Albert Cohen, novelist
- Jamie-Lynn DiScala, actress (Greek father)
- Roza Eskenazi, Rebetika singer
- Mordechai Frizis, World War II colonel, killed in action
- Diane von Furstenberg, fashion designer (Greek mother)
- Philo, classical philosopher
- Raphaël Salem, mathematician
- Pete Sampras, tennis player (Greek parents; Jewish grandmother)
- Silvio Santos, tv host (Greek parents)
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Macedonia, FYRo
- Esma Redzepova, Romany singer (half Jewish) (unconfirmed)
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Serbia & Montenegro
- David Albahari, writer
- Danilo Kis, writer (Jewish father)
- Thomas Nagel, philosopher
- Moše Pijade, communist politician
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Slovenia
- Alexander Beliavsky, chess player (unconfirmed)
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Turkey
- Seyla Benhabib, political theorist
- Nicole Farhi, fashion designer (Turkish parents)
- Françoise Giroud, newspaper editor (Turkish parents)
- Eydie Gorme, singer (Turkish mother)
- Thilda Kemal, translator & wife of author Yasar Kemal
- Dario Moreno, singer
- Neil Sedaka, singer (Turkish father)
- Sabbatai Zevi, claimed Messiah
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