Austria first became a center of Jewish learning during the 13th century. However, increasing anti-semitism led to the expulsion of the Jews in 1669. Following formal readmission in 1848, a sizable Jewish community developed once again, contributing strongly to Austrian culture. By the 1930s, some 300,000 Jews lived in Austria, most of them in Vienna. Following the Anschluss with Nazi Germany, most of the community emigrated or were killed in the Holocaust. The current Austrian Jewish population is around 7,400. The following is a list of some prominent Austrian Jews.
Historical figures
Politicians
Other
- Friedrich Adler, son of Viktor Adler assassin of Count Karl von Stürgkh
- Nathan Birnbaum, early Zionist
- Adolf Fischhof, leader in Viennese revolution of 1848
- Felix Frankfurter, US judge & civil rights activist
- Alfred Fried, pacifist, Nobel Peace Prize (1911)
- Theodor Herzl, Zionist leader
- Samuel Oppenheimer, court Jew
- Felix G. Rohatyn, New York financer
- Samson Wertheimer, court Jew
- Simon Wiesenthal, Nazi-hunter
Academic figures
Scientists
- Robert Bárány, physician, Nobel Prize (1914) (Hungarian by nationality)
- Hermann Bondi, cosmologist
- Erwin Chargaff, chemist
- Carl Djerassi, chemist: oral contraceptive pill
- Paul Ehrenfest, physicist
- Alfred Einhorn, biochemist: Novocaine
- Walter Feit, mathematician
- Otto Frisch, physicist
- Thomas Gold, cosmologist (Jewish father)
- Hans Hahn, mathematician
- Eric Kandel, neuroscientist, Nobel Prize (2000)
- Martin Karplus, chemist
- Walter Kohn, physicist, Nobel Prize (1998)
- Karl Landsteiner, biologist: blood groups, Nobel Prize (1930)
- Otto Loewi, pharmacologist, Nobel Prize (1936)
- Herman F. Mark, chemist: polymers (Jewish father)
- Lise Meitner, physicist: nuclear fission
- Richard von Mises, mathematician & engineer (converted to Catholicism)
- Gustav Nossal, immunologist (Jewish father)
- Wolfgang Pauli, physicist, Nobel Prize (1945) (three-fourths Jewish)
- Max Perutz, molecular biologist, Nobel Prize (1962)
- Karl Pribram, neuroscientist (unconfirmed)
- Isidor Isaac Rabi, physicist, Nobel Prize (1944)
- Edwin Salpeter, astronomer
- Victor Weisskopf, physicist
Psychologists
- Alexandra Adler, post-traumatic stress
- Alfred Adler, founder of individual psychology
- Bruno Bettelheim, child psychology
- Josef Breuer, forerunner of psychoanalysis
- Anna Freud, child psychoanalysis
- Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis
- Viktor Frankl, founder of logotherapy
- Marie Jahoda, psychology of discrimination
- Leo Kanner, child psychiatry
- Otto F. Kernberg, psychoanalysis (unconfirmed)
- Melanie Klein, psychotherapy
- Heinz Kohut, psychoanalysis
- Ernst Kris, psychoanalysis & art historian
- Sophie Lazarsfeld individualpsychologist, student of Alfred Adler, mother of Paul Felix Lazarsfeld
- Walter Mischel, experimental psychology
- Jacob Moreno, developer of psychodrama
- Otto Rank, psychoanalysis
- Wilhelm Reich, psychiatry and psychoanalysis
- Theodor Reik, psychoanalysis
Social and political scientists
- Gustav Bergmann, philosopher
- Peter Blau, sociologist
- Martin Buber, Jewish philosopher
- Eugen Ehrlich, sociology of law
- Herbert Feigl, philosopher
- Philipp Frank, philosopher
- Raul Hilberg, holocaust historian
- Ivan Illich, polymath (Jewish mother)
- Norbert Jokl, linguist
- Hans Kelsen, legal philosopher
- Nachman Krochmal, Jewish philosopher
- Paul Felix Lazarsfeld, sociologist
- Gerda Lerner, feminist historian
- Robert Lowie, anthropologist
- Ludwig von Mises, economist
- Otto Neurath, sociologist (Jewish father)
- Karl Popper, philosopher of science
- Alfred Schutz, sociologist
- Friedrich Waissman, philosopher
- Otto Weininger, anti-Semitic philosopher
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher
- Eric Wolf, anthropologist
Cultural figures
Film and stage
- Leon Askin, actor
- John Banner, actor
- Theodore Bikel, actor
- Elisabeth Bergner, stage actress
- Gerhard Bronner, cabaret artist
- George Burns, actor (Austrian parents)
- Ricardo Cortez, actor
- Max Fleischer, animator
- William Fox, film producer
- Fritz Grünbaum & Karl Farkas, caberet artists
- Fritz Kortner, director
- Georg Kreisler, cabaret artist
- Hedy Lamarr, actress & inventor
- Fritz Lang, director (Jewish mother)
- Hermann Leopoldi, cabaret artist
- Fritzi Massary, singer
- Paul Muni, actor
- Luise Rainer, actress
- Max Reinhardt, director
- Joseph Schildkraut, actor
- Sam Spiegel, producer
- Josef von Sternberg, director
- Erich von Stroheim, director & actor
- Edgar G. Ulmer, director
- Helene Weigel, stage actress
- Billy Wilder, director
- Fred Zinnemann, director
Musicians
- Kurt Adler, conductor
- Norbert Brainin, violinist
- Emanuel Feuermann, cellist
- Felix Galimir, violinist
- Joseph Joachim, violinist (Austrian-born)
- Rudolf Kolisch, violinist
- Julius Korngold, music critic
- Fritz Kreisler, violinist (Jewish father)
- Josef Krips, conductor (Jewish father)
- Erich Leinsdorf, conductor
- Erica Morini, violinist
- Felix Mottl, conductor
- Karl Rankl, conductor & composer
- Arnold Rosé, violinist
- Julius Rudel, conductor
- Artur Schnabel, pianist
- Rudolf Serkin, pianist
- Fritz Spiegl, broadcaster
- Salomon Sulzer, cantor
- Georg Tintner, conductor
- Paul Wittgenstein, pianist
- Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler, pianist
Composers
- Guido Adler, musicologist
- Max Brand, pioneer of electronic music
- Hanns Eisler, composer
- Edmund Eysler, composer
- Leo Fall, composer
- Hans Gál, composer
- Karl Goldmark, composer
- Wilhelm Grosz, composer
- Walter Jurmann, popular composer
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold, film composer
- György Ligeti, composer
- Frederick Loewe, Broadway composer (Jewish father)
- Gustav Mahler, composer & conductor
- Heinrich Schenker, music theorist
- Arnold Schoenberg, composer
- Robert Starer, composer
- Max Steiner, film composer
- Johann Strauss I, composer (Jewish father)
- Oscar Straus, composer
- Ernst Toch, composer
- Egon Wellesz, composer (half Jewish)
- Eric Zeisl, composer
- Alexander von Zemlinsky, composer
Artists
- Hattie Carnegie, jewelry designer
- Josef Frank, architect & designer
- Ernst Fuchs, painter (Jewish father)
- Rudi Gernreich, fashion designer
- Ernst Gombrich, art historian
- Victor Gruen, architect
- André Heller, multimedia artist
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist & architect (Jewish mother)
- Lisette Model, photographer (Jewish father)
- Richard Neutra, architect
- Weegee, photographer
- Berta Zuckerkandl, art critic & salon host
Writers and poets
- Walter Abish, writer
- Ilse Aichinger, writer (Jewish mother)
- Peter Altenberg, writer
- Hermann Bahr, writer
- Vicki Baum, writer
- Hermann Broch, writer
- Otto Maria Carpeaux, literary critic
- Erich Fried, poet
- Egon Friedell, historian & writer
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal, poet & dramatist
- Elfriede Jelinek, author, Nobel Prize (2004) (Jewish father)
- Karl Kraus, writer
- Robert Menasse, writer
- Gustav Meyrink, author (Jewish mother)
- Frederic Morton, writer
- Alfred Polgar, poet & essayist
- Leo Perutz, writer
- Joseph Roth, writer
- Felix Salten, writer
- Arthur Schnitzler, writer
- Mančs Sperber, writer, philosopher
- Friedrich Torberg, writer
- Regina Ullmann, writer
- Stefan Zweig, writer
Business figures
Sport figures
Miscellaneous
See also
