The Jewish presence in Russia dates back to the 7th century, and a converted Jewish Khazar kingdom sprang up a hundred years later. By the formation of the Soviet Union, there were some 2.5 million Soviet Jews, mostly Ashkenazi. After its collapse, many emigrated to Israel, USA and Germany, though Russia still has one of the larger Jewish populations in the world. The following is a list of some prominent Russian Jews.

(Note: Baltic, East European and Asian Jews from the other former Soviet republics are on different lists.)

Historical figures

Politicians

• Mikhail Fradkov, Prime Minister (Jewish father)
• Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician
• Lev Kamenev & Grigory Zinoviev, ruling triumvirate with Stalin
• Sergei Kiriyenko, Prime Minister (Jewish father)
• Maxim Litvinov, Soviet ambassador
• Julius Martov, Menshevik leader
• Peter Shafirov, Imperial Russian politician
• Leon Trotsky, Bolshevik politician
• Chaim Weizmann, Zionist leader & Israeli president
• Grigory Yavlinsky, liberal leader (Jewish mother)
• Vladimir Zhirinovsky, nationalist (Jewish father)

Other

• Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Soviet general
• Fanya Kaplan, would-be assassin of Lenin
• Lev Rokhlin , general and politician

Scientists

Natural scientists

• Alexei Abrikosov, physicist, nobel prize (2003) (Jewish mother)
• Zhores Alferov , physicist, nobel prize (2000) (Jewish mother)
• Zora Arkus-Duntov, father of the Chevrolet Corvette
• Grigory Barenblatt, mathematician
• Abram Besicovitch, mathematician
• Eugene Dynkin, mathematician
• Ilya Frank, physicist, nobel prize (1958) (Jewish father)
• Izrail Gel'fand, mathematician
• Vitaly Ginzburg, physicist, nobel prize (2003)
• Mikhail Gromov, mathematician
• Mikhail Gurevich, co-inventor of the MiG
• Abram Fedorovich Ioffe, nuclear scientist
• A. Ya. Khinchin, mathematician (unconfirmed)
• Maxim Kontsevich, mathematician, fields medal (1998) (unconfirmed)
• Lev Landau, physicist, nobel prize (1962)
• Semyon Lavochkin, aircraft designer
• Solomon Lefschetz, mathematician
• Grigory Margulis, mathematician, fields medal (1978)
• Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, microbiologist, nobel prize (1908) (Jewish mother)
• Grigori Perelman, mathematician
• Ilya Prigogine, chemist, nobel prize (1977)
• V. A. Rokhlin, mathematician
• Yakov G. Sinai, applied mathematician
• Paul Urysohn, mathematician
• Selman Waksman, biochemist, nobel prize (1952)
• Yakov Zeldovich, astrophysicist
• Efim Zelmanov, mathemaitican, fields medal (1994)

Social scientists

• Urie Bronfenbrenner , developmental psychologist (unconfirmed)
• Aharon Dolgopolsky , linguist
• Moshe Feldenkrais, inventor of the Feldenkrais method
• Alexander Gerschenkron, economic historian
• Roman Jakobson, linguist
• Leonid Kantorovich, economist, nobel prize (1975)
• Mirra Komarovsky , sociologist of gender
• Simon Kuznets, economist, nobel prize (1971)
• Wassily Leontief, economist, nobel prize (1973) (Jewish mother)
• Yuri Lotman, semiotician
• Alexander Luria, neuropsychologist
• Abraham Maslow, psychologist
• Ayn Rand, philosopher
• Anatol Rapoport, game theorist
• Lev Vygotsky, developmental psychologist

Cultural figures

Musicians

• Vladimir Ashkenazi, pianist (Jewish father)
• Yuri Bashmet , violist
• Irving Berlin, songwriter
• Lazar Berman, pianist
• Semyon Bychkov , conductor
• Isaak Iosifovich Dunayevsky , composer
• Vladimir Feltsman, pianist
• Emil Gilels, pianist
• Grigory Ginsburg , pianist
• Natalia Gutman , cellist
• Oleg Kagan , violinist
• Evgeny Kissin, pianist
• André Kostelanetz , conductor
• Serge Koussevitzky, conductor
• Josef Lhévinne, pianist
• Shlomo Mintz, violinist
• Anton Rubinstein, pianist
• Alfred Schnittke, composer (Jewish father)
• Daniil Shafran, cellist
• Beverly Sills, opera singer
• Nicolas Slonimsky, musicologist & composer
• Regina Spektor, singer/songwriter
• Vladimir Spivakov , violinist
• Sophie Tucker, singer
• Maxim Vengerov, violinist
• Efrem Zimbalist, violinist

Others

• Leon Bakst, painter & costume designer
• Sergei Eisenstein, director (Jewish father)
• Yevgeny Khaldei, photographer
• El Lissitzky, designer
• Solomon Mikhoels, actor & director
• Alla Nazimova, actress
• Yuri Norstein, animator
• Maya Plisetskaya , ballerina
• Arkady Raikin , comedian
• Dziga Vertov, director

Authors and poets

• Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer
• Isaac Babel, writer
• Saul Bellow, writer, Nobel Prize (1976) (Russian parents)
• Joseph Brodsky, poet, Nobel Prize (1987)
• Ilya Ehrenburg, writer
• Jacob Gordin, playwright
• Peretz Hirshbein, playwright
• Ilya Ilf, humorist
• Lev Kopelev, author & dissident
• Wladimir Kaminer , writer, dj
• Osip Mandelstam, poet
• Boris Pasternak, writer, Nobel Prize (1958)
• Lyudmila Ulitskaya, writer

Business figures

Entrepreneurs

• Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
• Maurice Greenberg , founder of Coleco
• Michael Kogan, founder of Taito
• Morris Markin, founder of Checker Cab
• Rose & Morris Michtom , creators of the Teddy Bear

Oligarchs

• Roman Abramovich, billionaire, owner of Chelsea FC
• Boris Berezovsky, exiled ex-billionaire
• Mikhail Fridman, billionaire
• Vladimir Gusinsky, exiled former media tycoon
• Mikhail Khodorkovsky, imprisoned oil billionaire

Sport figures

Chess

• Mikhail Botvinnik, World Champion
• Garry Kasparov, World Champion (Jewish father)
• Alexander Khalifman, World Champion (unconfirmed)
• Viktor Korchnoi, World Championship challenger (Jewish mother)
• Alla Kushnir , Women's World Championship challenger
• Vasily Smyslov, World Champion (unconfirmed Jewish mother)
• Peter Svidler, Grandmaster (unconfirmed)
• Mark Taimanov, Grandmaster & concert pianist

Other sports

• Nikolay Epstein , Soviet hockey coach
• Alexander Gomelsky , Soviet basketball coach
• Maria Itkina , sprinter
• Fania Melnik , discus thrower
• Irina Slutskaya, figure skater (Jewish father)

See also

• History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union
• List of Jews
• List of Russians