List of Polish Jews Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

From the Middle Ages until the Holocaust, Jews were a significant part of the Polish population. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, known for its religious tolerance as a "Jewish paradise", attracted numerous Jews who fled persecution from other European countries. By the Second World War Poland had the largest Jewish population in the world (about 3 million), most of whom were then killed by the Nazis. Poland was therefore a major spiritual and cultural center for the Ashkenazi Jewry for many centuries, and many of Europe's famous Jews were born in Poland.

Many Polish Jews contributed to Jewish culture and religious teaching. There were also many who assimilated with Poles and made great contributions to Polish cultural, economic and political life, including Jews who were ardent Polish patriots. The following is a list of some prominent Polish Jews.

Table of contents

1 Historical Figures 1.1 Politicians 1.2 Soldiers & Fighters 1.3 Activists 2 Religious Figures 3 Academics 3.4 Natural Scientists 3.5 Social Academics 4 Cultural Figures 4.6 Artists 4.7 Musicians 4.8 Screen & Stage 5 Writers & Poets 5.9 Polish-language 5.10 Yiddish-language 5.11 Other Writers 6 Business Figures 7 Sport Figures 7.12 Chess Players 7.13 Others 8 Miscellaneous

Historical Figures

; Powązki Cemetery;, Warsaw]]

Politicians

• David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Israeli prime minister
• Jakub Berman (?), Polish security minister
• Bronisław Geremek; (b. 1932), Polish foreign minister
• Shimon Peres (b. 1923), Israeli prime minister, Nobel prize (1994)
• Yitzhak Shamir (b. 1915), Israeli prime minister
• Saul Wahl (1541-1617), according to a legend temporary King of Poland-Lithuania (rex pro tempore) in 1586
• Szmul Zygielbojm (1895-1943), Polish Jewish leader

Soldiers & Fighters

• Mordechaj Anielewicz (1919-1943), leader of Warsaw ghetto uprising
• Berek Joselewicz (1764-1809), Colonel during the Kościuszko Uprising; and the Napoleonic-era wars
• Hyman Rickover (1900-1986), US Navy Admiral
• Krystyna Skarbek (1915-1952), WW2 spy

Activists

• Joseph Rotblat (b. 1908), anti-nuclear campaigner
• Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959), human rights lawyer
• Rosa Luxembourg (1870-1919), Marxist
• Adam Michnik (b. 1946), dissident
• Ernestine Rose (1810-1892), feminist

Religious Figures

• Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov) (ca 1700-1760), Hasiddic rabbi
• Jacob Frank (1726-1791), messiah claimant
• Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), theologian
• Elimelech of Leżajsk; (1717-1786), Hasiddic rabbi
• Dovber of Mezeritch (d. 1772), Hasiddic rabbi

Academics

Natural Scientists

• Paul Baran, engineer: packet switching
• Jacob Bronowski, scientist & broadcaster
• Georges Charpak, physicist, Nobel prize (1992)
• Samuel Eilenberg, mathematician: category theory
• Kasimir Fajans, physicist
• Casimir Funk, biochemist: vitamins
• Roald Hoffmann, chemist and writer, Nobel prize (1981)
• Witold Hurewicz, mathematician
• Mark Kac, mathematician
• Abraham Lempel, computer scientist: LZW compression
• Adolf Lindenbaum, logician
• Benoit Mandelbrot, mathematician: fractals
• Szolem Mandelbrojt, mathematician
• Emil Leon Post, mathematician
• Mojzesz Presburger, logician
• Tadeus Reichstein, chemist, Nobel prize (1950)
• Stanislaw Saks, mathematician
• Albert Sabin, inventor of the oral Polio vaccine
• Andrew V. Schally, endocrinologist, Nobel prize (1977)
• Julius Schauder, mathematician
• Hugo Steinhaus, mathematician
• Alfred Tarski, logician (converted to Catholicism)
• Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician

Social Academics

• Solomon Asch, Gestalt psychologist
• Szymon Aszkenazy, historian
• Ivan Bloch, military writer
• Isaac Deutscher, historian
• Henryk Grossmann, economist
• Joseph Jastrow, psychologist
• Lewis Namier, historian
• Paul Radin, anthropologist
• Manfred Sakel, neurophysiologist & psychiatrist
• Milton Rokeach, psychologist
• Ludwik Zamenhof, doctor and inventor of esperanto

Cultural Figures

Artists

• Balthus, painter (half Jewish)
• Chim, photographer
• Tamara de Lempicka, painter (half Jewish)
• Moise Kisling, painter
• Joe Kubert, comic book artist
• Daniel Libeskind, architect
• Helena Rubinstein, fashion designer

Musicians

• Emanuel Ax, pianist
• Leonard & Phil Chess, founders of Chess Records
• Walter Damrosch, conductor
• Ignaz Friedman, pianist
• Szymon Goldberg, violinist/conductor
• Ida Haendel, violinist
• George Henschel, singer/conductor
• Bronislaw Huberman, violinist
• Wanda Landowska, harpsichordist
• Geddy Lee, vocalist in Rush (Polish parents)
• Artur Rodzinski, conductor
• Arthur Rubinstein, pianist
• Artur Schnabel, pianist
• Henryk Szeryng, violinist
• Władysław Szpilman; pianist, author of The Pianist memoir
• Henryk Wieniawski, composer/violinist

Screen & Stage

• Artur Brauner, film producer
• Samuel Goldwyn, film producer
• Anna Held, stage actress
• Roman Polański; (b. 1933), film director
• Lew Rywin (b. 1945), film producer
• Warner Brothers, film producers

Writers & Poets

Polish-language

• Jan Brzechwa (Jan Lesman) (1900-1966), Polish poet
• Mieczysław Jastrun; (1903-1983), poet
• Janusz Korczak (1878-1942), pediatrician, children's writer and pedagogist
• Stanislaw Jerzy Lec (1906-1966), writer (unconfirmed)
• Hanna Krall (b. 1937), author
• Bolesław Leśmian; (1877-1937), poet
• Bruno Schulz (1892-1942), one of the greatest Polish prose stylists of the 20th century
• Antoni Słonimski; (1895-1976), poet
• Julian Stryjkowski (1905-1996), prose writer
• Julian Tuwim (1894-1953), poet

Yiddish-language

• Sholem Asch (1880-1957)
• Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904-1991), Nobel prize (1978)
• Israel Joshua Singer (1893-1944)

Other Writers

• Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Hebrew writer, Nobel prize (1966)
• Anna Langfus, French writer, Prix Goncourt (1962)
• Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet
• Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic

Business Figures

• Henry & Helal Hassenfeld, founders of Hasbro
• Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore

Sport Figures

Chess Players

• David Janowski, chess player
• Miguel Najdorf, chess player
• Akiba Rubinstein, chess player
• Samuel Reshevsky, chess player
• Johannes Zukertort, chess player

Others

• Myer Prinstein, long- and triple-jumper (4 Olympic golds)
• Irena Kirszenstein Szewinska, sprinter (7 medals over 4 Olympics)

Miscellaneous

• Meyer Lansky, US gangster

See also: History of the Jews in Poland, List of Jews, List of Poles

This is an Article on List of Polish Jews. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About List of Polish Jews

	Web www.E-paranoids.com