List of South-East European Jews

Many of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Spanish Inquisition settled in the Ottoman Empire, leaving behind, at the wake of Empire, large Sephardic communities in South-East Europe: mainly in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

• Kalmi Baruh, writer and philosopher
• Emerik Blum, businessman, founder of Energoinvest, former Mayor of Sarajevo
• Ivan Ceresnjes, architect-researcher, former president of the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities, 1992–1996
• Oskar Danon, composer and conductor
• David Elazar, Israeli general and Chief of Staff of Israel Defense Forces
• Jakob Finci, politician, ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland
• Daniel Kabiljo, painter
• Daniel Ozmo, painter
• Isaac Pardo, rabbi of Sarajevo
• Robert Rothbart, basketball player
• Isak Samokovlija, writer

Bulgaria

• Albert Aftalion, Bulgarian-born French economist
• Binyamin Arditi
• Aron Aronov, tenor
• Mira Aroyo, member of the band Ladytron
• Gabi Ashkenazi
• Michael Bar-Zohar
• Maxim Behar, president of M3 Communications Group
• Haim Bejarano, Torah scholar and chief rabbi
• Shimon Bejarano
• Alexander Bozhkov, vice-premier (Jewish mother)
• Elias Canetti, author and Nobel Prize winner
• Sabetay Djaen, rabbi and teacher
• Carl Djerassi
• Itzhak Fintzi, dramatist
• Pini Gershon
• Moshe Gueron
• Shlomo Kalo
• Nikolay Kaufman, musicologist and composer
• Yehezkel Lazarov
• Moshe Leon
• Milcho Leviev, jazz composer (Jewish father)
• Raphael Mechoulam
• Moni Moshonov
• Ya'akov Nehushtan
• Ya'akov Nitzani
• Jules Pascin, artist (Jewish father)
• Isaac Passy, philosopher
• Solomon Passy, foreign minister, son of Isaac Passy
• Valeri Petrov
• Georgi Pirinski, Jr.
• David Primo
• Sarah-Theodora
• Victor Shem-Tov
• Maxim Staviski
• Angel Wagenstein, author & screenwriter
• Alexis Weissenberg, pianist
• Jaime Yankelevich
• Emanuel Zisman

Croatia

• Viktor Axmann, architect
• Slavko Brill, sculptor and ceramics artist
• Julio Deutsch, architect
• Hugo Ehrlich, architect
• Ignjat Fischer, architect
• Josip Frank, Croatian politician
• Stjepan Gomboš, architect
• Branko Grünbaum, mathematician
• Leo Hönigsberg, architect
• Rikard Lang, prominent Croatian university professor, lawyer and economist, UN's expert
• Slobodan Lang, physician, politician, humanitarian
• Slavko Löwy, architect
• Rudolf Lubinski, architect
• Branko Lustig, film producer and winner of two Academy Awards
• Blessed Ivan Merz, beatified in 2003
• Oscar Nemon, sculptor
• Vladimir Šterk, architect
• Ivo Stern, founder of the "Zagreb Radiostation"
• Karlo Weissmann, physician and founder of the first sanatorium in Osijek
• Dragutin Wolf, industrialist, founder of the food company Koestlin in Bjelovar

Cyprus

• Aristobulus of Britannia (converted to Christianity)
• Barnabas (mentioned in the New Testament)
• Mike Brant, French-based singer (Cyprus-born)
• Epiphanius of Salamis (converted to Christianity)
  • John the Merciful
• Arie Zeev Raskin, rabbi
• Georgios Savva, footballer

Greece

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (February 2010)

• Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO
• Hank Azaria, actor and producer
• Sid Ganis, film producer
• Anna Rezan, actress and singer
• Moses Elisaf, physician and academic
• Alberto Israel Errera, officer
• Leon Cohen, Holocaust survivor
• Marcel Nadjari, Holocaust survivor
• Salamo Arouch, boxer and Holocaust survivor
• Avraam Benaroya, socialist
• Ioanna Tsatsou, writer

Montenegro

• Jelena Đurović, writer, politician and journalist

North Macedonia

• Estreya Haim Ovadya, Yugoslav partisan
• Rafael Moshe Kamhi
• Žamila Kolonomos, Sephardi Jewish partisan, writer, academic, and political activist

Serbia

• David Albahari, writer
• David Albala, military officer, physician, diplomat, and Jewish community leader
• Oskar Danon, composer
• Oskar Davičo, poet
• Filip David, playwright and columnist
• Predrag Ejdus, actor
• Vanja Ejdus, actress
• Rahela Ferari, actress
• Ivan Ivanji, writer
• Enriko Josif, composer
• Danilo Kiš, writer
• Marko Kon, pop singer
• Shaul Ladany, Holocaust survivor, racewalker and two-time Olympian
• Tommy Lapid, former Israeli politician of Hungarian descent, born in Novi Sad
• Paulina Lebl-Albala, feminist, translator, literary critic, literature theoretician, and professor of literature in Belgrade
• Sonja Licht, political activist
• Izidor Papo, cardiac surgeon, general-colonel of the Yugoslav Army medical unit
• Moša Pijade, politician, painter, art critic and publicist
• Eva Ras, actress
• Seka Sablić, actress
• Erich Šlomović, art collector
• Aleksandar Tišma, writer

Slovenia

• Katja Boh, politician
• Berta Bojetu, author
• Israel Isserlin, Medieval rabbi
• Lev Kreft, sociologist and politician
• Dušan Šarotar, author and editor

Turkey

Academia

• Maír José Benardete (1895–1989), Ottoman-born American scholar of Sephardic studies; professor at Brooklyn College
• Ruth Behar (born 1956), Cuban-American anthropologist; professor at the University of Michigan
• José Benardete (1928–2016), American philosopher; professor of philosophy at Syracuse University
• Seth Benardete (1930–2001), American classicist; professor New York University and The New School
• Doron Ben-Atar (born 1957), American historian and playwright; professor of history at Fordham University
• Seyla Benhabib (born 1950), Turkish-born American political theorist; professor at Columbia Law School
• Edit Doron (1951–2019), Israeli linguist; professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Lois Ellen Frank (born 1960), American food historian; professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts
• Yomtov Garti (1915–2011), Turkish mathematician and a teacher of mathematics, physics and cosmography
• John Gerassi (1931–2012), French-American professor, journalist and political activist
• Joseph Halévy (1827–1917), French orientalist and traveller; professor of Ethiopic in the École pratique des hautes études; librarian of the Société Asiatique
• Israel Hanukoglu (born 1952), Turkish-born Israeli biochemist; professor at Ariel University; former science and technology adviser to the prime minister of Israel (1996–1999)
• Yossef H. Hatzor (born 1959), Israeli professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
• Jaklin Kornfilt (c. 1940s), Turkish theoretical linguist and professor at Syracuse University; known for her contributions to the fields of Turkish language and grammar, and Turkic language typology
• Miriam Lichtheim (1914–2004), Turkish-born American-Israeli Egyptologist, academic, librarian and translator
• Jacob L. Moreno (1889–1974), Romanian-American psychiatrist; the founder of psychodrama; pioneer of group psychotherapy
• Jonathan D. Moreno (born 1952), American philosopher and historian; professor at the University of Pennsylvania
• Aron Rodrigue (born 1957), Turkish-born American professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford University
• Dani Rodrik (born 1957), Turkish economist and professor at Harvard University
• Nathan Salmon (born 1951), American philosopher; professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara
• Ishak Saporta (born 1957), Israeli professor of business ethics at Tel Aviv University
• Simon Schama (born 1945), English historian and television presenter; professor at Columbia University

Arts and entertainment

• Maurice Abravanel (1903–1993), Ottoman-born American classical music conductor
• Anjelika Akbar (born 1969), Turkish composer, pianist and writer
• Philip Arditti (born 1979), Turkish theatre and television actor
• Adi Ashkenazi (born 1975), Israeli actress, screenwriter and stand-up comedian
• Lior Ashkenazi (born 1968), Israeli actor, voice actor, comedian and television presenter
• Mili Avital (born 1972), Israeli actress
• Aki Avni (born 1967), Israeli actor, entertainer and television host
• Jeff Baena (born 1977–), American screenwriter and film director
• Kathy Barr (1929–2008), American vocalist
• Albert Beger (born 1959), Istanbul-born Israeli saxophonist and flutist
• Bea Benaderet (1906–1968), American actress
• Albert Bitran (1931–2018), French painter and sculptor
• Can Bonomo (born 1987), Turkish singer who represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
• Assi Cohen (born 1974), Israeli comedian and actor
• Sacha Distel (1933–2004), French musician
• Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer and songwriter; 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
• Jesse Dylan (born 1966), American film director and production executive
• Roza Eskenazi (1890 – 1980), Istanbul-born Greek dancer and singer of rebetiko
• Savi Gabizon (born 1960), Israeli filmmaker, screenwriter and producer
• Yehoram Gaon (born 1939), Israeli singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, television and radio host
• Miki Gavrielov (born 1949), Israeli composer
• Fernando Gerassi (1899–1974), Turkish-born American artist
• Eydie Gormé (1928–2013), American singer
• Isaac Guillory (1947–2000), American folk guitarist
• Sienna Guillory (born 1975), English actress and former model
• Emma Kingston (born 1991), British stage actress
• Lainie Kazan (born 1940), American actress and singer
• Alberto Hemsi (1898–1975), Turkish-born French composer
• Victoria Kamhi (c. 1905–1997), Turkish pianist
• Tchéky Karyo (1953–2025), French actor and musician
• Victor Laredo (1910–2003), American documentary photographer
• Shaily Lipa (born 1974), Israeli cookbook author, content creator and TV cookery show host
• Sami Levi (born 1981), Turkish soloist of the Turkish band Sefarad
• Kohava Levy (born 1946), Israeli singer, songwriter, composer and poet in Ladino
• Yasmin Levy (born 1975), Israeli Ladino singer and songwriter
• Yitzhak Levy (1919–1977), Israeli singer, songwriter, musicologist and composer in Ladino
• Linet (born 1975), Turkish-Israeli singer
• Art Metrano (1936–2001), American actor
• Paul Misraki (1908–1998), French composer
• Darío Moreno (1921–1968), Turkish polyglot singer
• Eliad Nachum (born 1990), Israeli singer, songwriter and television actor
• Germaine Poliakov (1918–2020), French music teacher and Holocaust survivor
• Jacques Rémy (1911–1981), French screenwriter
• Berry Sakharof (born 1957), Israeli rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer
• Rudolph Schildkraut (1862–1930), Austrian film and theatre actor
• Altina Schinasi (1907–1999), American sculptor, filmmaker, actress and inventor
• Neil Sedaka (born 1939), American singer, songwriter and pianist
• Rotem Sela (born 1953), Israeli actress best known for starring in the Israeli television series Beauty and the Baker (2013–2021)
• Shlomi Shabat (born 1954), Israeli vocalist and musician
• Cem Stamati (born 1981), bass guitar player of the Turkish band Sefarad
• Alona Tal (born 1983), Israeli actress and singer
• Roy Gokay Wol (born 1984), Turkish-Israeli film producer and director
• Ed Wynn (1886–1966), American actor and comedian
• Keenan Wynn (1916–1986), American character actor
• Ned Wynn (1941–2020), American actor and screenwriter

Business

• Ishak Alaton (1927–2016), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Alarko Holding
• Leyla Alaton (born 1961), Turkish businesswoman and art collector, board member of Alarko and Alvimedica
• Isak Andic (1953–2024), Turkish-Spanish businessman and co-founder of clothing retailer Mango
• Howard Behar (born 1944), American businessman; president of Starbucks Coffee Company International
• Abraham Salomon Camondo (1781–1873), Ottoman financier and philanthropist; patriarch of the House of Camondo
• Isaac de Camondo (1851–1911), Ottoman-born French businessman and art collector
• Moïse de Camondo (1860–1935), Ottoman-born French banker and art collector
• Isaac Carasso (1874–1939), Ottoman-born Spanish businessman; founder of Groupe Danone; member of Carasso family
• Giuseppe Eskenazi (born 1939), Turkish businessman and Chinese art dealer; founder of Eskenazi
• Üzeyir Garih (1929–2001), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Alarko Holding
• Cem Hakko (born 1955), Turkish businessman and president of Vakko
• Vitali Hakko (1913–2007), Turkish businessman, founder of the Vakko
• Jeffi Medina (born 1950), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Medina Turgul DDB; former president of Advertising Association of Turkey
• Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510–1569), Ottoman-Portuguese philanthropist, businesswoman, and member of the Mendes Benveniste family; one of the wealthiest and most influential women of Renaissance Europe; known for securing a long-term lease of Tiberias in the Safed sanjak (modern day Israel) from Suleiman the Magnificent
• Silvio Santos (1930–2024), Brazilian media mogul and television host
• Morris Schinasi (1855–1928), Ottoman-born American businessman in the tobacco industry
• Izak Senbahar (born 1959), American real estate developer

Politics, military and government

• Avichay Adraee (born 1982), Israeli military officer; head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit
• Mordechai Alkahi (1925–1947), Petah Tikva-born Turkish member of the Irgun
• Solomon Ashkenazi (c. 1520–1602), Ottoman-Venetian physician and businessman active in Ottoman, Venetian and Polish–Lithuanian politics
• Ruhama Avraham (born 1964), Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset
• Esther Benbassa (born 1950), French historian and politician; member of the French Senate (2011–2023)
• Avraham Ben-Shoshan (born 1940), Israeli military officer; Commander of the Israeli Navy (1985-1989)
• Eliezer Cohen (born 1934), Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset
• Geulah Cohen (1925–2019), Israeli politician and activist
• Nechemya Cohen (1943–1967), Israeli soldier; the most decorated soldier in the history of the IDF
• Steve Cohen (born 1949), American attorney and politician; member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Dalia Dorner (born 1934), Israeli-Turkish judge; justice of the Supreme Court of Israel (1993-2004)
• Shlomo Gazit (1926–2020), Israeli military officer and academic; major general in the Israel Defense Forces, head of the Military Intelligence Directorate
• Mordechai Gazit (1922–2016), Israeli diplomat; adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir; ambassador to France; and Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
• Françoise Giroud (1916–2003), French journalist, screenwriter, writer, and politician; Minister of Culture
• Emanuel Karasu (1862–1934), Ottoman lawyer and politician; member of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies, member of the Young Turks
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (born 1952), American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Alejandro Mayorkas (born 1959), American attorney and government official, 7th United States Secretary of Homeland Security
• Tamir Pardo (born 1953), Israeli intelligence officer; 11th Director of Mossad
• Emin Pasha (1840–1892), Ottoman physician, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile
• Luisa Porritt (born 1987), British politician
• Issy Smith (1890–1940), British-Australian military officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Moshe Bar Siman Tov (born 1976), Israeli economist and the Director-General of the Ministry of Health
• David Tzur (born 1959), Israeli politician and former policeman; member of the Knesset

Religion

• Aaron Alfandari (c. 1700–1774), Turkish Talmudic writer
• Marc D. Angel (born 1945), American rabbi and author
• Hayyim Isaac Algazi (d. c. 1819), Turkish Chief Rabbi of Smyrna
• Yom Tov Algazi (1727–1782), Ottoman Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (1773-1782)
• Hayyim ben Jacob Alfandari (1558–1640), Turkish Talmudic educator and writer
• Solomon Eliezer Alfandari (c. 1826–1830), Ottoman rabbi, kabbalist and rosh yeshiva of Istanbul
• Albert Jean Amateau (1889–1996), Turkish rabbi, lawyer and social activist
• David Asseo (1914–2002), Turkish rabbi; Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of the Republic of Turkey (1961-2002)
• Asenath Barzani (1590 – 1670), Ottoman-Kurdish female rabbinical scholar and poet
• Joshua ben Israel Benveniste (c. 1590 – 1668), Ottoman rabbi at Constantinople and physician
• Elijah Capsali (c. 1485–1550), Ottoman rabbi and historian
• Moses Capsali (1420–1495), Ottoman rabbi; first Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of the Ottoman Empire
• Abraham Danon (1857–1925), Turkish rabbi, Hebraist, writer and poet
• Haim Moussa Douek (1905–1974), Turkish rabbi; last Chief Rabbi of Egypt
• Menahem Egozi (c. 1500s), Turkish Talmudist
• Ishak Haleva (1940–2025), Turkish rabbi; Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Turkey (2002-2025)
• Aaron ben Solomon ben Hasun (c. 1500s), Turkish rabbi and Talmudic scholar
• Barzillai ben Baruch Jabez (c. 1700s), Turkish Talmudist
• Elijah Mizrachi (c. 1455–1525), Ottoman Talmudist and posek; authority on Halakha and mathematician
• Chaim Nahum (1872–1960), Turkish rabbi; Grand Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire; jurist, and linguist; member of the Turkish delegation for the Lausanne Treaty
• Abraham Palacci (c. 1809–1898), Turkish rabbi; Chief Rabbi and author of Smyrna; member of the Pallache family
• Haim Palachi (c. 1788–1868), Turkish rabbi; Chief Rabbi of Smyrna and Gaon
• Joseph Palacci (1815–1896), Turkish rabbi and author in Ladino and Hebrew in Smyrna
• Rahamim Nissim Palacci (1813–1907), Turkish rabbi; Chief Rabbi of Smyrna and author
• Mosè Piccio (d. c. 1576), Ottoman lexicographer; compiled Zikhron Torat Moshe (Hebrew: זכרון תורת משה)
• Benjamin Pontremoli (1740–1784), Turkish rabbi and poet, member of the Pontremoli dynasty
• Yitzhak Sarfati (d. c. 1400s), French-Ottoman rabbi; Chief Rabbi of Edirne
• Joseph Taitazak (d. c. 1529), Ottoman Talmudic authority and Kabbalist; member of the Taitazak family
• Sabbatai Zevi (1926–1676), Ottoman former Jewish mystic and rabbi from Smyrna; founder of the Sabbatean movement
• Aaron Zorogon (d. c. 1600s), Turkish Torah scholar

Sports

• Eli Abarbanel (born 1976), Israeli football player
• Barak Bakhar (born 1979), Israeli former player and the current manager of Maccabi Haifa
• Pini Balili (born 1979), Israeli former football manager and former football player
• Avram Barokas (1926–2003), Turkish basketball player and coach
• Arik Benado (born 1973), Israeli football manager and former player
• Joe Bonomo (1901–1978), American weightlifter, strongman and actor
• Rober Eryol (1930–2000), Turkish football player for Galatasaray and manager for Hapoel Be'er-Sheva
• Umut Güzelses (born 1987), Turkish-Israeli football player
• Alfred König (1913–1987), Turkish Olympic sprinter and 1935 Maccabiah Games competitor
• Jack Molinas (1931–1975), American professional basketball player; NBA All-Star (1954)
• Adi Soffer (born 1987), Israeli footballer
• Avi Soffer (born 1986), Israeli football player
• Garrett Wittels (born 1990), American baseball player

Literature and journalism

• Alexander Aciman (born 1990), American writer and journalist
• André Aciman (born 1951), American writer
• Stella Aciman (born 1953), Turkish novelist, columnist for Yeni Düzen
• Beki Luiza Bahar (1926–2011), Turkish writer and playwright
• Asa Benveniste (1925–1990), American poet, typographer and publisher
• Elias Canetti (1905–1994), German-language writer, novelist, memoirist; 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
• Elia Carmona (1869–1931), Ottoman author and journalist; founder of El Jugueton (Hebrew: איל ג'וגיטון)
• Vitalis Danon (1897–1969), Ottoman-Tunisian writer and educator at Alliance Israélite Universelle
• Moris Farhi (1935–2019), Turkish author, vice president of International PEN (2001-2019)
• Erol Güney (1914–2009), Turkish-Israeli journalist, translator and author
• Albert Karasu (1885–1982), Turkish journalist
• Sami Kohen (1928–2021), Turkish journalist and columnist for Milliyet
• Mario Levi (1957–2024), Turkish novelist, journalist and scholar with a focus on modern Turkish literature
• Peter Levi (1931–2000), English poet, archaeologist, Jesuit priest, travel writer, biographer, academic and critic; Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford (1984–1989)
• Saadia ben Abraham Longo (d. c. 1500s), Turkish Hebrew poet
• Roni Margulies (1955–2023), Turkish poet, author, translator and political activist
• Leandra Medine (born 1988), American author and blogger
• Édouard Roditi (1910–1992), American poet, short-story writer, critic and translator of Turkish
• Moshe Shaul (1929–2023), Israeli journalist, writer and researcher of the culture of Sephardi Jews
• Diana Souhami (born 1940), English writer
• Benny Ziffer (born 1953), Israeli author and journalist

Miscellaneous

• Tobias Cohn (1652–1729), Polish-Ottoman physician to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV, Suleiman II, Ahmed II, Mustafa II and Ahmed III
• Jacque Fresco (1916–2007), American futurist
• Bohor Hallegua (d. c. 1926), Ottoman chess player
• Moses Hamon (1490–1554), Ottoman physician and patron Jewish learning
• Yolande Harmer (1913–1959), Israeli intelligence officer who operated in Egypt
• Hila Klein (born 1987), Israeli-American YouTuber
• Liran Kohener (born 1988), Israeli model; Miss Israel 2007
• Rodrigo Lehtinen (born 1986), American LGBTQ rights advocate
• Joseph Nasi (1524–1579), Ottoman diplomat and administrator; influential figure in the Ottoman Empire during the rules of both Sultan Suleiman I and Selim II
• Joseph Niego (1863–1945), Turkish-born Jewish activist
• Lenore Skenazy (born 1959), American speaker, blogger, syndicated columnist, author, and reality show host
• Rona Ramon (1964–2018), Israeli public activist and STEM influencer
• Sinan Reis (c. 1533–1546), Ottoman corsair; second in command of the Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa
• Solomon ibn Verga (c. 1460–1554), historian, physician, and author of the Shevet Yehudah (Hebrew: שבט יהודה)

See also

• List of Bosnians
• List of Bulgarians
• List of Croatians
• List of Greeks
• List of Serbs
• List of Slovenians
• List of Turks
• List of Macedonians

References