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.
Historical Figures
Missing imagePowazki_wrzesien_4.JPG Politicians
Soldiers & Fighters
Activists
Religious Figures
Academics
Natural Scientists
- Paul Baran, engineer: packet switching
- Salomon Bochner, mathematician
- 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
- Leopold Infeld, physicist
- 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)
- Juliusz Schauder, mathematician
- Hugo Steinhaus, mathematician
- Alfred Tarski, logician (converted to Catholicism)
- Stanislaw Ulam, mathematician
Social Academics
- Solomon Asch, Gestalt psychologist
- Szymon Aszkenazy, historian
- Salo Wittmayer Baron, Jewish historian
- Zygmunt Bauman, sociologist
- 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
- Michael Thomas, language teacher
- Ludwik Zamenhof, doctor and inventor of esperanto
Cultural Figures
Artists
- Balthus, painter (Jewish mother)
- Chim, photographer
- Leon Chwistek, painter & philosopher (unconfirmed)
- Tamara de Lempicka, painter (Jewish father)
- Moise Kisling, painter
- Joe Kubert, comic book artist
- Daniel Libeskind, architect
- Helena Rubinstein, fashion designer
- Max Weber, painter
- Esther Wertheimer, sculptor
Musicians
- Emanuel Ax, pianist
- Adolph Baller, 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
- Moisei Vainberg, composer
Screen & Stage
- Artur Brauner, film producer
- Samuel Goldwyn, film producer
- Anna Held, stage actress
- Agnieszka Holland, film director, screenwriter (Jewish father)
- Jan Kott, theatre critic
- Roman Polański, film director
- Lew Rywin, film producer
- Harry, Sam & Albert Warner, film producers
Writers & Poets
Polish-language
- Kazimierz Brandys, writer
- Jan Brzechwa, poet
- Henryk Grynberg, writer
- Mieczysław Jastrun, poet
- Janusz Korczak, pediatrician, children's writer, pedagogist
- Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, satirical poet
- Hanna Krall, author
- Bolesław Leśmian, poet
- Bruno Schulz, prose writer
- Antoni Słonimski, poet
- Julian Stryjkowski, prose writer
- Julian Tuwim, poet
Yiddish-language
Other Writers
- Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Hebrew writer, Nobel prize (1966)
- Lisa Appignanesi, English writer
- Naphtali Herz Imber, Hebrew poet
- Anna Langfus, French writer, Prix Goncourt (1962)
- Osip Mandelstam, Russian poet
- Uri Orlev, Hebrew writer, Hans Christian Andersen Award (1996)
- Marcel Reich-Ranicki, German literary critic
Business Figures
Sport Figures
Chess Players
Others
Miscellaneous
See also
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