# List of North European Jews

Before the Holocaust, Jews were a significant part of the population in Lithuania where they numbered around 240,000, including approximately 100,000 in Vilnius, or about 45% of that city's pre-World War II population (Vilnius was also once known as the "Jerusalem of Lithuania"). A large Jewish community also existed in Latvia. In comparison, Estonia and the Nordic countries have had much smaller communities, concentrated mostly in Denmark and Sweden. The following is a list of prominent North European Jews, arranged by country of origin:

## Denmark

* Mogens Ballin, painter
* Victor Bendix, composer, conductor and pianist
* Susanne Bier, film director
* Kim Bodnia, actor
* Harald Bohr, mathematician and footballer (Jewish mother)
* Niels Bohr, physicist, Nobel Prize (1922) (Jewish mother)
* Victor Borge, entertainer
* Edvard Brandes, politician, critic and author, minister of finance from 1909 to 1910
* Ernst Brandes, economist and editor
* Georg Brandes, author and critic, father of Danish naturalism
* Marcus Choleva, chief executive officer of KFI
* Dagmar Cohn, illustrator
* Esther Gehlin, painter
* Meïr Aron Goldschmidt, author and editor
* Heinrich Hirschsprung, industrialist, art patron (Den Hirschsprungske Samling)
* Arne Jacobsen, architect and designer (Jewish mother)
* Abraham Kurland, Olympic wrestling medalist
* Arne Melchior, politician and former Transport Minister and Minister for Communication and Tourism
* Marcus Melchior, chief rabbi of Denmark, father of Arne Melchior
* Michael Melchior, rabbi and Israeli politician
* Ivan Osiier, seven-time Olympic fencer
* Lee Oskar, harmonica player, member of War
* Herbert Pundik, journalist
* Raquel Rastenni, jazz and popular singer
* Edgar Rubin, Gestalt psychologist
* Dan Zahavi, philosopher
* Nikolaj Znaider, violinist, conductor

## Estonia

* Jüri Alperten (1957–2020), conductor, pianist and music teacher
* Eino Baskin (1929–2015), actor and theatre director
* Avi Benjamin (born 1959), composer
* Ben Berlin (1896–1944), jazz musician
* Maria Dangell (born 1974), singer and pianist
* Aaron Feinstein, chess player
* Moses Wolf Goldberg (1905–1964), chemist
* Heinrich Gutkin (1879–1941), businessman and politician
* Idel Jakobson (1904–1997), NKVD investigator
* Louis Kahn (1901–1974), architect
* Anna Klas (1912–1999), pianist
* Eri Klas (1939–2016), conductor
* Mihhail Lotman (born 1952), philologist and politician
* Juri Lotman (1922–1993), semiotician
* Zara Mints (1927–1990), literary scientist
* Vladimir Padwa (1900–1981), pianist and composer
* Ita Saks (1921–2003), translator and publicist
* Hagi Šein (born 1945), journalist, film director, screenwriter and professor
* Benno Schotz (1891–1984), sculptor
* Samuel H. Shapiro (1907–1987), politician
* Emmanuel Steinschneider (1886–1970), physician
* Leonid Stolovich (1929–2013), philosopher
* David Vseviov (born 1949), historian

## Finland

* Mathilda Berwald, singer
* Max Dimont, historian and author
* Ida Ekman, soprano singer
* Abba Gindin, Finnish-born Israeli football player
* Rosalia Gurovich, barber
* Kim Hirschovits, ice hockey player
* Ruben Jaari, businessman
* Max Jakobson, diplomat
* Wolf Karni, football referee
* Daniel Katz, writer
* Elias Katz, athlete, Olympic medalist
* Kalle Katz, footballer
* Salomon Klass (1907–1985), Finnish Army captain
* Yorai Maliach, Israeli footballer of Finnish-descent
* Roni Porokara, footballer
* Boris Rotenberg, football player
* Marion Rung, pop singer
* Elis Sella, actor
* Seela Sella, actress
* Mauritz Stiller, director
* Uniikki, rapper
* Sam Vanni, painter
* Poju Zabludowicz, business magnate
* Ben Zyskowicz, conservative leader

## Iceland

* Vladimir Ashkenazy (born 1937), pianist (Jewish father)
* Bobby Fischer (1943–2008), chess player (Jewish mother, but did not self-identify as a Jew; American expatriate, Icelandic)
* Dorrit Moussaieff (born 1950), former First Lady of Iceland
* Sruli Recht (born 1979), fashion designer

## Latvia

* Elya Baskin, actor
* Isaiah Berlin, historian of ideas
* Lipman Bers, mathematician and activist
* David Bezmozgis, author
* Boris Brutskus
* Sergei Eisenstein, film director
* Movsas Feigins, chess player
* Morris Halle, linguist
* Philippe Halsman, photographer
* Joseph Hirshhorn, financier and philanthropist
* Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish musicologist
* Hermann Jadlowker, musician (born at Riga)
* Mariss Jansons, conductor (Jewish mother)
* Gil Kane, comic book illustrator
* Alexander Koblencs, chess player
* Abraham Isaac Kook, rabbi
* Gidon Kremer, violinist; father was a Jewish Holocaust survivor
* Nechama Leibowitz
* Yeshayahu Leibowitz
* Hermanis Matisons, chess player
* Mischa Maisky, cellist
* Solomon Mikhoels, actor
* Aron Nimzowitsch, chess player
* Arkady Raikin, performing artist
* Yosef Rosen, der Rogatchover Gaon
* Mark Rothko, painter
* Judith Shklar, political philosopher
* Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, rabbi
* Mikhail Tal, world chess champion
* Max Weinreich, linguist

## Lithuania

* Semyon Alapin (1856–1923), chess player
* Mark Antokolsky (1840–1902), sculptor to Tzar Alexander II of Russia
* Moshe Arens (1925–2019), former Minister of Defence and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel
* Aaron Barak (born 1936), President of the Supreme Court of Israel
* Zerach Barnett (1843–1935), one of founders of Mea Shearim (Jerusalem), Petach Tikva and Neve Shalom, Israel
* Saul Bellow (1915–2005), writer and laureate of the Nobel Prize for Literature (1976)
* Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922), reviver of Hebrew
* Bernard Berenson (1865–1959), art critic
* Izis Bidermanas (1911–1980), photographer
* Reuben Asher Braudes (1851–1902), Hebrew-language novelist and journalist
* Victor David Brenner (1871–1924), designer of the US penny
* Eli Broad (1933–2021), American philanthropist and investor; founder of KB Home
* Sir Montague Burton (1885–1952), British retailer
* Abraham Cahan (1860–1951), writer and activist
* Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), musician, poet
* David Cronenberg (born 1943), film director
* Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892–1953), rabbi, Talmudic scholar
* Simeon Dimanstein (1886–1938), Soviet Commissar of Nationalities
* Bob Dylan (born 1941), singer-songwriter, artist, writer
* Ilya Ehrenburg (1891–1967), one of the most prolific and well-known writers during the Soviet Union
* Nosson Tzvi Finkel (1849–1927), Orthodox Jewish leader
* Vyacheslav Ganelin (born 1944), jazz musician
* Sara Ginaite (1924–2018), former resistance fighter, now Canadian academic
* Romain Gary (1914–1980), novelist, the Prix Goncourt (twice)
* Morris Ginsberg (1889–1970), sociologist
* Louis Ginzberg (1873–1953), scholar of the Talmud
* Philip Glass (born 1937), classical composer
* Leah Goldberg (1911–1970), poet
* Emma Goldman (1869–1940), political activist
* Nahum Goldmann (1895–1982), world Jewish leader
* Chaim Grade (1910–1982), Yiddish writer
* Iosif Grigulevich (1913–1988), secret agent, historian
* Zvi Griliches (1930–1999), economist
* Shira Gorshman (1906–2001), Zionist pioneer, Yiddish writer
* Aryeh Leib ben Asher Gunzberg (c. 1695–1785), rabbi
* Bernard Lown (1921–2021), scientist, Nobel prize winner
* Aron Gurwitsch (1901–1973), philosopher
* Laurence Harvey (1928–1973), actor
* Jascha Heifetz (1901–1987), widely regarded as the greatest violinist of the 20th century
* Sidney Hillman (1887–1946), political activist
* Shemp Howard (1895–1955), comedian and actor
* Moe Howard (1897–1975), comedian and actor
* Curly Howard (1903–1952), comedian and actor
* Jay M. Ipson (born 1935), founder of the Virginia Holocaust Museum
* Leo Jogiches (1867–1919), revolutionary
* Al Jolson (1886–1950), singer, comedian, and actor
* Berek Joselewicz (1764–1809), colonel of the Polish Army
* Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan (1915–1995), clothes manufacturer
* Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838–1933), rabbi
* Daniel Kahneman (1934–2024), psychologist, Nobel Prize (2002) (Lithuanian parents)
* Mordechai Kaplan (1881–1983), founder of Reconstructionist Judaism
* Shlomo Kleit (1891–1962), political activist
* Aaron Klug (1926–2018), chemist, Nobel Prize (1982)
* Gurwin Kopel (1923–1990), artist
* Lazare Kopelmanas (1907–1980), international law scholar
* Abba Kovner (1918–1987), poet, writer
* Abraham Dob Bär Lebensohn (c. 1789/1794–1878), Hebraist, poet, and educator
* Micah Joseph Lebensohn (1828–1852), poet and translator
* Phoebus Levene (1869–1940), biochemist
* Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995), philosopher
* Isaac Levitan (1860–1900), landscape painter
* Bernard Lewis (1916–2018), historian
* Morris Lichtenstein 1889–1938), rabbi, founder of the Jewish Science
* Jacques Lipchitz (1891–1973), cubist sculptor
* Jay Lovestone (1897–1990), politician
* Alexander Ziskind Maimon (1809–1887), author and scholar of the Talmud
* Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938), poet and librettist
* Abraham Mapu (1808–1867), Hebrew novelist
* Isser Zalman Meltzer (1870–1953), rabbi
* Harvey Milk (1930–1978), gay-rights activist
* Hermann Minkowski (1864–1909), mathematician
* Oskar Minkowski (1858–1931), physiologist
* Benjamin Netanyahu (born 1949), Prime Minister of Israel
* Mitchell Parish (1900–1993), Lithuanian-born American lyricist
* Abram Rabinovich (1878–1943), chess player
* Bar Refaeli (born 1985), Israeli supermodel, television host, actress, and businesswoman
* Willy Ronis (1910–2009), photographer
* Eduardas Rozentalis (born 1963), chess player
* Yisroel Salanter (1809–1883), rabbi and Talmudist
* Meyer Schapiro (1904–1996), art historian
* Alexander Schneider (1908–1993), violinist and conductor
* Lasar Segall (1891–1957), painter, engraver, and sculptor
* Benjamin Schlesinger (1876–1932), American labor leader and former President of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union
* Ben Shahn (1898–1969), artist
* Esther Shalev-Gerz (born 1948), artist
* Karl Shapiro (1913–2000), poet (Lithuanian parents)
* Sam (1878–1905), Lee (1871–1953), and Jacob Shubert (1879–1963), theatre managers and producers (cf. Shubert Brothers)
* Joe Slovo (1926–1995), ANC activist
* Elijah ben Solomon (1720–1797), rabbi, the Gaon of Vilna
* Maximilian Steinberg (1883–1946), classical composer
* David Suchet (born 1946), English actor
* Helen Suzman (1917–2009), anti-apartheid MP (Lithuanian parents)
* Isakas Vistaneckis (1910–2000), chess player
* Louis Washkansky (1912–1967), recipient of the world's first human heart transplant
* Uriel Weinreich (1926–1967), linguist
* David Wolfsohn (1855–1914), second President of the World Zionist Organization
* Bluma Zeigarnik (1900–1988), psychologist and psychiatrist
* Emanuelis Zingeris (born 1957), politician
* William Zorach (1889–1966), painter, sculptor, printmaker, and writer
* Louis Zukofsky (1904–1978), poet and professor (Lithuanian parents)
* Benjamin Zuskin (1899–1952), actor

## Norway

* Bjørn Benkow, journalist, known for faking interviews
* Jo Benkow, President of the Parliament of Norway
* Carl Paul Caspari, professor in theology (Lutheranism)
* Leo Eitinger (born in Slovakia), professor of psychiatry at University of Oslo and Holocaust survivor, known mainly for his work on late-onset psychological trauma amongst Holocaust survivors
* Victor Goldschmidt, professor in mineralogy
* Salo Grenning, pen name Pedro, editorial cartoonists in Verdens Gang
* Berthold Grünfeld, specialist in psychiatry, and professor in social medicine until 1993
* Imre Hercz, physician and public debater
* Bente Kahan, Yiddish singer and actress
* Hermann Kahan, Holocaust survivor, activist
* Morten Levin, professor of organization and work science
* Robert Levin, pianist
* Oskar Mendelsohn, historian, known for his two-volume history of Norwegian Jews
* Charles Philipson, Supreme Court Justice Judge, Chairman of the Petroleum Law Committee, deputy chairman of the Petroleum Council and chairman of the Riksel Committee
* Moritz Rabinowitz, merchant, active in public debate against antisemitism and Nazism before World War II
* Øystein Wingaard Wolf, poet and author

## Sweden

* Olof Aschberg, businessman and banker
* Robert Aschberg, journalist, media executive, TV personality
* Amalia Assur, first female dentist in Sweden
* Lovisa Augusti, opera singer
* Jean-Pierre Barda, musician
* Mathilda Berwald, née Cohn, musician
* Sharon Bezaly, flute soloist
* Jonathan Conricus (born 1979), Swedish-Israeli IDF Lieutenant-Colonel (ret), IDF International Spokesperson
* Jerzy Einhorn, pathologist and politician
* Herbert Felix, entrepreneur
* Aron Flam (born 1978), comedian, podcaster, and writer, and actor
* Josef Frank, architect and designer
* Isaac Grünewald, artist
* Lars Gustafsson, writer and scholar
* Johan Harmenberg, épée fencer, Olympic fencing medalist
* Eli Heckscher, economist
* Aaron Isaac, businessman from Swedish Pomerania, pioneer in the history of Sweden's Jewish population
* Erland Josephson, actor and writer
* Ernst Josephson, painter
* Ragnar Josephson, writer and art historian
* Anne Kalmering, singer
* Mirjam Katzin, academic
* Joel Kinnaman, actor
* George Klein, pathologist and writer
* Oskar Klein, physicist
* Oscar Levertin, poet and literary historian
* Jacob Marcus, businessman, pioneer in the history of Sweden's Jewish population
* Rudolf Meidner, economist
* Hanna Pauli, painter
* Dominika Peczynski, musician
* Alexandra Rapaport, actress
* Marcel Riesz, mathematician
* Göran Rosenberg, journalist
* Bo Rothstein, political scientist
* Nelly Sachs, poet, Nobel Prize (1966)
* Jerzy Sarnecki, criminologist
* Harry Schein, writer and culture personality
* Leif Silbersky, lawyer and author
* Sara Sommerfeld, actress
* Ute Steyer, Sweden's first female rabbi
* Mauritz Stiller, director
* Marcus Storch, industrialist
* Anna Warburg (1881–1967), educator
* Peter Weiss, dramatist and writer