List of Asian Jews

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List of Jews by country

Europe

Eastern Europe | North Europe

South-East Europe

West Europe

Americas

Latin America | Caribbean

Canada | United States

Rest of World

Oceania | Sub-Saharan Africa

Arab World | Asia | Israel*

(*most are Jewish)

Since Antiquity, a number of Jewish communities have been established in many parts of Asia migrating or fleeing eastward from their mythological place of origin in Mesopotamia. Some examples of ancient Jewish communities in Asia are: In Iran (Persian Jews) and Kurdistan; the Georgian Jews and Mountain Jews of the Caucasus; the Bene Israel, the Baghdadi Jews and the Cochin Jews of India (Jews in India); and the Bukharan Jews of Uzbekistan. China once had an established Jewish community in Kaifeng.

Here is a partial list of some prominent Asian Jews, arranged by country of origin. Note that those regions of Asia where Arabic or Russian or Turkish predominate are excluded from this list (except for the Baghdadi Jews from India and Southeast Asia); see Arab Jews, Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews for information on these populations.

Contents 1 Azerbaijan 2 China 3 Georgia 4 Hong Kong 5 India 6 Indonesia 7 Iran 8 Japan 9 Kazakhstan 10 Kyrgyzstan 11 Myanmar 12 Philippines 13 Singapore 14 Sri Lanka 15 Tajikistan 16 Uzbekistan 17 See also 18 Footnotes

[edit] Azerbaijan

• Max Black, philosopher ^[1]
• Misha Black, designer; brother of Max Black ^[2]
• Bella Davidovich, pianist
• Jacob Ghermezian, businessman
• Garry Kasparov, world chess champion (Jewish father)
• Lev Landau, physicist, Nobel Prize (1962)
• Lev Nussimbaum, writer (a.k.a. Kurban Said)
• V. A. Rokhlin, mathematician
• Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist and conductor (Jewish parent)
• Lotfi Zadeh, mathematician (Jewish mother)
• Gavril Abramovich Ilizarov,a Russian/Soviet physician, known for inventing the Ilizarov apparatus
• Telman Ismailov, businessman
• Yuri Bashmet, violist

[edit] China

• Nina Brosh, model (Chinese mother)
• Morris Cohen, bodyguard of Sun Yat-Sen
• Misha Dichter, pianist (Chinese-born)
• Israel Epstein, journalist, author
• Edmond Fischer, biochemist, Nobel Prize (1992) (Chinese-born; Jewish father)
• Silas Aaron Hardoon, real estate tycoon
• Ehud Olmert, current prime minister of Israel(parents from Harbin)
• Jakob Rosenfeld, doctor and general in the Chinese Liberation Army
• Sidney Shapiro, member of the People's Political Consultative Council

[edit] Georgia

• Sergei Ignatyevich Bernstein, linguist
• Melvin Calvin, chemist (Georgian mother)
• Sergei Kiriyenko, Georgian-born Premier Minister of Russia 1998 (Jewish father)
• Roy Medvedyev
• Zhores Medvedyev
• Lev Vlassenko, pianist (Jewish mother)(unconfirmed)

[edit] Hong Kong

• Elly, Lawrence & Michael Kadoorie, businesspeople
• Matthew Nathan, Hong Kong governor (1904)
• Victor Sassoon

[edit] India

• Nissim Ezekiel, Bene Israel poet
• Jack F.R. Jacob, army general, Goa governor
• Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, writer (Indian-based 1951-75)
• Anish Kapoor, sculptor (Baghdadi Jewish mother)
• Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, Maharashtrian , Bene Israel Rabbi
• Pramila, Bollywood actress, first Miss India
  • other Bollywood actors include Helen, David, Nadira, and Sulochawa
• Lord Reading, viceroy of India
• David and Simon Reuben, businessmen
• David Sassoon, businessman of the community of Baghdad Jews.
• Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, British Indian merchant
• Sassoon David Sassoon philanthropist and benefactor of greater Indian Jewish community.
• Solomon Sopher Jewish community leader in Mumbai
• Jacqueline Bhabha, philosopher and wife of Homi K. Bhabha, born in Mumbai to German Jewish refugees.
• Farhat Ezekiel Nadira, actress (1930–2006), Baghdadi Jew
• Rachel Reuben (model) Bombay
• Rachel Cohen (alias Ramala Devi, a Bollywood actress in the 1940s)
• Brian George, actor (Indian father)

[edit] Indonesia

• Rita Aaron, Indonesian model
• Marini Suryosumarno Indonesian singer (Jewish mother)
• Mariana Renata, Indonesian model and actrees (Jewish father, converted to Catholic)
• Xaviera Hollander, writer (Indonesian-born; Jewish father)
• Yapto S. Suryosumarno, political activist (Jewish mother)

[edit] Iran

• Daniel
• Esther
• Mordecai
• Michel Abdollahi, German writer, see German article
• Ma'mar Abu 'Ubaida (728-825), linguistician
• Rachel Assil, singer and songwriter (Iranian parents) [1]
• Moses ben Hanoch, rabbi
• Richard Danielpour, composer
• Jacob Ghermezian & sons, businessmen
• Ghiyathu'd-Din, mayor of palace (Muslim)
• Roya Hakakian, writer
• Dan Halutz, Israeli Air Force Lt. General and former Israeli Air Force commander (Iranian parents)
• Moshe Katsav, Israeli president
• Masarjawaih JE
• Mashallah, astrologer and astronomer
• Saeed Emami - Intelligence officer
• Shaul Mofaz, Israeli Minister of Transportation
• Nasser David Khalili, businessman, art collector
• Isaac Larian, inventor of Bratz, founder of MGA Entertainment
• Jamie Masada, founder of the Laugh Factory comedy club
• Yasmina Reza, playwright (Iranian father)
• Bahar Soomekh, Persian Jewish American actress
• Rashid al-Din, mayor of palace (Muslim)
• Elie Tahari, fashion designer
• Soofer Family, founder of Sadaf Foods
• Lotfi Zadeh, mathematician (Jewish mother)
• Soleiman Haim
• Wahb bin Munabbih (?-732), converted to Islam (born Persian Jew on Yemen)
• Subliminal, Israeli rapper, Kobi Shimoni (Iranian mother)
• Rita Kleinstein, Israeli singer/actress, known popularly as "Rita"

[edit] Japan

• Peter Barakan, music critic (Jewish father)
• Peter Frankl, Hungarian mathematician
• Moshe Hattori, Rabbi, Hebraist (Japanese-born; convert to Judaism)
• Harumi Klossowska de Rola, jewelry designer, daughter of Balthus (Jewish father)
• Michael Kogan, founder of Taito
• Fumiko Kometani, author, wife of Josh Greenfeld (Jewish husband; convert to Judaism)
• Ian Hideo Levy, author (Jewish father)
• Carmen Maki, singer (born Maki Annette Lovelace; Jewish-Irish father)
• Abraham Setsuzo Kotsuji, Hebraist (Japanese-born; convert to Judaism)
• Leonid Kreutzer, pianist
• Kenny Nomura, baseball player (Jewish father)
• Klaus Pringsheim
• David Rosen, founder of SEGA (unconfirmed)
• Joseph Rosenstock, conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra
• Kentaro Seagal, model, actor, son of Steven Seagal (Japanese-born; Jewish father)
• Leo Sirota & Beate Sirota Gordon

See also Japanese article

[edit] Kazakhstan

• Alexander Mashkevich, businessman
• Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian nationalist (Jewish father)
• Alexander Vinokourov, Road bicycle racer

[edit] Kyrgyzstan

• Irving Berlin (1888 – 1989) composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters in history^[3]
• Alexander Mashkevich, businessman (Kyrgyz-born)

[edit] Myanmar

• Ike Isaacs, jazz player

[edit] Philippines

• Alyssa Matutino Lopez, daughter of Eugenio Lopez and Joenita Matutino, prominent political families in the Philippines.

C.E.O. of augustusbookshop.com Convert to Judaism.

[edit] Singapore

• David Saul Marshall, Chief Minister

[edit] Sri Lanka

• Sidney Abrahams, Chief Justice
• Jeanne Hoban, political activist and trade unionist (Jewish maternal grandfather)
• Rhoda Miller, political activist
• Hedi Keuneman, political activist
• Anne Ranasinghe, poet
• Leonard Woolf, Administrative officer and author

[edit] Tajikistan

• Moses Znaimer, TV producer

[edit] Uzbekistan

• Liane Balaban, actress (Jewish Uzbek father)
• Yefim Bronfman, pianist
• Lev Leviev, diamond tycoon

[edit] See also

• List of Jews
• List of Jews from the Arab World

[edit] Footnotes