List of Hungarian Jews
Template:Jew list Template:JewsByCountry There has been a Jewish presence in Hungary since Roman times (bar a brief expulsion during the Black Death). Jews fared particularly well under the Ottoman Empire, and after emancipation in 1867. At its height, the Jewish population of Greater Hungary numbered more than 900,000, but the Holocaust and emigration, especially during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, has reduced that to around 100,000, most of whom live in Budapest and its suburbs. Here is a list of some prominent Hungarian Jews.
Historical figures
- Eliezer Berkovits, rabbi
- Bettelheim pedigree
- Joseph Breuer
- Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried, rabbi
- Daniel Ganzfried (1857-1911), Hungarian-born Swiss author
- Sándor Garbai, politician
- Puppa rebbi and Greenwald (Grűnwald, Grinvald) family from Pápa, Huszt, Belz
- Sanz-Klausenberger rebbi and Halberstam family from Kolozsvár
- Joseph H. Hertz, British chief rabbi
- Theodor Herzl, Zionist leader (Hungarian-born)
- Béla Kun, communist revolutionary (Jewish father)
- Mendel family
- Max Nordau, Zionist leader
- Mátyás Rákosi, communist politician
- Sasregen (from Szászrégen), Sulitz (from ??), Muzhay rebbi and Rubin family
- Rosika Schwimmer, feminist and diplomat
- Tosh rebbi and Segal-Loewy family from Nyírtass
- Spinka rebbi Friedman, Horowitz, Kahana, Weiss family from Máramaros-Szaplonca
- Munkacz rebbi and Shapiro and Rabinowitz family from Munkács
- Hannah Szenes, WW2 partisan
- Taub family and Kalov rebbi from Nagykalló
- Teitelbaum family of Satmar (Sátoraljaújhely, Szatmárnémeti, Máramarossziget)
- Ratzfert rebbi and Teitelbaum family from Újfehértó (scion of Satmar, Klauzenberg, Brazil)
- Wahrmann family
- Israel ben Solomon Wahrmann, rabbi and Talmudist
- Judah Wahrmann, rabbi
- Moritz Wahrmann, politician
- Alexander Wahrmann
- David Weiss Halivni
- Joseph Hirsch Weiss (Weissfeld), rabbi
- Markus Nissa Weiss, advocate of Reform
- Berthold Weisz, deputy
- Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl
- Solomon Aaron Wertheimer, rabbi, scholar
- Solomon Winter, philanthropist
- Aaron Wise (Weisz Áaron), rabbi
- Stephen Samuel Wise, Zionist leader & rabbi
- Philip Wodianer
- Theodore Wolfner, deputy
- Zuckerkandl pedigree
Scientists
- Paul Erdős, mathematician
- Lipót Fejér, mathematician
- Peter Frankl, mathematician, street performer
- Dennis Gabor, physicist, holography; Nobel Prize (1971)
- Joseph Goldberger, cure for pellagra
- Peter Carl Goldmark, inventor of the vinyl record
- Alfréd Haar, mathematician
- Paul Halmos, mathematician
- Avram Hershko, biologist, ubiquitin; Nobel Prize (2004)
- George de Hevesy, chemist, radioactive tracers; Nobel Prize (1943)
- Moritz Kaposi, dermatologist, Kaposi's sarcoma
- Theodore von Kármán, aeronautical engineer
- John Kemeny, computer scientist, BASIC
- Nicholas Kurti, physicist
- Cornelius Lanczos, mathematician & physicist
- Imre Lakatos, philosopher of science
- Peter Lax, mathematician
- John von Neumann, computer scientist, mathematician
- George Olah, chemist; Nobel Prize (1994) (unconfirmed)
- Rózsa Péter, mathematician
- Alfréd Rényi, mathematician
- Frigyes & Marcel Riesz, mathematicians
- Béla Schick, pediatrician, diphtheria test
- Gábor Szegö, mathematician
- Leó Szilárd, physicist
- Edward Teller, physicist, hydrogen bomb
- Paul Turán, mathematician
- Abraham Wald, statistician
- Eugene Wigner, physicist; Nobel Prize (1963)
- Leopold Wittelschöfer, physician
- Franz Wittmann, electrician and physicist
Social scientists
- Franz Alexander, psychoanalyst
- Michael Balint, psychoanalyst
- Peter Bauer, economist
- Sándor Ferenczi
- Milton Friedman, economist; Nobel Prize (1976) (Hungarian parents)
- Ignaz Goldziher, orientalist
- John Harsanyi, economist, game theory; Nobel Prize (1994)
- Nicholas Kaldor, economist
- Wilhelm Klein, archaelologist
- Margaret Mahler, psychologist
- Karl Mannheim, sociologist, sociology of knowledge
- Karl Polanyi, economist
- Michael Polanyi, polymath
- Géza Révész
- Géza Róheim
- René Spitz
- Aurel Stein, archeologist
- Thomas Szasz, psychiatrist
- Karl Targownik, psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor
Films and stage
- Mischa Auer, actor
- Béla Balázs, film theoretician and screenwriter
- Tony Curtis, actor (Hungarian parents)
- Michael Curtiz, director
- Paul Czinner, director/screenwriter/producer
- Eva Gabor, actor
- Magda Gabor, actor
- Zsa Zsa Gabor, actor
- Harry Houdini, magician
- Leslie Howard, actor
- Mathieu Kassovitz, French actor (Hungarian Jewish father)
- Sir Alexander Korda, director & producer
- Vincent Korda, art director and production designer
- Zoltan Korda, director
- Robert Lantos, producer
- Peter Lorre, actor
- Paul Lukas, actor
- Ernő Metzner, art director, film director
- Emeric Pressburger, director/screenwriter/producer
- István Szabó, Oscar-winning film director and screenwriter
Musicians
- Paul Abraham, composer
- Moshe Atzmon, conductor
- Caroline von Gomperz-Bettelheim
- Leopold Auer, conductor & violinist
- Gábor Darvas, composer
- Antal Dorati, conductor
- Adam Fischer, conductor
- Annie Fischer, pianist
- Ivan Fischer, conductor
- Carl Flesch, violinist
- Joseph Joachim, violinist
- Emmerich Kálmán, composer
- Istvan Kertesz, conductor
- Joseph Kosma, composer
- Lili Kraus, pianist
- Yehoshua Lakner, Israeli composer
- György Ligeti, composer
- Arthur Nikisch, conductor
- Eugene Ormandy, conductor & violinist
- Ödön Pártos, violist, composer
- Tommy Ramone, drummer
- Fritz Reiner, conductor
- Sigmund Romberg, composer
- Miklós Rózsa, film composer
- Márk Rózsavölgyi, composer, originator of csardas
- András Schiff, pianist
- Paul Simon, singer/songwriter (Hungarian parents)
- Gene Simmons, bass player for KISS
- Sir Georg Solti, conductor
- Janos Starker, cellist
- George Szell, conductor
- Joseph Szigeti, violinist
Writers
- Béla Balázs, poet & film critic
- Susan Faludi, feminist writer (Hungarian father)
- Jenő Heltai (born Herzl, cousin of Theodor Herzl), poet
- Theodor Hertzka
- Arthur Holitscher
- Imre Kertész, author, Nobel Prize (2002)
- George Konrád, writer and former political dissident
- Ephraim Kishon, satirist
- Paul Lendvai, journalist
- Georg Lukács, philosopher & literary critic
- George Mikes, humorous writer
- Ferenc Molnár, playwright
- Max Simon Nordau, social critic & Zionist leader
- Miklós Radnóti, poet
- Felix Salten, author (Hungarian-born)
- Anna Sandor, screenplay writer
- Tamás Sipos, writer and noted sports commentator
- Tivadar Soros, Esperanto writer, father of George Soros
- Antal Szerb, scholar & writer (Christian)
- George Tabori, writer & theatre director
- Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel Peace Prize
- Ludwig Wysber, Hungarian journalist and author
Artists
- Maurice Ascalon, sculptor & industrial designer (immigrated to Israel)
- Brassaï, photographer
- Robert Capa, photojournalist
- Isidor Kaufman, painter
- Oskar Kaufmann, architect
- André Kertész, photographer
- Paul Laszlo, architect
- László Moholy-Nagy, painter, photographer
- Martin Munkacsi, photographer
- Sylvia Plachy, photographer (Jewish mother)
- Ignaz Wecheselmann, architect and philanthropist (Silesia-born)
Business
- Leo Castelli(Krauss), Trieste-born US paint merchant [1]
- André Deutsch, publisher
- William Fox, founder of Fox
- Andrew Grove, co-founder and chairman of Intel
- Josef Ganz, automotive engineer
- Estée Lauder, cosmeticist (Hungarian parents)
- Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper baron (Jewish father)
- Reichmann family
- Paul Reichmann, real estate (Hungarian parents)
- George Soros, financial speculator
- Teodoro Schwartz
- Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount Pictures
Sports
- Zsuzsa & Judit Polgar, chess players
- Isidor Gunsberg, chess player
- Endre Kabos, Olympic fencer (3g1s)
- Ilona Elek, Olympic fencer (2g1s) (Jewish father)
- Lily Kronberger, figure skating World Champion (4g2b)
- Emilie Rotter & Laszlo Szollas, figure skating World Champions (4g1s) & Olympic medalists (2b)
- Ágnes Keleti, Olympic gymnast (5g4s1b)
- Béla Guttman, football (soccer) coach (10 championships, 2 European Cups)
- Alfréd Hajós, first Olympic swimming champion (2g)
- Éva Székely & Andrea Gyarmati, mother and daughter Olympic swimmers (1g1s & 1s1b)
- Eva was married to Dezső Gyarmati (see below), while Andrea married canoeist Mihály Hesz (1g1s)
- Viktor Barna, table tennis World Champion (5 singles, 8 doubles, 2 mixed)
- Anna Sipos, table tennis World Champion (2 singles, 6 doubles, 2 mixed)
- Miklós Szabados, table tennis World Champion (1 singles, 6 doubles, 3 mixed)
- Dezső Gyarmati, Olympic water polo player & captain (3g1s1b)
- György Kárpáti, Béla Komjádi, György Bródy, Olympic water polo players (3g1b & 2g & 2g)
- Ferenc Kemény, co-founder and first secretary of the IOC
- Tamás Sipos, Hungarian sports commentator and writer
- Max Weiss (Weiss Miksa), chess player