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Israel and the Arab World
Their Contribution to Mankind

Comparison Charts



Part II: The Jewish People and the Arabs
Considered within an International context,
Jews outside present-day Israel, Arabs in the Worldwide scene

Miscellaneous

Jewish & Arab Personalities in Literature and Philosophy
Jewish & Arab Personalities in Visual Arts, Music, Performing Arts
Jewish & Arab Chess Players

 

 

In this section we consider the contribution of Arab and Jewish personalities at international level, since the 19th century CE to the present, in humanistic fields as literature, philosophy, history, arts, music, entertainment. As there is a large number of Jewish actors, actresses, film directors and producers, here we mention only some few of them.


Literature and Philosophy

Arabs

The writers May Ziadeh and Nagīb Mahfūz are listed in the section Arab Personalities in Modern Times.

Elia Abu Madi (Al-Muhaydithah, Lebanon, 1889 – New York City, 23/11/1957)
Writer, poet.

Mikhail Naimy or Mikhail Na'ima (Mount Sannine, Lebanon, 1889 – Beirut, Lebanon, 1/3/1988)
Writer, poet.

Nawal as-Sa'adawi (Kafr Tahla, Egypt, 27/10/1931)
Writer, physician, mainly concerned against infibulation.

Lawrence Joseph (Detroit, Michigan, 1948)
Writer, lawyer, professor. He is of Christian Lebanese and Christian Syrian origin.

Nonie Darwish (Cairo, Egypt, 1948)
Writer, lecturer, human rights activist. She founded the non-profit organization "Arabs For Israel".

Amin Maalouf (Beirut, Lebanon, 25/2/1949)
Writer, author, novelist. Christian Lebanese.

Mona Jandali, Mona Simpson (Green Bay, Wisconsin, 14/6/1957)
Writer, novelist. Her brother is Steven Paul Jobs.


Jewish

Jorge Isaacs (Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1/4/1837 – Ibagué, Colombia, 17/4/1895)
Writer, poet, novelist.

Joseph Pulitzer, born Politzer József (Makó, Hungary, 10/4/1847 – Jekyll Island, Georgia, United States, 29/10/1911)
Journalist, publisher, editor; established the Pulitzer Prize.

Alberto Gerchunoff (Proskurov, Russian Empire -now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine-, 1/1/1883 – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2/3/1850)
Writer, poet, author of the documentary work "Los gauchos judíos".

Emma Lazarus (New York City, 22/7/1849 – New York City, 19/11/1887)
Writer, poet, a pioneer of the foundation of a Jewish National Homeland in the Holy Land.

Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (Prossnitz, Austria-Hungary -now Prostejov, Czech-, 8/4/1859 – Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, 26/4/1938)
Philosopher, founder of phenomenology.

Henri-Louis Bergson, original surname was Bereksohn (Paris, France, 18/10/1859 – Auteuil, France, 4/1/1941)
Philosopher, humanist.

Solomon Robert Guggenheim (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2/2/1861 – New York City, 3/11/1949)
Philanthropist, founded the Guggenheim Foundation for the promotion of modern art.

Italo Svevo, pen name of Aron Ettore Schmitz (Trieste, Austria -now Italy-, 19/12/1861 – Motta di Livenza, Italy, 13/9/1928)
Writer, novelist, playwright.

Cyrus Adler (Van Buren, Arkansas, 13/9/1863 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 7/4/1940)
Scholar, linguist, orientalist.

Rosa Luxemburg, born Róza Luksenburg Löwenstein (Zamość, Russian Empire, 5/3/1871 – Berlin, Prussia, 15/1/1919)
Socialist philosopher, politician, revolutionary activist. Executed.

Shaul Gutmanovich Tchernichovsky (Mikhaelovka, Crimea, Russia, 20/8/1875 – Jerusalem, Israel, 14/10/1943)
Poet, writer.

Martin Buber, or Mordechai Buber (Vienna, Austria, 8/2/1878 – Jerusalem, Israel, 13/6/1965)
Philosopher, humanist, scholar, educator; one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century.

Leon Trotskiy, born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (Yanovka, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 7/11/1879 – Ciudad de Mexico, 21/8/1941)
Communist philosopher, Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, one of the founders of the Soviet Union. Assassinated by the NKVD, Stalin's repressive police.

Franz Kafka, born František Kafka (Praha, Bohemia, Austro–Hungarian Empire, 3/7/1883 – Kierling, Austria, 3/6/1924)
Writer, author; considered one of the most important fiction writers of the 20th Century.

Lev Borisovich Kamenev, born Lev Borisovich Rosenfeld (Moscow, Russia, 18/7/1883 – Moscow, Russia, 25/8/1936)
Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, one of the founders of the Soviet Union. Executed by Stalin's repressive regime.

Grigoriy Yevseyevich Zinoviev, born Ovsei Gershon Aronovich Radomyslskiy
(Novomirgorod, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 23/8/1883 – Moscow, Russia, 25/8/1936)
Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, one of the founders of the Soviet Union. Executed by Stalin's repressive regime.

Samuel Josef Agnon, born Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes (Buchach, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 17/7/1888 – Rehovot, Israel, 17/2/1970)
Writer, novelist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Moscow, Russia, 10/2/1890 – Peredelkino, Russia, 30/5/1960)
Writer, poet, Nobel Prize award; his father was the painter Leonid Pasternak.

Vera Mikhaylovna Spenzer Inber (Odessa, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 10/7/1890 – Moscow, Russia, 11/11/1972)
Writer, poet.

Nelly Sachs, or Leonie Sachs (Schöneberg, Berlin, Prussia, 10/12/1891 – Stockholm, Sweden, 12/5/1950)
Writer, poet, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (Berlin, Prussia, 15/7/1892 – Portbou, Spain, 26/9/1940)
Writer, philosopher, literary critic, scholar.

Gershom Scholem, born Gerhard Scholem (Berlin, Prussia, 5/12/1897 – Jerusalem, Israel, 21/2/1982)
Writer, historian, philosopher, kabbalist.

Chaya Kaufman, then Ariel Durant (Proskurov, Russian Empire -now Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine-, 19/3/1898 – 18/7/1982)
Historian, writer, co-author with her husband of The Story of Civilization.

Shlomo Dov Goitein (Burgkunstadt, Germany, 3/4/1900 – Princeton, New Jersey, 6/2/1985)
Ethnographer, historian, arabist, expert in genizah.

Raphael Lemkin (Bezwodne, Russian Empire -now Belarus'-, 24/6/1900 – New York City, 28/8/1959)
Lawyer, professor, expert in the massacres against Armenian and Assyrian peoples, coined the term "genocide". He was distiguished with several awards for his contribution to international law.

Mika Feldman Etchebéhčre (Kiryat Moshe / Moisés Ville, Santa Fe, Argentina, 14/3/1902 – Paris, France, 7/6/1992)
Writer, politician, heroine of the Spanish Civil War and the only woman commander, fought for the Republican side.

Carlo Levi (Turin, Italy, 29/11/1902 – Rome, Italy, 4/1/1975)
Writer, artist, painter, doctor.

Irčne Leona Némirovsky (Kiev, Russian Empire, 11/2/1903 – Auschwitz, 17/2/1942)
Writer, novelist, French author.

Ayn Rand, born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (St. Petersburg, Russia, 2/2/1905 – New York City, 6/3/1982)
Philosopher, novelist, playwright, screenwriter; she developed the Objectivism.

Raymond-Claude-Ferdinand Aron (Paris, France, 14/3/1905 – 17/10/1983)
Philosopher, sociologist, political scholar.

Hannah Arendt, born Johanna Arendt (Linden, Germany, 14/10/1906 – New York City, 4/12/1975)
Philosopher, politician.

Alberto Moravia, born Alberto Pincherle (Rome, Italy, 28/11/1907 – Rome, Italy, 26/9/1990)
Writer, novelist.

Sir Isaiah Berlin (Latvia, Russian Empire, 6/6/1909 – Oxford, England, 5/11/1997)
Philosopher, historian, writer, lecturer, broadcaster.

Iosif Davidovich Amusin (Vitebsk, Russia, 29/11/1910 – Leningrad -now St. Petersburg-, Russia, 12/6/1984)
Papyrologyst, historian, orientalist, specialized in Qumran scrolls.

Max Gluckman (Johannesburg, South Africa, 26/1/1911 – 13/4/1975)
Anthropologist, sociologist, politician, anti-colonial activist.

Leah Goldberg (Königsberg, Prussia -now Kaliningrad, Russia-, 29/5/1911 – Jerusalem, Israel, 15/1/1970)
Writer, poet, translator, playwright, scholar in Hebrew literature.

Giorgio Bassani (Bologna, Italy, 4/3/1916 – Rome, Italy, 13/4/2000)
Writer, poet, novelist, editor.

Natalia Levi Ginzburg (Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 14/7/1916 – Rome, Italy, 7/10/1991)
Philosopher, politician, writer.

Primo Michele Levi (Turin, Italy, 31/7/1919 – Turin, Italy, 11/4/1987)
Writer, poet, novelist, chemist.

Isaac Asimov, born Isaac Ozimov (Petrovichi, Russia, 2/1/1920 – New York City, 6/4/1992)
Biochemist, writer, famous for his science fiction books and regarded as one of the greatest writers of the century.

Paul Celan, or Paul Antschel (Chernivtsi, Romania -now Ukraine-, 23/11/1920 – Paris, France, 20/4/1970)
Poet, politician.

Jay Arthur Pritzker (Illinois, 26/8/1922 – 23/1/1999)
Philanthropist, founder of the Hyatt Hotel chain, established the Pritzker Architecture Prize, that is the most prestigious award in that discipline, equal to the Nobel Prize.

Ernest André Gellner (Paris, France, 9/12/1925 – Praha, Czech, 5/11/1995)
Philosopher, anthropologist, writer.

Jacques Derrida (El-Biar, Algeria, 15/7/1930 – Paris, France, 8/10/2004)
Philosopher, founder of deconstruction.

Philip Roth, born Philip Milton Roth (Weequahic, Newark, New Jersey, 19/3/1933 – Manhattan, New York, 22/5/2018)
Writer, novelist, has received the National Book Awards, the Pulitzer Prize and other prestigious awards.

Mauricio Rosencof (Florida, Uruguay, 30/6/1933)
Writer, playwright, poet, journalist, political activist.

Grigoriy Maksimovich Bongard-Levin (Moscow, Russia, 26/8/1933 – Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 20/9/2008)
Historian, scholar, expert in Eurasian history.

Luis Enríquez Bacalov (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 30/8/1933 – Rome, Italy, 15/11/2017)
Composer, musician, Academy Award for Original Score in 1996.

Shulamit Lapid (Tel Aviv, Israel, 9/11/1934)
Writer, poet, novelist.

Marcos Aguinis (Córdoba, Argentina, 13/1/1935)
Writer, historian, journalist, psychoanalist, has won several prestigious awards in different countries.

Liliane Aimée Weil Ackermann (Strasbourg, France, 3/9/1938 – 3/2/2007)
Writer, scientist, artist, philanthropist.

Bernard-Henri Lévy (Béni Saf, Algeria, 5/11/1948)
Philosopher, journalist, French author.

David Samuel Harvard Abulafia (Twickenham, England, 12/12/1949)
Historian, professor, author, expert in Mediterranean History.

Erika Rosenberg (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 24/6/1951)
Writer, journalist; she is the author of the biography of Oskar and Emilie Schindler.

Moshe Halbertal (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1958)
Philosopher, writer.

Roberto Saviano (Napoli, Italy, 22/9/1979)
Writer, journalist.

 

Visual Arts, Music, Performing Arts

Arabs

Youssef Saadallah Huwayek (Helta, Syria -now Lebanon-, 1883 – 1962)
Painter, sculptor. Christian Lebanese.

Umm Kolthoum, Ümmü Gülsüm, Umm Kolthoum Ebrahim Elbeltagi (Tammay ez-Zahayra, Egypt, 1898 ? 1904 ? – Cairo, Egypt, 3/2/1975)
Singer, songwriter, actress, she is considered the greatest Arab singer of the century.

Omar Sharif, born Michel Demitri Chalhoub (Alexandria, Egypt, 10/4/1932 – Cairo, Egypt, 10/7/2015)
Actor, Hollywood star, of Christian Syrian-Lebanese parents.

Fairouz, born Nouhad Haddad (Djebel al-Arz, Lebanon, 21/11/1935)
Singer, the most successful Arab singer worldwide. She is a Christian Lebanese.

Paul Anka, born Paul Mustapha Abdi Anka (Ottawa, Canada, 30/7/1941)
Singer, songwriter, actor, of Christian Lebanese origin.

Walid Akl (Mehaytzeh, Lebanon, 1945 – Paris, France, 27/9/1997)
Pianist.

Mona Hatoum (Beirut, Lebanon, 1952)
Contemporary artist.

Majida El-Roumi (Kfarshima, Lebanon, 13/12/1956)
Soprano singer, songwriter, actress.

Amina Annabi (Carthage, Tunisia, 5/3/1962)
Singer, songwriter, actress. She is half-French.

Souad Massi (Algiers, Algeria, 23/8/1972)
Singer, songwriter, guitarist. She is Kabyle, not Arab, and sings in different languages including her native Taqbaylit, which survives in spite of the forced arabization.

Elissar Zakaria Khoury, known as Elissa (Deir el-Ahmar, Lebanon, 27/10/1972)
Singer, musician. Christian Lebanese.

Shannon Elizabeth Fadal, known as Shannon Elizabeth (Houston, Texas, 7/9/1973)
Actress, model. She is Syrian-Lebanese on her father's side.

Cyrine Abdelnour (Abeydiye, Beirut, Lebanon, 21/2/1977)
Singer, actress, model. Christian Lebanese.


Jewish

Fanny Hensel, Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born Fanny Zipporah Mendelssohn (Hamburg, Germany, 14/11/1805 – Berlin, Prussia, 14/5/1847)
Composer, pianist, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, known as Felix Mendelssohn (Hamburg, Germany, 3/2/1809 – Leipzig, Prussia, 4/11/1847)
Composer, pianist, conductor, representative of Romantic music.

Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (Vykhvatintsy, Russian Empire -Moldavia-, 28/11/1829 – Peterhof, Russia, 20/11/1894)
Piano virtuoso, composer, conductor, founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

Nikolai Grigorevich Rubinstein (Moscow, Russia, 14/6/1835 – Paris, France, 23/3/1881)
Pianist, composer, director, founded the Moscow Conservatory. He was Anton Rubinstein's brother.

Leonid Ossipovich Pasternak, born Yitzhak-Leib Iosifovich Pasternak (Odessa, Russian Empire -Ukraine-, 4/4/1862 – Oxford, England, 31/5/1945)
Artist, impressionist painter. He was Boris Pasternak's father.

Harry Houdini, born Erich Weisz (Budapest, Hungary, 24/3/1874 – Detroit, Michigan, 31/10/1926)
Actor, stuntman, magician, aviator. He was the most famous escapologist of all times.

Arnold Schönberg or Schoenberg (Vienna, Austria, 13/9/1874 – Los Angeles, California, 13/7/1951)
Composer, music professor, painter.

Theodore Hardeen, born Ferenc Dezső Weisz (Budapest, Hungary, 4/3/1876 – New York City, 12/6/1945)
Artist, magician, escapologist. Brother of Harry Houdini.

Alma Gluck, born Reba Feinsohn (Iaşi, Romania, 11/5/1884 – New York City, 27/10/1938)
Soprano singer.

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (Livorno, Italy, 12/7/1884 – Paris, France, 24/1/1920)
Artist, painter, sculptor, regarded as one of the greatest artists of the century.

Artur Rubinstein (Lódz, Russian Empire -Poland-, 28/1/1887 – Geneva, Switzerland, 20/12/1982)
Piano virtuoso, one of the greatest classical musicians of the century.

Marc Chagall, born Movsha Jatskelevich Zaharovich Shagalov (Lyozno, Russian Empire -now Belarus'-, 7/7/1887 – Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, 28/3/1985)
Artist, painter, illustrator, master of fine arts.

The Marx Brothers:
Leonard "Chico" (New York City, 22/3/1887 – Hollywood, California, 11/10/1961),
Adolph Arthur "Harpo" (New York City, 23/11/1888 – Los Angeles, California, 28/9/1964),
Julius Henry "Groucho" (New York City, 2/10/1890 – Los Angeles, California, 19/8/1977),
Milton "Gummo" (New York City, 23/10/1892 – Palm Springs, California, 21/4/1977),
Herbert "Zeppo" (New York City, 25/2/1901 – Palm Springs, California, 30/11/1979)
Famous comedians.

Vladimir Baranoff-Rossine (Kherson, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 1888 – Germany, 1944)
Painter, avant-garde artist. Died in a concentration camp.

Chana Orloff (Staro-Konstantinov, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 1888 – Israel, 16/12/1968)
Figurative sculptor, artist.

Efrem Zimbalist (Rostov-na-Donu, Russia, 9/4/1890 – Reno, Nevada, 22/2/1985)
Violinist, composer, conductor, music director.

József Szigeti, born József Singer (Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire, 5/9/1892 – 19/2/1973)
Violinist virtuoso.

Abraham Iosif Berline (Nizhyn, Russian Empire -now Ukraine-, 6/10/1893 – Auschwitz, 1942)
Painter, artist.

George Gershwin, born Jacob Gershowitz (Brooklyn, New York, 26/9/1898 – Los Angeles, California, 11/7/1937)
Pianist, composer, orchestra conductor.

Anni Albers, born Annelise Else Frieda Fleischmann (Berlin, Prussia, 12/6/1899 – Orange, Connecticut, 9/5/1994)
Textile artist, printmaker.

Louise Nevelson, born Leah Berliawsky (Kiev, Russian Empire, 23/9/1899 – New York City, 17/4/1988)
Sculptor, awarded with the United States National Medal of Arts.

Jascha Heifetz (Vilnius, Lithuania, 2/2/1901 – Los Angeles, California, 10/12/1987)
Violinist.

Rudolf Serkin (Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire -now Cheb, Czech-, 28/3/1903 – Guilford, Vermont, 6/5/1991)
Pianist, composer.

Esther Victoria Abraham Khan, known as Pramila (India, 1916)
Bollywood actress, the first woman that won Miss India contest, in 1947.

Dinah Shore, born Frances Rose Shore (Winchester, Tennessee, 11/3/1916 – Beverly Hills, California, 24/2/1994)
Singer, actress.

Baron Yehudi Menuhin (New York City, 22/4/1916 – Berlin, Germany, 12/3/1999)
Violin virtuoso, conductor. Elder brother of Hephzibah and Yaltah Menuhin.

Hephzibah Menuhin (San Francisco, California, 20/5/1920 – London, England, 1/1/1981)
Pianist, linguist, writer, human rights activist.

Yaltah Menuhin (San Francisco, California, 7/10/1921 – London, England, 9/6/2001)
Pianist, painter, poet.

Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch Demskiy (Amsterdam, New York, 9/12/1916)
Actor, film producer, Hollywood star.

Lea Nikel, born Lea Nikelshperg (Zhitomir, Ukraine, 1918 – Israel, 10/9/2005)
Visual artist, painter.

Henryk Szeryng (Zelazowa Wola, Poland, 22/9/1918 – Kassel, Germany, 3/3/1988)
Classical musician, violinist.

Isaac Stern (Kremenetz, Ukraine, 29/11/1920 – New York City, 22/9/2001)
Classical musician, violin virtuoso.

Fatima Kuinova, born Fatima Kohen (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 28/12/1920)
Shashmakom singer, distinguished as Honored Artist of the Soviet Union.

Leonid Borisovich Kogan (Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine, 17/11/1924 – Mytishchi, Russia, 17/12/1982)
Violinist, one of the most distinguished representatives of the Soviet Union.

Paul Newman, born Paul Leonard Newman (Shaker Heights, Ohio, 26/1/1925 – Westport, Connecticut, 26/9/2008)
Actor, film director, philanthropist, auto racer, he was among the most successful Hollywood stars.

Mauricio Borensztein, known as Tato Bores (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 27/4/1925 – 11/1/1996)
Actor, comedian, master in political humor monologues.

Shoista Mullodzhanova, born Shushana Rubinovna Mullodzhanova (Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 3/9/1925)
Shashmakom singer, considered among the greatests artists of Tajikistan. She belongs to a family of musicians.

Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (Moscow, Russia, 20/11/1925 – München, Germany, 2/5/2015)
Ballet dancer, considered the greatest ballerina of the 20th Century and even of all times.

Jerry Lewis, born Jerome Levitch (Newark, New Jersey, 16/3/1926 – Las Vegas, Nevada, 20/8/2017)
Actor, comedian, producer, director, singer.

Burt Bacharach (Kansas City, Missouri, 12/5/1928)
Musician, pianist, composer.

Judith Raskin (New York City, 21/6/1928 – 21/12/1984)
Lyric soprano singer, musician, actress.

Beverly Sills, born Belle Miriam Silverman (Brooklyn, New York, 25/5/1929 – 2/7/2007)
Lyric soprano singer.

Naomi Shemer, born Naomi Sapir (Kvutzat Kinneret, Israel, 13/7/1930 – Israel, 29/6/2004)
Composer, songwriter, musician; she is the author of the song "Yerushalaym Shel Zahav", which commemorates the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem by the IDF in the Six-Day War.

Lalo Schifrin, born Boris Claudio Schifrin (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 21/6/1932)
Pianist, composer, mainly of film soundtracks and scores.

Joseph Silverstein (Detroit, Michigan, 21/3/1932)
Violinist, conductor.

Georges Moustaki, born Giuseppe Mustacchi (Alexandria, Egypt, 3/5/1934 – Nice, France, 23/5/2013)
Musician, singer, songwriter.

Leonard Norman Cohen (Westmount, Quebec, Canada, 21/9/1934 – Los Angeles, California, 11/11/2016)
Musician, singer, songwriter, writer, poet.

Giora Feidman (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 26/3/1936)
Musician, saxophonist, clarinetist, has belonged to the Teatro Colón Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and played as a soloist with the most prestigious orchestras in Europe.

Michael Rabin (New York City, 2/5/1936 – 19/1/1972)
Violinist.

Joe Dassin, born Joseph Ira Dassin (New York City, 5/11/1938 – Papeete, Tahiti, 20/8/1980)
Singer, songwriter, mainly in French.

Neil Sedaka (Brooklyn, New York, 13/3/1939)
Pianist, singer, songwriter, pop music star.

Ernesto Acher (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 9/10/1939)
Artist, choir master, orchestral conductor, musician, composer, songwriter, comedian, a former member of "Les Luthiers", now leading other personal projects.

Neil Diamond, born Neil Leslie Diamond (Brooklyn, New York, 24/1/1941)
Pop singer, songwriter, actor.

Bob Dylan, whose actual name is Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham, born as Robert Allen Zimmerman (Duluth, Minnesota, 24/5/1941)
Artist, musician, singer, songwriter, poet, painter, the most prominent representative of the counterculture of the 60's and 70's and of the civil rights movement. Nobel Prize in Literature 2016.

Paul Frederic Simon (Newark, New Jersey, 13/10/1941) and Arthur Garfunkel (Queens, New York, 5/11/1941),
known as the musical duo Simon & Garfunkel
Singers, songwriters, musicians, vocalists.

Barbara Streisand, born Barbara Joan Streisand (Brooklyn, New York, 24/4/1942)
Singer, composer, actress, film director and producer; she is the highest top selling American female artist, having won several prestigious prizes such as Grammy, Emmy and Academy Awards.

Lucien Benyaminovich Dulfan (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 1942)
Painter, nonconformist conceptual artist.

Carole King, born Carol Klein (Brooklyn, New York, 9/2/1942)
Pianist, singer, songwriter.

Yudik Ribievich Mullodzhanov (Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 18/6/1942)
Musician, violinist, pianist, tenor singer, professor. He belongs to a family of prestigious musicians, his aunt, Shoista Mullodzhanova, his cousins, Rosa Mullodzhanova, Shmuel, Misha, Tamara, Asya, Nina, Rena, Mira Aranbayeva, his siblings Iluysha, Duhtar, Avreh, Moshe, Alik, Sara, Lisa, Jora, Samson and Tolik, his children, Julia, Ruben, Negmat and Shoista, and his wife Tamara Yusupova are all musicians, singers and artists.

Marcos Mundstock Finkelstein, known as Marcos Mundstock (Santa Fe, Argentina, 25/5/1942 – Buenos Aires, Argentina, 22/4/2020)
Artist, broadcaster, musician, writer, comedian, member of "Les Luthiers".

Carlos Núñez Cortés (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 15/10/1942)
Artist, pianist, composer, playwright, instrument designer, comedian, member of "Les Luthiers".

Daniel Abraham Halevy Rabinovich Aratuz, known as Daniel Rabinovich (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 18/11/1943 – 21/8/2015)
Artist, jurist, musician, writer, comedian, member of "Les Luthiers".

Paul Michael Glaser (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 25/3/1943)
Actor, director, better known as "Detective David Starsky" on television series.

Robbie Robertson, born Jaime Royal Klegerman (Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 5/5/1943)
Musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist. He is Jewish and Mohawk.

Randy Newman , born Randall Stuart Newman (Los Angeles, California, 28/11/1943)
Musician, film score composer, singer, songwriter.

Herbert Pagani , born Herbert Avraham Haggiag Pagani (Tripoli, Italian Libya, 25/4/1944 – Palm Springs, California, 16/8/1988)
Musician, artist.

Carly Simon, born Carly Elisabeth Simon (New York City, 25/6/1945)
Musician, singer, songwriter, author.

Bette Midler (Honolulu, Hawaii, 1/12/1945)
Singer, actress.

Itzhak Perlman (Tel Aviv, Israel, 31/8/1945)
Classical musician, violin virtuoso, conductor.

Carlos Alberto Daniel López Puccio, known as Carlos López Puccio (Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, 25/5/1942)
Artist, multi-instrumentalist musician, orchestral and choral conductor, composer, member of "Les Luthiers".

Peter Green, born Peter Allen Greenbaum (Bethnal Green, London, England, 29/10/1946)
Musician, guitarist, founder of the rock band Fleetwood Mac.

Steven Allan Spielberg (Cincinnati, Ohio, 18/12/1946)
Film director, producer, one of the most important professionals in the film industry.

Pinchas Zukerman (Tel Aviv, Israel, 16/7/1948)
Violinist, director of orchestras in the United States and Canada. His daughters Arianna and Natalia are singers.

Dorrit Moussaieff (Jerusalem, Israel, 12/2/1950)
Editor, designer, First Lady of Iceland.

Kenny G, stage name of Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (Seattle, Washington, 5/6/1956)
Saxophonist.

Stephanie Zimbalist (New York City, 8/10/1956)
Actress. Her grandparents were the violinist Efrem Zimbalist and soprano singer Alma Gluck.

Ofra Haza, born Batsheva Ofra Haza (Tel Aviv, Israel, 19/11/1957 – Tel HaShomer, Israel, 23/2/2000)
Singer, songwriter, artist, the first Israeli singer who achieved success worldwide. She was of Teymanim Jewish origin and sang in Hebrew, Aramaic, Yemenite Arabic, besides English and other Western languages.

Susanna Lee Hoffs (Los Angeles, California, 17/1/1959)
Pop singer, guitarist.

Lucy Kaplansky (Illinois, 1960)
Folk musician, singer, songwriter, PhD in clinical psychology from Yeshiva University. She is the daughter of the mathematician Irving Kaplansky.

Paula Julie Abdul, known as Paula Abdul (Los Angeles, California, 19/6/1962)
Pop singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, of Syrian Jewish origin.

Melissa Ellen Gilbert (Los Angeles, California, 8/5/1964)
Actress, film producer, writer.

Jorge Drexler, born Jorge Abner Drexler Prada (Montevideo, Uruguay, 21/9/1964)
Musician, singer, songwriter. Best Song Academy Award winner, he was the first Uruguayan to receive an Oscar.

Debra Lynn Messing (Brooklyn, New York, 15/6/1968)
Actress, married to the Jewish actor and screenwriter Daniel Zelman.

Ester Zach, known as Ishtar (Kiryat Atta, Israel, 10/11/1968)
Singer, IDF pilot, she was the female voice of the Gypsy group Alabina, then she continued her career as soloist. She is of Egyptian Jewish and Maghrebi Jewish origin. Very successful in the Arab world.

Jakob Luke Dylan (New York City, 9/12/1969)
Singer, songwriter, he is son of Bob Dylan.

Nourith Sibony (Be'er Sheva, Israel, 29/8/1971)
Singer, actress, of Yemenite Jewish origin. She performs in Hebrew and French.

Yasmin Levy (Bakaa, Jerusalem, Israel, 23/12/1975)
Singer, musician, outstanding performer of Ladino and Gypsy songs.

Noa Tohar Tishby (Tel-Aviv, Israel, 22/5/1977)
Singer, actress, model, producer, political activist.

Idan Raichel (Kfar Saba, Israel, 12/9/1977)
Singer, songwriter, keyboardist, musician.

Yael Naďm (Paris, France, 6/2/1978)
Singer, songwriter.

Sarit Hadad, born Sara Hodedtov (Hadera, Israel, 20/9/1978)
Singer, musician.

Shiri Appleby (Los Angeles, California, 7/12/1978)
Actress.

Vanessa Lee Carlton (Milford, Pennsylvania, 16/8/1980)
Pianist, singer, songwriter.

Shiri Maimon (Haifa, Israel, 17/5/1981)
Singer, actress.

Shlomit Levi (Kiryat Ekron, Israel)
Singer, vocalist of the Israeli rock band Orphaned Land and soloist. She is of Yemenite Jewish origin.

Natalie Portman, born Natalie Hershlag (Jerusalem, Israel, 9/6/1981)
Actress.

Milena Markovna Kunis, known as Mila Kunis (Kiev, Ukraine, 14/6/1983)
Actress.

Ninet Tayeb (Kiryat Gat, Israel, 21/10/1983)
Singer, actress.

Michelle Christine Trachtenberg (New York City, 11/10/1985)
Actress.

Liel Kolet (Kibbutz Kineret, Israel, 11/7/1989)
Singer.

 

Chess

Chess is another of the scientific contributions as it is considered a science beyond its ludic feature that was introduced in Europe by the Arabs. Actually, similar strategy games composed by figures moving over a tiled board (such as senet) were played in ancient Egypt, long before the existence of Arabs. However, chess as we know it today is the development of a game that was imported from India by Persians that the Arabs brought to the Mediterranean Basin. They called it shatranj, and it was the direct ancestor of modern chess. Then, it was in Italy where most of the modern rules were applied, making the game more interesting.

Arab Chess Players

The ancient category that may be regarded as equivalent to present grandmaster was called "aliyat". Among the players considered in this rank, the best known ones were Arabs, or anyway belonged to the Arabic realm, although they may have not been ethnic Arabs:

    Jabir al-Kufi (9th century CE).
     Rabrab (9th century CE).
    Abu'n-Na'am (9th century CE).
    Abdalghaffar al-Ansari (9th century CE).
    Al-Adli (800-870) - in his time he was the only player in aliyat category - authored "Kitab ash-shatranj" ('Book of chess') and Kitab an-nard - he was Anatolian, not Arab.
    Ar-Razi     - authored "Latif fi'sh-shatranj" ('Elegance in chess').
    Abu-Bakr ben-Yahya as-Suli     (880-946) - authored "Kitab ash-shatranj" - he is still regarded the best Arab player in history.
    Abul Faraj ibn-Obaidallah al-Lajlaj     - authored "Kitab mansubat ash-shatranj" ('Book of chess problems').
    Aliqlidisi - authored "Kitab majmu'fi mansubat ash-shatranj" ('Book of collection of chess problems').

In modern times, Arabs are no longer among the greatest players in the international realm.

    Yasser Seirawan (Damascus, Syria, 1960) - the highest ranked Arab chess player - World Junior Champion 1979 - United States Champion 1981, 1986, 1989, 2000 (all shared) - Grandmaster.
    Although Yasser Seirawan is Syrian, he developed his chess career in the West. He is English on his mother's side, and grew-up in England.
     Jennifer Shahade (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 31/12/1980) - United States Women's Champion 2001/2002, 2004 - Woman Grandmaster.
    She is daughter to Lebanese and Jewish parents, therefore, she is to be listed in both groups, Arab and Jewish Chess Players.

 

Jewish Chess Players

Since the moment in which an official Chess World Championship was established, not any Arab has won the title. The first World Champion was defined between two Jews: Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Germany) and Wilhelm Steinitz (Austria-Hungary). The following table shows the list of World Champions – Jewish Champions on highlighted background:

Name

B/D Years

Country *

World Championship Reign

Wilhelm Steinitz

1834 - 1900

Austria-Hungary (Bohemia)

1866-1878 / 1886-1894

Johannes Hermann Zukertort

1842 - 1888

Russia (Poland) - Germany

1878 - 1886

Emanuel Lasker

1868 - 1941

Germany (Prussia)

1894 - 1921

José Raúl Capablanca

1888 - 1942

Cuba

1921 - 1927

Alexandr Alexandrovich Alekhine

1892 - 1946

USSR (Russia) - France

1927-1935 / 1937-1946

Machgielis Euwe

1901 - 1981

Netherlands

1935 - 1937

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik

1911 - 1995

USSR (Russia)

1948-1957 / 1958-1960 / 1961-1963

Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov

1921 - 2010

USSR (Russia)

1957 - 1958

Mikhail Nehemyevich Tal

1936 - 1993

USSR (Latvia)

1960 - 1961

Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian

1929 - 1984

USSR (Georgia/Armenia)

1963 - 1969

Boris Vasilyevich Spassky

1937

USSR (Russia)

1969 - 1972

Robert James Fischer (Nemenyi) **

1943 - 2007

United States

1972 - 1975

Anatoly Evgenyevich Karpov

1951

USSR/Russia

1975-1985 (FIDE: 1993-1999)

Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Weinstein)

1963

USSR/Russia (Azerbaidjan/Armenia)

1985-1993 (PCA: 1993-2000)

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik **

1975

Russia

2000 - 2007

Viswanathan Anand

1969

India

2007 - 2013

Magnus Carlsen

1990

Norway

2013

    * Note about countries: Since the European map has changed throughout the 20th century, the birth country is mentioned first, followed by acquired nationality. In the case of Garry Kasparov, he was born in Soviet Azerbaidjan, but after the dismemberment of the USSR he remained as Russian citizen. Concerning extinct countries, nationality is specified between brackets. In the case of Tigran Petrosian, he was born in Soviet Georgia but actually was ethnic Armenian, and Garry Kasparov, he was born in Soviet Azerbaidjan, but Armenian/Jewish by ethnicity. Kasparov's birth name was Garrik Kimovich Weinstein; he took his mother's family name, Kasparian, then russified into Kasparov.
    ** Vladimir Kramnik, although not recognized as Jewish himself, his family belongs to Russian Jewish background and some members had settled in Israel.
    ** Robert Fischer, being born to Jewish parents, has renounced his origins due to mental insanity of which he was affected, therefore, according to his own wish, he cannot be listed as Jewish.

With certainty, at least 7 out of 17 Chess World Champions are Jewish, while Jewish ancestry may extend this number to 9 out of 17. Between 1993 and 2006, there was not an official undisputed World Champion; in this period, the "Classical" ones, recognized by the Professional Chess Association, were Garry Kasparov (1993-2000) and Vladimir Kramnik (2000-2006). The FIDE changed the traditional rules and for the same period the title was held by Anatoly Karpov (1993-1999), Alexander Khalifman (Russia, 1999-2000), Viswanathan Anand (2000-2002), Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine, 2002-2004), Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan, 2004-2005) and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 2005-2006).

Besides the World Championship, there are also many National Champions and Grandmasters of several countries who are Jewish. The following list shows prominent Jewish chess players worldwide, ordered by country and birth year.

    ARGENTINA:

      Isaías Pléci (1900-1980) - Argentine Champion 1929, 1930 - International Master in 1965.
      Paulino Frydman (Warsaw, 1905 - Buenos Aires, 1982) - International Master in 1955.
      Jirí Pelikán (Bohemia, 1906 - Argentina, 1984) - International Master in 1965.
      Viktor Winz (Germany, 1906)
      Jacobo Bolbochán (1906-1984) - Argentine Champion 1931, 1932 - International Master in 1965.
      Aarón Schwartzman (1908) - Champion from 1931 to 1948, then retired from official chess competition and became physician.
      Miguel (Mendel) Najdorf (Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland, 1910 - Málaga, Spain, 1997) Argentine Champion 1949, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1960, 1964, 1967, 1975 - ranked 2nd in the world in 1948 - Grandmaster.
      Franz Benk (Berlin, 1910) - has participated in the Argentine Championship until 2004, being 94 years old.
      Julio Bolbochán (1920-1996) - Argentine Champion 1946, 1948 - International Master in 1955, International Grandmaster in 1977.
      Alberto Foguelman (1923) - International Master in 1963.
      Bernardo Wexler (Bucharest, Romania, 1925 - Argentina, 1992) - Argentine Champion 1959 - International Master in 1959.
      Samuel Schweber (1936) - International Master in 1961.
      Julio Kaplan (1950) - Puerto Rico Champion, 1967 - World Junior Chess Champion, 1967 - International Master in 1967.
      Ariel Sorin (1967) - Argentine Champion 2000, 2004 - International Master in 1989, Grandmaster in 1995.
      Hugo Spangenberg (1975) - Argentine Champion 1993 - Grandmaster.
      Rubén Felgaer (1981) - Argentine Champion 2001 - Panamerican Junior Champion, in 2000, 2001 - Grandmaster in 2002.
      Gastón Needleman (1990) - a chess prodigy.

    ARMENIA:

      Genrikh Moiseyevich Kasparyan (Tbilisi, Georgia, 1910 - Yerevan, Armenia, 1995) - the first official Armenian Champion, and the only to have won this title ten times, 1934, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956.
      Garrik Kimovich Weinstein-Kasparyan, then Garry Kasparov (Baku, Azerbaidjan, 1963) - Soviet Union Champion 1981, 1988 - the youngest World Champion, at 22 years of age. He kept the title for 15 years (1985-2000), although FIDE recognized it until 1993, then he remained as "Classical Champion", according to the PCA, until 2000. Then he was Russian Champion in 2004. He holds the highest ELO rating in history.
      Levon Grigori Aronian (Yerevan, Armenia, 1982) - winner of the Chess World Cup 2005. Rated the fourth highest player in history (2014). World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009, and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. Grandmaster.

    AUSTRIA:

      Philipp Meitner (1838 - 1910) - was among the best chess players of his time. His daughter was the scientist-physicist Lise Meitner.
      Leopold Löwy, Sr. (1840) and Leopold Löwy, Jr. (1871) - were renowned chess players in the 19th century.
      Jacques Schwarz (1856 - 1921)
      Siegfried Reginald Wolf (Praha, Bohemia, 1867 - Haifa, Israel, 1951) - Austrian Champion 1925.
      Heinrich Wolf (1875 - 1943) - was among the best chess players of his time - perished in the Shoah.
      Julius Perlis (Bialystok, 1880 - Ennstal. 1913) - Austrian Champion 1901.
      Rudolf Spielmann (Vienna, 1883 - Stockholm, 1942) - Nordic Champion 1919 - German Champion 1927 - the only chess player to have both an even score and to have won more than one game against the great José Raúl Capablanca (2 wins, 2 loses, 8 draws).
      Ernst Franz Grünfeld       (Vienna, 1893 - 1962) - German Champion 1923 - International Grandmaster in 1950.
       Johann Joseph Kmoch (1894 - 1973) - International Master in 1950 - International Arbiter in 1951.
      David Podhorzer - German Champion 1934.
      Ernest Ludwig Klein (1910 - 1990) - British Champion 1951.
      Andreas Dückstein (Budapest, 1927) - Austrian Champion 1954, 1956, 1977 - International Master in 1956.

      Women:

      Salome Reischer (1899 - 1980) - Austrian Women's Champion 1950, 1952, 1954 - Woman International Master in 1952.

    AZERBAIDJAN:

      Emil Sutovsky (Baku, 1977) - World Junior Champion 1996 - European Champion 2001 - Grandmaster.
      Teymur Radjabov (Baku, 1987) - International Grandmaster in 2001.

      Women:

      Tatiana Yakovlevna Zatulovskaya (Baku, 1935) - Soviet Union Women's Champion 1960, 1962, 1963 - Senior Women's World Champion 1993 - International Master in 1961 - Woman Grandmaster in 1976.

    BELARUS':

      Dawid Markelowicz Janowski (Volkovysk, 1868 - Hyres, France, 1927) - German Champion 1902.
      Benjamin Blumenfeld (Volkovysk, 1884 - Moscow, 1947) - was among the best chess players of his time.
      Konstantin Alekseyevich Vygodchikov (1892 - 1941) - Belarus' Champion in 1926, shared 1st place with Abram Model and Vladislav Silich in 1928.
      Léon Monosson (1892 - Auschwitz, 1943) - perished in the Shoah.
      Abraham Kupchik (1892 - 1970)
      Semyon Abramovich Furman (1920 - 1978) - Grandmaster in 1966, he was the coach of World Champion Anatoly Karpov.
      Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky (Mahilyow, 1934 - 1995) - Russian Champion 1961 - Soviet Union Champion 1967, 1968/69 - International Grandmaster.
      Mikhail Semyonovich Tseitlin (Babruysk, 1947) - International Master in 1977, Grandmaster in 1987.
      Evgeny Agrest (Vitebsk, 1966) - Swedish Champion 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004 - Nordic Champion 2001, 2003, 2005 - Grandmaster in 1977.
      Ilya Yulievich Smirin (1968) - Belarus' Champion 1987 - Soviet Union Champion 1987, 1989 - Israel Champion 1992, 2002 - Grandmaster.
      Boris Abramovich Gelfand (1968) - Belarus' Champion 1984, 1985 - Soviet Union Junior Champion 1985 - European Junior Champion 1989 - Grandmaster, 1989.
      Viktor Mikhalevski (Gomel, 1972) - Israel Champion U-20 1991, 1992 - Grandmaster in 1996.
      Yury Shulman (Minsk, 1975) - Belarus' Champion 1994, 1998 - United States Champion 2008.

    BELGIUM:

      Emmanuel Sapira (1900 - 1943) - Chess Master.
      Isaac Samuel Turover (1903 - 1979) - was a renowned Chess Master in the United States.
      George Koltanowski (Antwerp, 1903 - 2000) - Belgian Champion 1923, 1927, 1930, 1936 - establised a still standing record at Edinburgh in 1937, playing 34 simultaneous blindfolded chess games - International Master in 1950 - Grandmaster in 1988.
      Boruch Israël Dyner (Poland, 1892 - Israel, 1978) - Belgian Champion 1932, 1933, 1935.
      Arthur Dunkelblum (Kraków, 1906 1979) - played in eleven Chess Olympiads between 1928 and 1968 representing Belgium - Belgian Champion 1949 - International Master in 1957.

    BRAZIL:

      Alexandru Segal - Brazil Champion 1974, 1978.

      Women:

      Ivone Moyss - Brazil Women's Champion 1969, 1970, 1973.

    CANADA:

      Maurice Fox (Ukraine, 1898 - Canada, 1988) - Canadian Champion 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1940, 1949.
      Boris Blumin (St. Petersburg, Russia, 1907/1908 - Trenton, New Jersey, 1998) - Canadian Champion 1936, 1937 - Montral City Champion from 1933 to 1939.
      Daniel Abraham Yanofsky (Brody, Ukraine, 1925 - 2000) - Canadian Champion 1941, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1953, 1959, 1963, 1965 - he won his first Canadian Chess Championship at age 16 - International Arbiter in 1977 - Officer of the Order of Canada in 1972.
      Nathan Joseph Divinsky (Winnipeg, 1925) - Canadian Chess Master, mathematician and scientist, was married to Avril Douglas Campbell, the first female Prime Minister of Canada.

    COLOMBIA:

      Women:

      Ilse De Caro Guggenberger - Colombian Women's Champion in 1965, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984 - Woman International Master in 1977.

    CZECH:

      Ernst Karl Falkbeer (Brünn, 1819 - Vienna, 1885) - Chess Master and theorist.
      Wilhelm Steinitz (Praha, 1836 - New York, 1900) - the first official World Champion, lost the title against Emanuel Lasker.
      Berthold Englisch (Hotzenplotz/Osoblaha, 1851 - Vienna, 1897) - the first Germany Champion, 1879, 1880.
      Moritz Porges (1857 - 1909)
      Rezső Charousek (Praha, 1873 - Budapest, 1900) - had a plus record against Emanuel Lasker.
      Emil Zinner (Praha, 1873 - Majdanek, Poland, 1942) - murdered in the Shoah.

    DENMARK:

      Andreas Cristian Rosendahl (1864 - 1909) - Danish Chess Master.
      Carl Ruben (1903) - Danish Chess Master.

    ESTONIA:

      Gunnar Friedemann (1909 - 1943) - Estonian Champion 1933 - Gold medal in Buenos Aires 1939.

    FRANCE:

      Victor Kahn (Moscow, 1889 - Nice, 1971) - France Champion 1934.
      Maurice Raizman (Bendery/Tighina, Moldavia, Russian Empire, 1905 - Paris, 1974) - France Champion 1932, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1952.
      Anatoly Vaisser (Almaty, Kazakhstan, 1949) - France Champion 1997 - Grandmaster.

      Women:

      Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild - Piatigorsky (Paris, 1911) - American chess and tennis champion, artist.
      Marie Sebag (Paris, 1986) - French Women's Champion 2000, 2002 - European Youth Champion 1998 (girls u-12), 1999 (girls u-14), 2002 (girls u-16) - International Master, Woman Grandmaster in 2007.

    GEORGIA:

      Roman Yakovlevich Dzindzichashvili (Tbilisi, 1944) - Israeli Champion 1978 - United States Champion 1983, 1989 - International Master in 1970 - Grandmaster in 1977.
      Yona Kosashvili (Tbilisi, 1970) - International Grandmaster and Doctor in Medicine - Chess trainer - his wife is the International Master Zsófia Polgár.

    GERMANY:

      Elias Stein (Forbach, Alsace, 1748 - Den Haag, Netherlands, 1812) - Chess Master and author.
      Aaron Alexandre (Bayern, 1765 - London, 1850) - Chess Master and writer.
      Bernhard Horwitz (Neustrelitz, 1807 - 1885) - Chess Master and writer.
      Daniel Harrwitz (Breslau, Prussia, 1823 - Bolzano, 1884) - Chess Master.
      Jean Dufresne (1829 - 1893) - Chess Master and chess composer.
      Samuel Mieses (1841 - 1884) - Chess Master.
      Isaac Leopold Rice (Wachenheim an der Weinstraße, Bavaria, 1850 - New York City, 1915) - Chess Master and inventor.
      Arnold Schottlaender (Breslau, Prussia, 1854 - 1909) - Chess Master.
      Wilhelm Cohn (Berlin, 1859 - Charlottenburg, 1913) - Chess Master.
      Jonathan Berthold Lasker (1860 - 1928) - New York State Champion 1902 - elder brother of Emanuel Lasker.
      Siegbert Tarrasch (Breslau, Prussia, 1862 - 1934) - Chess Master and writer - German Champion 1889, 1892, 1894 - one of the best players in the world in his time - he was a physician.
      Moritz Lewitt (1863 - 1936) - Chess Master.
      Jacques Mieses (Leipzig, 1865 - London, 1954) - the first British grandmaster, 1950.
      Emanuel Lasker (Berlinchen, Prussia, 1868 - New York, 1941) - World Chess Champion during 27 years, the longest term a world championship has been kept (1894-1921), was succeeded by the great José Raúl Capablanca - he was also mathematician and philosopher.
      Paul Lipke (Erfurt, 1870 - Osterburg, 1955) - Chess Master.
      Paul Saladin Leonhardt (Posen, Prussia, 1877 - 1934) - Netherlands Champion 1903.
      Erich Cohn (Berlin, 1884 - France, 1918) - Chess Master.
      Edward Lasker (Kempen, Prussia, 1885 - 1981) - United States Open Chess Champion 1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921 - International Master.
      Wilhelm Orbach (Offenbach am Main , 1894 - Auschwitz, 1944) - German Chess Master - murdered in the Shoah.
      Jakob Adolf Seitz (Meitingen, 1898 - Switzerland, 1970) - German Chess Master.
      Joseph Platz (Köln, 1905 - Manchester, Connecticut, 1981) - German Chess Master and physician.
      Yosef Porath (Heinz Josef Förder) (Breslau, Prussia, 1909 - Ramot haShavim, Israel, 1996) - Israel Champion 1937, 1940, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963 - International Master, 1952.
      Kurt Dreyer (Bielefeld, 1909 - Johannesburg, South Africa, 1961) - South African Champion 1937, 1947.
      Wolfgang Heidenfeld (Berlin, 1911 - Ulm, 1981) - South African Champion 1939, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1959 - Ireland Champion 1958, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1972.
      Boris Franzevich Gulko (Erfurt, German DR, 1947) - Soviet Union Champion 1977 - United States Champion 1994, 1999 - the only male chess player that has won both Soviet Union and United States championship titles - also his wife Anna Akhsharumova has won both Women's championships - he has a plus record against Garry Kasparov - International Grandmaster.

    HUNGARY:

      János Jakab Löwenthal (Budapest, 1810 - Hastings, England, 1876) - British Champion 1858.
      Adolf Schwarz (Galszecs, 1836 - Vienna, 1910)
      Leopold Hoffer (1842 - 1913)
      Miksa Fleissig (Csenger, 1845) - Austrian Chess Master.
      Bernát Fleissig (1853 - 1931) - Austrian Chess Master, brother of Miksa Fleissig.
      Isidor Arthur Gunsberg (Budapest, 1854 - London, 1930) - was among the best players in the world in his time.
      József Noa (Nagybecskerek/Zrenjanin, Serbia, 1856 - Budapest 1903) - Hungarian Chess Master.
      Gyula Makovetz (Arad, 1860 - Budapest 1903) - Hungarian Chess Master.
      Samuel Lipschütz (Ungvár, 1863 - Hamburg, 1905) - United States Champion 1889-1890, 18911894.
      Leó Forgács (Leo Fleischmann) (Budapest, 1881 - Berettyóújfalu, 1930) - Hungary Champion 1907.
      Gyula Breyer (Budapest, 1893 - Bratislava, 1921) - Hungary Champion 1912.
      István Fazekas (Sátoraljaújhely , 1898 - Buckhurst Hill, England, 1967) - British Champion 1957 - International Master in 1953.
      Imre König (Gyula, 1899 - Santa Monica, California, 1992) - International Master in 1951.
      Endre Steiner (1901 - 1944) - gold medal 1927, 1928, 1936, silver medal 1930, 1937 - his brother was Lajos Steiner.
      Lajos Steiner (Nagyvárad, 1903 - Sydney, Australia, 1975) - Hungary Champion 1931, 1936 - Australian Champion 1939, 1945, 1946/47, 1952/53, 1958/59 - International Master in 1950.
      Ernő Gereben (Ernst Grünfeld) (Ödenburg/Sopron, 1907 - Switzerland, 1988) - International Master in 1950.
      Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal (Moscow, 1911) - Soviet Union Champion 1940 - he is one of the few players having an even record against José Raúl Capablanca - in 2008, he is the oldest living Grandmaster.
      László Szabó (Budapest, 1917 - 1998) - Hungary Champion 1935, 1937, 1946, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1959, 1967/8.
      László Polgár (Budapest, 1946) - Chess teacher and theorist, father of the Polgár sisters.

      Women:

      The Polgár sisters:
      Zsuzsanna Polgár (Budapest, 1969) - Women's World Champion 1996-1999 - at age 15, she was ranked the best female chess player in the world- she was the first woman to become Grandmaster in regular competition, in 1991.
      Zsófia Polgár (Budapest, 1974) - International Master - Woman Grandmaster - in 1989 she achieved the strongest performance ever recorded by a 14-year-old person - her husband is the Georgian-Israeli Grandmaster Yona Kosashvili.
      Judit Polgár (Budapest, 1976) - considered the best female chessplayer in history - Hungary Champion in 1991, she became Grandmaster at the age of 15 - she is the only woman ranked among the Top 100 Players in the world, and has also been among the Top Ten.

    ITALY:

      Davide Marotti (Naples, 1881 - 1940) - the first Italian Champion, 1921.

    KAZAKHSTAN:

      Boris Leonidovich Avrukh (Karaganda, 1978) - World Youth Champion (u-12) 1990 - Israeli Champion 2000.

    LATVIA:

      Carl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz (1876) - Latvian Champion in 1899.
      Aron Niemzowitsch / Arons Nimcovics (Livonia, Russian Empire, 1886 - Copenhagen, 1935) - Russian Champion in 1914 - was considered the third best player in the world, after José Raúl Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine.
      Hermanis Matisons (1894 - 1932) - the first Latvian Champion, 1924.
      Abram Model (Daugavpils, 1896 - Leningrad, 1976) - Belarus' Champion in 1928, shared with Konstantin Vygodchikov and Vladislav Silich.
      Victor Buerger (1904 - 1996) - was among the best placed Masters in the British championship.
      Movsas Feigins (Daugavpils, 1908 - Buenos Aires, 1950) - Latvian Champion in 1932.
      Aleksandrs Koblencs (1916 - 1993) - Latvian Champion 1941, 1945, 1946, 1949 - International Master, coach of World Champion Mikhail Tal.
      Mikhail Tal / Mihails Tals (1936 - 1992) - Latvian Champion 1953, 1965 - Soviet Union Champion 1957, 1958, 1967, 1972, 1974, 1978 - World Champion 1960-1961 - Grandmaster.
      Israel Zilber - Latvian Champion in 1958.
      Lev Gutman (1945) - Latvian Champion in 1972 - Grandmaster, 1986.
      Daniels Fridmans - Latvian Champion in 1996.

      Women:

      Paulette Schwartzmann (1910) - France Women's Champion 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1938 - Argentine Women's Champion 1948, 1953.
      Nava Sterenberg Starr (1949) - Canadian Women's Champion 1978, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1995, 2001 - Woman International Master.

    LITHUANIA:

      Semyon Zinovievich Alapin (Vilnius, 1856 - 1923) - was one of the strongest players in Russia in the late 19th century.
      Abram Isaakovich Rabinowicz (Vilnius, 1878 - Moscow, 1943) - Moscow City Champion, 1926, 1930.
      Shlomo Rozental (Vilnius, 1890 - Minsk, 1955) - was the first Belarus' Champion, 1924, 1925.
      Aleksandras Machtas (1892 - 1973) - Lithuanian Champion, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932.
      Morris Abraham Schapiro (1903 - 1996) - an important benefactor of Columbia University, he was a renowned Chess Master in the United States in the first half of the 20th century.
      Isakas Vistaneckis / Itzhak Vistinietzki (1910 - 2000) - Lithuanian Champion, 1930, 1935, 1941, 1954, 1956 - 1st Baltic Champion, 1931.
      Eduardas Rozentalis (1963) - Lithuanian Champion, 1981, 1983, 2002.

    MOLDAVIA:

      Abraham Baratz (1895 - Paris, 1975) - Moldavian-French Chess Master.
      Gregory Koshnitsky (Kishinev, 1907 - Australia, 1999) - Australian Champion 1933, 1939 - International Master in 1972.

    NETHERLANDS:

      Daniels Polak - Dutch Champion 1877.
      Levi Benima (1837 - 1922) - Dutch Champion 1881, 1883.
      Abraham Speijer (Amsterdam, 1873 - 1956) - Dutch Champion 1909.
      Jan Fredericus Samuel Esser (Leiden, 1877 - Illinois, 1946) - Dutch Champion 1913.
      Max Marchand (Amsterdam, 1888 - Baarn, 1957) - Dutch Champion 1919.
      Jacques Davidson (1890 - 1961) - Chess Master, among the strongest Dutch players of his time after Max Euwe.
      Danil Stellwagen (1987) - Dutch Junior Champion (u-12) 1999 - Grandmaster in 2004, being 18 years old is the youngest Dutch player in history having achieved such title.

    POLAND:

      Samuel Rosenthal (Suwalki, Poland, 1837 - Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1902) - France Champion 1880.
      Szymon Abramowicz Winawer (Warsaw, 1838 - 1920) - Champion at Vienna tournament 1882, a sort of world championship - German Champion 1883.
      Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Lublin, 1842 - London, 1888) - one of the two strongest Chess Masters in the world, was "de facto" World Champion during the period 1878-1886, until the 1886 World Chess Championship match against Wilhelm Steinitz defined officially the title.
      Jan Taubenhaus (Warsaw, 1850 - Paris, 1919) - Polish Chess Master.
      Maximilian Judkiewicz (Max Judd) (Tenczynek, 1851 - St. Louis, 1906) - United States Champion 1890-1892 - United States Open Champion 1903 - was also the United States Consul General to Austria-Hungary.
      Salomon Langleben (1862 - 1939) - Polish Chess Master.
      Gersz Salwe (Warsaw, 1862 - Ldz, 1920) - Russian Champion 1906.
      Stanislaus Sittenfeld (1865 - 1902) - Polish Chess Master.
      Alexander Davidovich Flamberg (Warsaw, 1880 - 1926) - Polish Chess Master.
      Dawid Przepirka (Warsaw, 1880 - 1940) - Polish Champion 1926 - murdered in the Shoah.
      Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (Stawiski, 1882 - Antwerp, Belgium, 1961) - Russian Champion 1907, 1909, 1912 - German Champion 1912 - Austrian Champion 1922 - Grandmaster.
      Samuel Faktor (Ldz, 1883 - Illinois, 1949) - United States Open Champion 1922, 1930 - he was nephew of the famous cosmetics entrepreneur Max Factor.
      Dawid Daniuszewski (1885 - 1944) - Polish Chess Master.
      Leon Schwarzman (Warsaw, 1887 - Auschwitz, 1942) - Paris Champion 1926 - murdered in the Shoah.
      Arnold Aurbach (Warsaw, 1888 - 1952) - Polish Chess Master.
      Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (Piotrkw, 1889 - Moscow, 1961) - Soviet Union Champion 1934/35, 1937 - International Grandmaster in 1950.
      Gersz Rotlevy (1889 - 1920) - Polish Chess Master.
      Stanislaw Kohn (1895 - 1940) - Warsaw Champion 1925, 1927.
      Jakub Kolski (Ldz, 1900 - Moscow, 1941) - Polish Chess Master.
      Abram Blass (1900) - Polish Chess Master, Olympic gold medal.
      Rafal Feinmesser - Polish Chess Master.
      Leon Kremer (1901 - 1940) - Warsaw Champion 1929.
      Menachem Oren (Mieczyslaw Chwojnik) (Ruzhany, 1902 - Tel Aviv, 1962) - Israeli Champion 1951.
      Samuel Landau (Bochnia, 1903 - Grodziszcze/Gräditz, 1943) - Netherlands Champion 1931, 1936 - murdered in the Shoah.
      Henryk Friedman (1903 - 1942) - Polish Chess Master - murdered in the Shoah.
      Aryeh Lev Mohiliver (Bialystok, 1904) - Polish-Israeli Chess Master.
      Achilles Frydman (Lódz, 1905 - 1940) - Polish Chess Master - murdered in the Shoah.
      Izaak Appel (Lódz, 1905 - 1941) - Polish Chess Master - murdered in the Shoah.
      Arthur Dunkelblum (Kraków, Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1906 - 1979) - Belgium Champion 1949 - International Master in 1957.
      Henryk Pogoriely (Warsaw, 1908 - 1943) - Polish Chess Master and gold medal - murdered in the Shoah.
      Meir Rauch (1909) - Polish-Argentine Chess Master.
      Moshe Czerniak (Warsaw, 1910 - Tel Aviv, 1984) - Israeli Champion 1936, 1938, 1955, 1974 - Jerusalem Champion 1939 - Buenos Aires Champion 1944, 1948 - International Grandmaster in 1952.
      Samuel Reshevsky (Ozorków, Russian Empire, 1911 - New York, 1992) - United States Champion 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1957, 1969 - International Grandmaster in 1950.
      Eduard Gerstenfeld (Lvov, Ukraine, 1915 - 1943) - Polish Chess Master - murdered in the Shoah.
      Izaak Grynfeld (Lódz, 1920) - Polish Chess Master.
      Gedali Shapiro (Siedlce, 1929 - Reshon LeTzion, Israel, 1972) - Polish-Israeli Chess Master.
      Jerzy Lewi (Wroclaw, 1949 - Lund, Sweden, 1972) - Polish Junior Champion 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969.
      Yehuda Grünfeld (Dzierzoniów, 1956) - Israeli Champion 1982, 1990 - International Master in 1978 - International Grandmaster in 1980.

      Women:

      Róza Maria Herman (1902 - 1995) - Polish Women's Champion 1949, 1950 - Woman International Master in 1950.

    ROMANIA:

      Sig Herland (1865 - 1954) - Chess Master.
      Gabriel Schwartzman (Bucharest, 1976) - United States Open Champion 1996 - International Master in 1991 - International Grandmaster in 1993.

    RUSSIA:

      Emanuel Stepanovich Schiffers (St. Petersburg, 1850 - 1904) - Russian Champion 1870-1880.
      Charles Jaffé (Dubrovna, Russian Empire 1879 - New York, 1941) - was among the best chess players in the early 20th century.
      Savery Grigoryevich Tartakower (Rostov-na-Donu, 1887 - Paris, 1956) - Poland Champion 1935, 1937 - France Champion 1953 - International Grandmaster in 1950.
      Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich (Sankt Petersburg, 1891 - Perm, 1942) - Soviet Union Champion 1934/35.
      Samuil Osipovich Vainshtein (Weinstein) (1894 - 1942) - Chess Master, publisher, polyglot.
      Vitaly Chekhover (1908 - 1965) - Uzbekistan Champion 1944 - International Master in 1950 - International Judge of Chess Compositions in 1956 - International Master of Chess Compositions in 1961 .
      Ilya Abramovich Kan (1909 - 1978) - International Master in 1950.
      Yosef Dobkin (1909) - Russian Israeli Chess Master.
      Sergey Belavenets (Smolensk, 1910 - 1942) - Russian Champion 1934.
      Mikhail Mikhailovich Yudovich (Roslavl, 1911 - 1987) - Soviet Union Correspondence Champion 1966 - International Master in 1950 - International Master of Correspondence Chess in 1961 - Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess in 1973.
      Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (Kuokkala, Grand Duchy of Finland [Repino, Russia], 1911 - Moscow, 1995) - Soviet Union Champion 1931, 1933, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1952 - World Champion 1948-1957, 1958-1960, 1961-1963 - International Grandmaster.
      Lev Solomonovich Aronin (Kuibyshev, 1920 - Moscow, 1983) - Soviet Union Champion 1952 - International Master in 1950, although his performances were those of a Grandmaster.
      Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Moscow, 1921 - Moscow, 2010) - Soviet Union Junior Champion 1938 - Soviet Union Champion 1949, 1955 - World Champion 1957-1958 - he holds the record in chess history with 17 Chess Olympiad medals won, and ten gold medals in European Team Championships - Grandmaster.
      Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Kaluga, 1922) - Soviet Union Champion 1954 - International Master in 1950 - Grandmaster in 1952 - International Arbiter in 1969.
      Yakov Borisovich Estrin (Moscow, 1923 - Moscow, 1987) - Soviet Union Correspondence Chess Champion 1962 - Correspondence Chess World Champion 1972-1976 - International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster in 1966.
      Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich (Rostov-na-Donu, 1923 - New York, 2005) - Canadian Open Chess Champion 1975 - Grandmaster in 1965.
      Viktor Lvovich Korchnoy (Leningrad, 1931 - Wohlen, Switzerland, 2016) - Soviet Union Champion 1960, 1962, 1964/65, 1970 - European Champion - World Senior Champion 2006 - International Master in 1954 - Grandmaster in 1956.
      Anatoly Yakovlevich Lein (Leningrad, 1931) - Russian Champion 1963, 1966 - New Jersey State Champion 1992-1995 - International Master in 1964 - Grandmaster in 1968.
      Vladimir Mikhailovich Liberzon (Moscow, 1937) - Israeli Champion 1974 - Grandmaster.
      Boris Markovich Kogan (1940 - 1993) - Soviet Union Junior Champion 1956, 1957 - International Master in 1981.
      Yakov Murey (Moscow, 1941) - European Senior Champion 2001 - International Master of Correspondence Chess in 1970 - International Master in 1980 - Grandmaster in 1987.
      Gennady Borisovich Sosonko (Troitsk, 1943) - Netherlands Champion 1973, 1978 - International Master in 1974 - Grandmaster in 1976.
      Mark Danilovich Tseitlin (Leningrad, 1943) - Leningrad Champion 1970, 1975, 1976, 1978 - International Master in 1978 - Grandmaster in 1997.
      Albert Zinovievich Kapengut (Kazan, 1944) - Belarus' Champion 1962, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1976, 1977, 1978 - International Master.
      Lev Osipovich Alburt (Orenburg, 1945) - Ukraine Champion 1972, 1973, 1974 - United States Champion 1984, 1985, 1990 - International Master in 1976 - Grandmaster in 1977.
      Mark Izrailovich Dvoretsky (Moscow, 1947) - Moscow Champion 1973 - chess trainer, coached among other the World Champions Kasparov, Anand, Topalov and Junior World Champions - International Master in 1975.
      Dmitry Gurevich (Moscow, 1956) - Ukraine Champion 1972, 1973, 1974 - United States Open Champion 1988, 1994 - Grandmaster in 1983.
      Lev Borisovich Psakhis (Krasnoyarsk, 1958) - Russian Champion 1977 - Soviet Union Champion 1980, 1981 - Israeli Champion 1997, 1999 - International Master in 1980 - International Grandmaster in 1982.
      Leonid Grigoryevich Yudasin (Leningrad, 1959) - Soviet Union Champion 1990 - Israeli Champion 1994, 1996 - International Master in 1982 - International Grandmaster in 1983.
      Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (Leningrad, 1966) - Soviet Union Youth Champion 1982 - Soviet Union Champion 1984 - Russian Champion 1996 - FIDE World Champion 1999-2000 - Grandmaster.
      Maxim Dlugy (Moscow, 1966) - World Junior Champion 1985 - International Master in 1982 - Grandmaster in 1986 .
      Vadim Milov (1972) - Israeli Grandmaster.
      Peter Svidler (Leningrad, 1976) - Russian Champion 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003 - Grandmaster in 1994.
      Michael Roiz (1983) - International Master in 1999 - Grandmaster in 2003.
      Mark Bluvshtein (Yaroslavl, 1988) - Canadian Youth Champion 2001 (boys u-14), 2005 (boys u-18) - the youngest Canadian International Master, 2001 - the youngest Canadian International Grandmaster, 2004.
      Maxim Rodshtein (Leningrad, 1989) - World Youth Champion (u-16) 2004 - Israeli Champion 2006.
      Ian Aleksandrovich Nepomniachtchi (Leningrad, 1989) - Russian Champion 2010.

      Women:

      Larisa Ilinichna Volpert (Bryansk, 1990) - Soviet Union Women's Champion 1954, 1958, 1959 - Woman International Master in 1954 - Woman Grandmaster in 1977.
      Lyudmila Sergeyevna Belavenets (Moscow, 1940) - Women's World Champion in Correspondence Chess - International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster - Woman International Master - she is Sergey Belavenets' daughter.
      Alla Shulimovna Kushnir (Moscow, 1941) - Soviet Union Women's Champion 1970 - Woman International Master in 1962 - Woman Grandmaster in 1976.
      Ljuba Danielovna Kristol (Leningrad, 1944) - International Correspondence Chess Women's World Champion 1978-1984, 1993-1998 - International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
      Irina Solomonovna Levitina (Leningrad, 1954) - Soviet Union Women's Champion 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981 - United States Women's Champion 1991, 1992, 1993 - Woman International Master in 1972 - Woman Grandmaster in 1976 - She is also a bridge world champion.
      Anna Markovna Akhsharumova (Moscow, 1957) - Soviet Union Women's Champion 1976, 1984 - United States Women's Champion 1987, achieved a 9-0 score - her husband is Boris Gulko, who is, like her, both Soviet Union and United States Champion - Woman International Master in 1977 - Woman Grandmaster.
      Yelena Dembo (Penza, 1983) - Hungary Women's Champion 2003 - Woman Grandmaster in 2000 - International Master in 2002.

    SERBIA / YUGOSLAVIA:

      Borislav Kostić (Vrac, 1887 - Belgrade, 1963) - Romanian Champion 1932 - Yugoslav Champion 1935, 1938 - Grandmaster in 1950.
      Vladimir Vuković (Zagreb, 1898 - 1975) - International Master in 1951 - International Arbiter in 1952.

    SLOVAKIA:

      Ignác Kolisch (Bratislava, 1837 - Vienna, 1889) - International Champion in England, 1860.
      Miksa Weiss (Sered, 1857 - Vienna, 1927) - was mong the best players by the end of the 19th century.
      Richard Réti (Pezinok, 1889 - Praha, 1929) - Argentine Champion 1924 - Czechoslovakian Champion 1925.
      Sándor Tyroler (Garamszentkereszt, 1891 - Budapest, 1973) - Romanian Champion 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929.
      Herman Steiner (Dunajsk Streda, 1905 - 1955) - United States Champion 1948 - New York State Champion 1929 - California State Champion 1945, 1953, 1954.

    UKRAINE:

      Nikolai Jasnogrodsky (Lubny, 1859 - New York, 1914) - New York State Champion 1896.
      Oscar Chajes (Brody, 1873 - New York, 1928) - New York State Champion 1917.
      Louis Eisenberg (Odessa, 1876) - American Chess Master.
      Mojzesz Lowtzky (1881 - 1940) - murdered in the Shoah.
      Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (Zhytomir, 1882 - French Pyrenees, 1962) - International Grandmaster in 1950.
      Pavel List (Odessa, 1887 - 1954) - England Champion 1940.
      Boris Markovich Verlinsky (Bakhmut, 1888 - Moscow, 1950) - Ukraine Champion 1926 - Moscow City Champion 1928 - Soviet Union Champion 1929 - the first Soviet Grandmaster - International Master in 1950 - he was deaf mute.
      Alexander Evensohn (1892 - 1919)
      Yakov Vilner (Korets, 1899 - Warsaw, 1941) - murdered in the Shoah.
      Izaak Towbin (Odessa, 1899 - Leningrad, 1931) - Ukraine Champion 1924, 1925, 1928.
      Vitaly Halberstadt (Odessa, 1903 - Paris, 1967) - chess endgame study composer.
      Yitzchak Aloni (Izak Schächter) (Buchach, 1905 - Israel, 1985) - Israeli Champion 1945, 1961, 1965.
      Iosif Benediktovich Pogrebyssky (Uman, 1906 - Leningrad 1971) - Ukraine Champion 1936.
      Abram Davidovich Zamikhovsky (1908 - 1978) - Ukraine Champion 1931.
      Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (Horodenka, 1908 - Moscow, 1983) - Czechoslovakian Champion 1933, 1936 - Ukraine Champion 1957 - International Grandmaster.
      Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky (Zhytomir, 1910 - Moscow, 1990) - International Master - Grandmaster in 1983.
      Abram Leonidovich Khavin (Kiev, 1914 - 1974) - Ukraine Champion 1954.
      Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky (Zolotonosha, 1919 - Minsk, 1977) - Ukraine Champion 1938, 1939, 1940 - Belarus' Champion 1952, 1964 - International Grandmaster in 1950.
      Isaak Oskarovich Lipnitsky (Kiev, 1923 - 1959) - Ukraine Champion 1949, 1956.
      David Ionovich Bronstein (Bila Tserkva, 1924 - 2006) - Soviet Union Champion 1948, 1949 - Grandmaster.
      Efim Petrovich Geller (1925 - 1998) - Ukraine Champion 1950, 1957, 1958, 1959 - Soviet Union Champion 1955, 1979 - World Seniors' Champion 1991, 1992 - International Master in 1951 - International Grandmaster in 1952.
      Mark Evgenyevich Taimanov (Kharkov, 1925) - Russian Champion 1960 - Soviet Union Champion 1956 - International Grandmaster in 1952 - he is also a pianist.
      Leonid Zakharovich Stein (Kamyanets-Podilsky, 1934 - 1973) - Soviet Union Champion 1963, 1965, 1966 - has even record against World Champions Vassily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian and Mikhail Botvinnik, and plus records against Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky - Grandmaster in 1961.
      Ernest Levonovich Pogosyants (Chuhuiv, 1935) - composer of chess problems and endgame studies.
      Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld (Kiev, 1936 - Los Angeles, 2002) - Ukraine Junior Champion 1953 - International Master in 1964 - International Grandmaster in 1967.
      Lev Isaakovich Aptekar (Kiev, 1936)
      Roman Shlemovich Pelts (Odessa, 1937) - founded the first Canadian chess school in 1979.
      Semon Aleksandrovich Palatnik (Odessa, 1950) - International Master in 1977 - Grandmaster in 1978.
      Konstantin Zaivelevich Lerner (Odessa, 1950) - Ukraine Champion 1978, 1982 - Grandmaster in 1986.
      Iosif Davidovich Dorfman (Zhytomir, 1952) - Soviet Union Champion 1977 - France Champion 1998 - International Master in 1977 - Grandmaster in 1978.
      Alexander Genrikhovich Belyavsky (Lviv, 1953) - World Junior Champion 1973 - Soviet Union Champion 1974, 1980/81, 1987, 1990 - Grandmaster.
      Vladimir Pavlovich Malanyuk (Arkhangelsk, 1957) - Ukraine Champion 1980, 1981, 1986.
      Mikhail Naumovich Gurevich (Kharkov, 1959) - Ukraine Champion 1984 - Soviet Union Champion 1985 - Belgium Champion 2001 - Turkey Champion 2006 - International Master in 1985 - International Grandmaster in 1986.
      Gregory Kaidanov (Berdichev, 1959) - World Open Champion 1992 - International Grandmaster in 1988.
      Alexander Huzman (1962) - Grandmaster.
      Boris Alterman (Kharkov, 1970) - International Master in 1991 - Grandmaster in 1992.
      Vitali Golod (1971) - Ukraine Champion 1991 - Grandmaster.
      Ilya Gurevich (1972) - World Junior Champion 1990 - International Master - Grandmaster.
      Artur Kogan (Chernivtsi, 1974) - Grandmaster in 1998.

    UNITED KINGDOM:

      Edward Löwe (1794 - 1880) - English Chess Master.
      Victor Lionel Wahltuch (Manchester, 1875 - London, 1953) - English Chess Master.
      Harry Golombek (1911 - 1995) - British Champion 1947, 1949, 1955 - International Master in 1950 - Honorary Grandmaster in 1985 - Arbiter - awarded with the Order of the British Empire.
      David Neil Lawrence Levy (London, 1945) - Scottish Champion 1968 - International Master.
      William Roland Hartston (London, 1947) - British Champion 1973, 1975 - International Master in 1972.
      Jonathan Simon Speelman (1956) - British Champion 1978, 1985, 1986 - Grandmaster.
      Andrew Jonathan Mestel (Cambridge, 1957) - British Champion 1976, 1983, 1988 - International Grandmaster in 1982 - he is Leon Mestel's son.
      David Simon Charles Goodman (1958) - World Youth Champion 1975 - International Master in 1983.

    UNITED STATES:

      Eugene Delmar (New York, 1841 - 1909) - New York State Champion 1890, 1891, 1895, 1897.
      Leon Stolzenberg (1895 - 1974) - Michigan State Champion - United States Open Champion 1926, 1928.
      Irving Chernev (Russia, 1900 - California, 1981) - Chess Master and writer.
      Alexander Kevitz (New York, 1902) - one of the strongest American Chess Masters of his time.
      Isaac Kashdan (New York, 1905 - Los Angeles, 1985) - United States Open Champion 1938, 1947 - he has the best Olympiad record in history of American chess players, with nine medals - Grandmaster in 1954 - International Arbiter in 1960.
      Israel Albert Horowitz (New York, 1907 - 1973) - United States Open Champion 1936, 1938, 1943 - International Master.
      Fred Reinfeld (New York, 1910 - East Meadow, New York, 1964) - New York State Champion 1933.
      Herbert Avram (New York, 1913 - 2006) - Virginia State Champion 1952, 1953, 1954 - Maryland State Champion 1955, 1979.
      Arnold Sheldon Denker (New York, 1914 - Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2005) - United States Champion 1944-1946 - International Master in 1950 - Grandmaster in 1981.
      Reuben Fine (New York, 1914 - 1993) - United States Open Champion 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941 - he was among the world's Top Ten best players during some years - International Grandmaster.
      Albert Simonson (New York, 1914 - San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1965) - was one of the strongest American chess players of his time.
      David Polland (1915) - New York State Champion 1937
      Arthur Bernard Bisguier (New York, 1929) - United States Junior Champion 1948, 1949 - United States Open Champion 1950, 1956, 1959 - United States Champion 1954 - International Grandmaster.
      Larry Melvyn Evans (New York, 1932) - United States Open Champion 1951, 1952, 1954 - Canada Open Champion 1956, 1966 - United States Champion 1951, 1952, 1961/62, 1968 - International Master in 1952 - Grandmaster in 1957.
      Arthur William Feuerstein (1935) - the first United States Armed Forces Champion.
      Dan Heisman (Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, 1950) - National Master.
      Kenneth Saul Rogoff (Rochester, New York, 1953) - New York State Open Champion 1967 - United States Youth Champion (u-21) 1969 - International Master in 1974 - International Grandmaster in 1978.
      Jeremy Silman (1954) - United States Open Champion - International Master.
      Michael Rohde (1959) - New York State Champion - United States Open Champion 1991 - Grandmaster in 1988.
      David Penkalski (1962) - Wisconsin State Champion 1991 - Senior Master.
      Joel Benjamin (New York, 1964) - United States Junior Champion 1980, 1982 - United States Open Champion 1985 - Canada Open Champion 2000 - United States Champion 1987, 1997, 2000 - Grandmaster in 1986.
      Alon Greenfeld (New York, 1964) - Israeli Champion 1984 - International Master in 1983 - Grandmaster in 1989.
      Joshua Waitzkin (New York, 1976) - United States Junior Champion 1993, 1994 - International Master in 1993.
      Daniel Naroditsky (San Mateo, California, 1995) - World Youth Champion (u-12) 2007 - considered a chess prodigy.

      Women:

      Gisela Kahn Gresser (Detroit, Michigan, 1906 - 2000) - United States Open Women's Champion 1954 - United States Women's Champion 1944, 1948, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969 - Woman International Master in 1950.
      Mona May Ratner Karff (Bessarabia, Russian Empire, 1912 - 1998) - United States Women's Champion 1938, 1941, 1943, 1946, 1948, 1953, 1974 - Woman International Master in 1950.
      Jennifer Shahade (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 31/12/1980) - Being daughter to Lebanese and Jewish parents, she has been listed under Arab Chess Players.
      Irina Krush (Odessa, Ukraine, 1983) - United States Women's Champion 1998, 2007 - being 14 years old in 1998, she is the youngest United States Women's Champion ever. - International Master - Woman Grandmaster.
      Eva Aronson - United States Women's Champion 1972.
      Diane Savereide - United States Women's Champion 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984.
      Inna Izrailov - United States Women's Champion 1986.
      Esther Epstein - United States Women's Champion 1991, 1997.
      Sharon Burtman - United States Women's Champion 1995.
      Elina Groberman - United States Women's Champion 2000.

    URUGUAY:

      Arturo Isaac Liebstein - Uruguayan Champion 1940, 1942, 1943.

    UZBEKISTAN:

      Gregory Serper (Tashkent, 1969) - World Open Champion 1999.


Chess was introduced in the West by the Arabs. Yet, in modern times, the most excellent players worldwide are Jewish.
The city of Be'er Sheva, Israel, has the highest percentage in the world of Chess International Grandmasters per capita.

 

Back:

Jewish & Arab Personalities in History
Jewish & Arab Personalities in Modern Times
Jewish & Arab Achievements
Nobel Prizes

Part I: Israel and the Arab World

 

 

All human beings are equal. There is no superior people.
The difference is between education and superstition, between reason and fanaticism,
between freedom and slavery...