THE 30 MOST FAMOUS AND IMPORTANT JEWS IN HISTORY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The famous Jews not only belong to the film industry in the United States, also top the list of scientists, religious, writers, artists, businessmen, journalists and other influential people around the world.

Throughout history the sciences, arts and religion have been represented by famous Jews, such as Jesus Christ, Moses, Albert Einstein, Camille Pissarro, Anne Frank, Marcel Marceau, Noam Chomsky, Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson, among others.

Below we present a list of the most relevant Jewish characters that have been part of our history and we explain what their contribution has been to the development of humanity.

Famous Jews throughout history

-C

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

He was a Jewish German and one of the most important characters of the 20th century, especially for his theory of relativity. He was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Sigmund Freud (1885-1939)

Freud is considered one of the most important intellectual figures of the 20th century. He was an Austrian-Czech doctor of Jewish origin and is called the father of psychoanalysis.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)

He is known as the father of the atomic bomb. He was an American Jew and the first theoretical physicist in his country.

Jonas Edward Salk (1914-1995)

He was born in the United States. He is recognized throughout the world for having been the epidemiologist who developed the first vaccine against polio.

-Writers and artists

Karl Marx

Philosopher, economist, journalist, intellectual and communist militant, Marx was the one who forever changed the social sciences with his analyzes of capitalism and surplus value.

In addition, he is considered the father of modern communism, historical materialism and scientific socialism. Convinced that the revolution was the way to overcome the crises of capitalism, his main work was El Capital, published in 1867.

Annelies Marie Frank (1929-1945)

She was known worldwide for the book Diary of Anne Frank, in which she describes how she lived in hiding with her family for two and a half years in Amsterdam during World War II.

She was finally discovered in 1944 and was taken with her family to a concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen. There she died, in 1945.

N

One of the great writers of the 20th century, he is considered along with Truman Capote as the creator of literary journalism.

The American author was in charge of the biography of Marilyn Monroe and Lee Harvey Oswald (the assassin of John F. Kennedy), and won the Pulitzer Prize for his work The Executioner's Song.

Frida Kahlo

One of the most important artists in history, she was born in Mexico into a Jewish family. Noted for her surreal self-portraits. She was married to Diego Rivera and was the lover of León Trotsky.

Amedeo

Italian painter and sculptor, he became famous for his nude faces and portraits with elongated faces, which marked his style. He died at the age of 35 of tuberculosis before his work began to be valued.

-Politicians

Lion

Revolutionary leader who gained worldwide fame for his thinking. In addition, his importance in the Russian Revolution is central and he was also the founder of the Fourth International, one of the most important communist groups in history.

Exiled by his confrontation with Stalin, he was assassinated in Mexico in 1940. His History of the Russian Revolution is his most outstanding work.

Shimon peres

This Israeli politician presided over the country between 2007 and 2014 after more than 50 years of career fighting for the interests of his nation and for peace.

In 1994 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his agreement with the Arab countries, signed in Oslo a year earlier. She passed away in 2016.

Ariel Sharón (1928-2014)

Important Israeli military and politician. In 1948 he was the first commander of the Israel Defense Forces and between 2001 and 2006 he served as Prime Minister of Israel.

Elliott Abrams (1948)

Lawyer and political analyst in the United States who served in foreign policy positions in the presidential terms of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

He is currently in charge of the US to "restore democracy in Venezuela", after Washington recognized Juan Guaidó as president in charge of that country, instead of Nicolás Maduro.

-R

Jesus Christ (0 AD - 32 AD)

He is known on the planet as Jesus of Nazareth. He was born in Bethlehem and became a Jewish preacher; however, over the years he became a prophet of Christianity.

Moses

Venerated as a prophet, legislator and spiritual leader, he is one of the central figures of Judaism and on him is based much of the religion, being considered the first prophet.

Sacred beliefs place him as the one in charge of leading the exodus to the Promised Land, freeing the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

-Philosophers

Baruch spinoza

He was one of the main philosophers of the seventeenth century, Ethics being his masterpiece. Rationalist, metaphysical and critical, in 1656 he was excommunicated from the Jewish community for his heterodoxy on the concept of God.

-Cinemakers, actors and musicians

Woody Allen

One of the most prolific directors in history and one of the most acclaimed. In love with New York City, where he was born and lives, in addition to cinema, his other passion is the clarinet.

Stanley Kubrick

Film director, screenwriter, producer, and photographer, Kubrick is one of the most influential film characters of the 20th century. 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange are two of his most memorable works. He died in 1999.

William Oliver Stone (1946)

Acclaimed screenwriter, director and film producer from the United States. His first hit was The Midnight Express, which earned him an Oscar.

In all its facets Stone has achieved recognition for his impeccable work. In his career, hits such as Conan, the Barbarian, Wall Street, Born on July 4, Turn to Hell, Any Given Sunday and The Corruptor have been added.

Kate Garry Hudson (1979)

American actress, daughter of actress Goldie Hawn. Her most memorable films include Almost Famous, How to Lose a Boy in 10 Days, and Girlfriend War.

Alecia Beth Moore (1979)

Composer and singer of the pop, rock and R&B genre. She was born in the United States and is known worldwide as Pink. In 2000 she released her first album, Can't take me home.

Some of her record hits include: M! Ssundaztood, Dead, The truth about love, and Beautiful trauma.

Harrison ford

Beyond the jokes he makes about religion (he always says he's a Democrat), he was born into a Jewish family. Known for his role as Han Solo in Star Wars and for being the protagonist of Indiana Jones, he acted in almost a hundred films but was never nominated for the Oscars.

In addition to his passion for acting, Ford is committed to environmental causes, collaborates with archaeological research, and enjoys piloting its airplanes.

William shatner

Actor and musician, he participated in a hundred television and film productions but will always be remembered for his role as Captain James T. Kirk on the Star Trek series.

Gwyneth paltrow

Her role in Shakespeare In Love earned her an Oscar for best actress and there her career exploded. She was the girlfriend of Brad Pitt and was married to Chris Martin, the singer Coldplay.

Natalie Portman

Actress, director and producer, her role in The Black Swan earned her an Oscar for Best Actress. Polyglot and vegan, she is Jewish but does not profess religion.

Paul newman

One of the most elegant men in cinema, he won an Oscar, was a racing driver and had an outstanding career as a philanthropist. In addition, he was the representative of the United Nations against disarmament.

Jerry seinfeld

This American comedian became world famous for the series that bears his surname, in which he humorously tells all kinds of daily events.

His fame led him to star in numerous roles in film and television, but he also shared scenes with Barack Obama.

Bob dylan

Rebellious and rebellious, committed to social causes, his poetry always had an important tone of protest. Reluctant to share details of his private life, he was awarded multiple awards for his musical and poetic activity. He has 12 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer, among other accolades.

Barbra Streisand

An artist in all her expression, Streisand is an actress, singer, producer, songwriter, and film director. She began her career in music and quickly moved on to acting, where she won two Oscars.

Billy Joel

He revolutionized rock and pop with his song Piano Man, and from there he had a marathon musical career being the winner of six Grammy Awards, until his retirement in 1993, tired of the ways of the music industry.

-Others

Steve Ballmer

This businessman became world famous for being the CEO of Microsoft between 2008 and 2014. He is one of the 50 richest people in the world and is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers franchise in the NBA.

Calvin klein

He is one of the most important fashion designers in the world. He founded his company in 1968 thanks to a small loan from a friend and since then he has dazzled fashionistas.

Levi strauss

He was the inventor of the jeans or jean, a garment that revolutionized clothing in 1872. His company, Levis, is still in force as one of the main informal clothing companies.

Famous Jewish Holocaust survivors

-Musicians

Alice Herz-Sommer (1903 - 2014)

Known by the name Alice Sommer, she served as a pianist, was also a music teacher and a survivor of the Theresienstadt concentration camp.

Alice Herz survived the Holocaust thanks to her musical talent on the piano, since she accompanied the Nazis in the Theresienstadt camp with her music.

Herz was the oldest survivor: she lived to be 110 years old.

-Researchers

Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005)

He was an architect and researcher who dedicated himself to the search for the Nazis after surviving five concentration camps during World War II.

He was known as "the Nazi fighter" and made several finds from German officials who had been in power during the Holocaust. It is known that Wiesenthal participated in the investigation to find the person responsible for the arrest of Anne Frank, the Gestapo worker Karl Silberbauer.

From 1947 to 1954 Simon Wiesenthal was in charge of the Jewish Documentation Center in Linz, and in 1977 he founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

-Writers

Cousin levi

He was an Italian writer, Sephardic Jew, and Auschwitz survivor. After the end of the Second World War, he dedicated himself to writing books, among which are those where he describes testimonies, stories and novels about what was lived during the darkest period of humanity.

Among his literary successes are If this is a man, The truce and The sunk and the saved.

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

Romanian-born American writer. After surviving the Holocaust, he dedicated his life to writing about concentration camps.

His most important publications addressing the Jewish Holocaust include La noche, El alba and El día.

Imre Kertész (1929 - 2016)

Survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. He became a Hungarian writer and winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Literature.

He was recognized for his most notable work, called Without Destiny; This is considered one of the most important works of the 20th century and tells the story of the young Imre Kertész in the Nazi concentration camps.

-Film arts

Rajmund Roman Thierry Polański (1933)

He was born in Paris, France. His successful career in the film industry has led him to establish himself as a director, producer, actor and screenwriter of great importance today.

In his childhood he lived in Poland with his parents until the arrival of the Nazis, when they were forced to leave him with a Catholic family to save his life while they were taken to a concentration camp.

After the end of the Second World War, Polański was reunited alone with his father, since his mother had died in Auschwitz.

Marcel marceau

French mime and actor, he will always be remembered for his character Bip. His career began because of his great admiration for Charles Chaplin.

He had to hide his Jewish origin to escape the Nazis and during World War II he rescued more than a hundred children from the Holocaust.

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