Famous Ukrainian Jews

FEBRUARY 10TH 2025

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Many famous people are of Ukrainian Jewish descent, including politicians, artists, and scientists. 

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‍Sholem Aleichem, born Sholem Rabinovitz in 1859 in Pereyaslav, Ukraine, is considered one of the most beloved Yiddish writers of all time. His short stories about Tevye the Dairyman inspired the hit musical and film Fiddler on the Roof.

‍Oksana Baiul, a figure skater, born in 1977 in Dnipro, Ukraine, became the first athlete representing independent Ukraine to win a gold medal at the Olympics, in 1994. While Baiul was raised Orthodox Christian, she discovered and embraced her maternal Jewish ancestry when she was 25 years old and has served as a trustee for a Jewish orphanage in Odessa for many years.

Hayim Nahman Biyalik, born near Volhynia, Ukraine, in 1873, is a pioneer of modern Hebrew poetry and one of several Ukrainian Jews who heavily influenced Israeli literature and culture. Biyalik is often referred to as Israel’s national poet.

‍Vladimir Horowitz, one of the greatest pianists of all time, was born in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1903. He moved to Berlin and then New York City as a young man. After winning dozens of Grammy Awards Horowitz earned the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.

Lenny Krayzelburg, a swimmer born and raised in Odessa, represented Team USA at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. The gold medalist and his family left Ukraine and settled in Los Angeles when he was 14 years old.

‍Jan Koum, born Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1976, immigrated to California with his mother as a teenager. After working for several years in cybersecurity and programming, Koum invented the messaging application WhatsApp in 2009. WhatsApp has billions of users worldwide and was acquired by Facebook’s Meta Platforms for $19.3 billion in 2014.

Mila Kunis, born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, in 1983, fled the country with her family when she was seven years old, ultimately settling in Los Angeles. Kunis ascended to fame by starring in That 70’s Show and has had major roles in dozens of shows and films since then.

Golda Meir served as prime minister of Israel 1969-1974, she was born in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in 1898. Meir moved with her family to the United States in 1906, and then immigrated to Israel with her husband in 1921. Meir was the fourth woman in the world to serve as a head of state. 

Rav Nachman, also known as Nachman from Uman or Reb Nachman, was born in Medzhybizh, Ukraine, in 1772. A grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, Rav Nachman founded the Breslov Hasidic movement, which combined elements of mysticism with Torah writings. Rav Nachman’s grave in Uman is a pilgrimage site that receives tens of thousands of visitors each year.

‍Natan Sharansky, born in Donetsk, Ukraine in 1948, is one of the most famous refuseniks who advocated for Soviet Jewry’s right to emigrate during the 1970s and 1980s. Sharansky was imprisoned for his activism, and after being released, he immigrated to Israel and entered the world of politics. Sharansky was awarded the Israel Prize in 2018.

Baal Shem Tov, born Israel ben Eliezer in 1698 in Okopy, Ukraine, was the founder of Hasidic Judaism. Baal Shem Tov literally means “Master of the Good Name.”

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known to many as just “the Rebbe,” was the last Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. While Rabbi Schneerson led the Chabad movement from its Brooklyn headquarters, he was born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine in 1902.

Isaac Stern, born in Kremenets’, Ukraine, in 1920, moved to San Francisco with his family when he was just 14 months old. A violinist and conductor, Stern performed both nationally and internationally, touring the Soviet Union and China, and performing extensively in Israel. Stern was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and six Grammy Awards, and was named to the French Legion of Honour. ‍

‍Simon Wiesenthal, born in Buchach, Ukraine, in 1908, was a Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to tracking down and bringing to justice fugitive Nazi war criminals. In 1947, he co-founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Centre in Austria, dedicated to gathering information for future war crime trials and aiding Jewish refugees in their search for lost relatives.

‍Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi founded the Chabad movement in the town of Liozna, which is now part of Ukraine. Known as the "Old Rebbe” or the “Alter Rebbe," Rabbi Zalman is buried in Haditch, a city in central Ukraine. Jews travel to Haditch to pray at the gravesite of the Alter Rebbe.

Volodymyr Zelensky, born in Kryvhi Rih in 1978, Volodymyr Zelensky was raised in the area that was once known as the Pale of Settlement, the only region in the Russian Empire where most Jews were permitted to live. Zelensky became famous in Ukraine as an actor and comedian, in 2019 he was elected as the sixth (and current) President of Ukraine.

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Photos:

Oksana Baiul:

By невідомо - https://dprda.dp.gov.ua/novini-ta-podiyi/novini/oksana-bayul-persha-olimpijska-chempionka-nezalezhnoyi-ukrayini, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154217023

Jan Koum:

By afromusing - https://www.flickr.com/photos/afropicmusing/8654684871/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97564487

Mila Kunis:

By ColliderVideo - Vimeo: Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon on Hosting ‘SNL’ and the Art of Getting Your Ass Kicked On-Screen (view archived source), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81260889

Golda Meir:

By Willem van de Poll - Nationaal Archief Nummer toegang 2.24.14.02 Bestanddeelnummer 255-4314, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=141703070

Menachem Mendel Schneerson:

By Reb mendel - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118566281

Natan Sharansky:

By Ram Mendel - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77914758

Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

By President.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158563300

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