List of French Jews

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Jews have lived in France since Roman times, with a rich and complex history. In the Middle Ages, French kings expelled most of the original Askhenazi Jewish population to Germany. Since the French Revolution (and Emancipation), Jews have been able to contribute to all aspects of French culture and society. Moreover, the Cremieux decree gave in 1870 the full French citizenship to Jews, mostly Sephardi Jews, living in Maghreb under French colonization. During World War II, a significant number of Jews living in Metropolitan France perished in the Holocaust, deported to Nazi death camps by the French Vichy government. After 1945, France served as a haven for Askhenazi refugees, then after the independence of Morocco, Tunisia and the end of Algerian War, an influx of immigration of Sephardi Jews saw the Jewish population triple to around 600,000, making it the largest Jewish community in Western Europe. Behind the United States and Israel, France ranks 3rd by Jewish population. In 2008, the Jewish Agency evaluated the Jewish population in France to be 488,000,[1] not mentioning French citizens with only one Jewish parent or grandparent.

The following is a list of some prominent Jews and people of Jewish origins,[2] among others, (not all of them practice, or practiced, the Jewish religion) who were born in, or are very strongly associated with, France. The French nationality law itself, strongly secular, forbides any statistics or lists based on ethnic membership.[3]

Contents

Historical figures

Activists

Clergymen

Military

Nobles

Philanthropists

Politicians

Journalists

Academic figures

Scientists

Social scientists

Cultural figures

Artists

Film and stage

Musicians

Writers and poets

Business figures

Sport figures

Other

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ The Jewish Agency Assessment 2008
  2. ^ As a particular counter-example, current French President Nicolas Sarkozy had a Jewish grandfather, is officially Catholic and is not part of this list.
  3. ^ (French)Décision n° 2007-557 DC du 15 novembre 2007 Conseil Constitutionnel, 2007-11-15
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "he was of Portuguese Jewish descent"
  7. ^ Impressionists and politics: art and democracy in the nineteenth century By Philip G. Nord
  8. ^ L'expulsion des Juifs de Provence et de l'Europe méditerranéenne, Danièle Iancu, Université Paul Valéry
  9. ^ Béatrice Ephrussi de Rothschild: creator and collector
  10. ^ www.thepeerage.com/p29842.htm
  11. ^ Titled outsiders. Jewish nobility in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, Huibert Schijf1
  12. ^ thepeerage.com/p19551.htm
  13. ^ Official website of Guy Birenbaum
  14. ^ fr:Télévision française juive
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ Liberation, Voix expresse, 04/22/2008 Nicolas Demorand, «juif culturel»
  17. ^ "Comme deux frères" (in French). http://www.evene.fr/livres/livre/axel-et-jean-francois-kahn-comme-deux-freres-18280.php. Retrieved 2007-10-29.  Book summary published on evene.fr
  18. ^ Libération, Robert Namias, 52 ans, directeur de l'information. 12/20/1996
  19. ^ [4] Article Juifs d'abord, journalistes et animateurs, ensuite ?, 05/28/2009
  20. ^ [5]
  21. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed: "He was born in Berlin of Jewish parents. He studied at Bonn and Giessen, but settled in Paris, becoming naturalized there"
  22. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, 2nd ed., art. "Aftalion, Albert"
  23. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "the only child of prosperous Jewish parents"
  24. ^ "Motion Pictures". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Keter Publishing House. 1971-1972. 
  25. ^ "Jean-Pierre Aumont ... returned to fight for his country despite the danger to him as a Jew". Jewish Chronicle. 2001-02-16. pp. 31. 
  26. ^ Merav Yudilovitch: French director Claude Miller to visit Israel, in Ynetnews, 01.29.2008 (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3500333,00.html)
  27. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed., art. "Blowitz, Henri
  28. ^ "A Bag of Marbles" - Joseph Joffo
  29. ^ (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215)
  30. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "His grandfather Jacob had established the family as one of the first Jewish families to acquire great wealth and social acceptability in Bavaria ... His mother came from an Orthodox Frankfurt family and ensured that the children were properly instructed in Jewish matters ... he moved to Paris ... He was a well-known and ubiquitous member of the smart set in Paris"
  31. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, art. "Lazard"
  32. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, art. "Pereire, Emile and Isaac"
  33. ^ Beverley Smith, Dan Diamond (1997). A Year in Figure Skating. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0771027559. http://books.google.com/books?id=X5WAzo00SGgC&q=jewish+%22sarah+abitbol%22&dq=jewish+%22sarah+abitbol%22&hl=en&ei=WfosTLjuGMK88gbsie2RDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
  34. ^ Spunder, Or (January 24, 2008). "הקשר ג'ונתן אסוס מועמד למכבי ת"א" (in Hebrew). One.co.il. http://www.one.co.il/Article/109149.html. Retrieved January 28, 2008. "קשרה היהודי/צרפתי של ראים מהליגה ה-2 בצרפת עשוי להגיע להתרשמות במכבי." 
  35. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, art. "Chess"
  36. ^ Stephane Haccoun. Boxrec Boxing Encyclopaedia. June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
  37. ^ Jewish Boxers: Pedro Montañez, Barney Ross, Abe Attell. Amazon. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
  38. ^ "דיווחים בצרפת: מכבי ת"א מעוניינת ברודי חדד" (in Hebrew). One.co.il. July 7, 2007. http://www.one.co.il/cat/articles/article.aspx?id=94947&bz=8. Retrieved July 7, 2007. "האם הקשר היהודי, רודי חדד, בדרך למכבי תל-אביב?" 
  39. ^ Jewish Chronicle, November 30, 1962 p.1
  40. ^ Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish Sports History. KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 1602800138. http://books.google.com/books?id=aOTWUl-9LQoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved May 25, 2010. 
  41. ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, art. "Wildenstein"