List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa
There are a number of Black African groups that practice Judaism, the most prominent of which are the Beta Israel of Ethiopia. However, the vast majority of Jews in Sub-Saharan Africa live in South Africa, and are of Ashkenazi (largely Lithuanian) origin. Small post-colonial communities exist elsewhere. Here is a list of some prominent Sub-Saharan African Jews, arranged by country of origin.
Cameroon
DR Congo
Ethiopia
Mozambique
- Albie Sachs, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa)
- Ruth First, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa)
South Africa
Politicians and activists
- Hilda Bernstein, anti-apartheid activist
- Lionel Bernstein, anti-apartheid activist
- Harry Bloom, anti-apartheid activist
- Jules Browde, barrister, jusrist and anti-apartheid activist. Law school classmate of Nelson Mandela.
- Selma Browde, physician, anti-apartheid activist, former Councilwoman - Johanessburg City Council, AIDS activist.
- Arthur Chaskalson, chief justice
- Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (South African-born)
- Bernard Friedman, anti-apartheid MP
- Richard Goldstone, judge and international war crimes prosecutor
- Joel Joffe, human rights activist
- Ronnie Kasrils, current South African Intelligence Minister
- Tony Leon, previous opposition leader
- Joe Slovo, ANC activist and leader of the South African Communist Party
- Harry Schwarz, anti-apartheid politician, lawyer and diplomat
- Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid MP
- Harold Hanson, QC and strong supporter of civil liberties
- Robin Philip Cranko, Lawyer, Anti Aphartheid activist
- Helen Zille, Mayor of Cape Town, Leader of the Opposition Party
- Other Jewish ANC activists included Ruth First, Albie Sachs and five of the six whites arrested in the Rivonia Trial: Denis Goldberg, Lionel Bernstein, Arthur Goldreich, James Kantor, Harold Wolpe and Gaby Shapiro.
Academics
- Abraham Manie Adelstein, UK Chief Medical Statistician [1]
- Selig Percy Amoils, Inventor & Surgeon [2]
- Moses Blackman, crystallographer
- Sydney Brenner, biologist, Nobel Prize (2002)
- Leo Camron, educationalist
- Sydney Cohen, pathologist (Jewish Year Book, 2005, p214, 230)
- Meyer Fortes, anthropologist
- Max Gluckman, anthropologist
- Aaron Klug, chemist, Nobel Prize (1982)
- Ludwig Lachmann, economist[3]
- Arnold Lazarus, psychologist
- Roland Levinsky,[4] biologist
- Stanley Mandelstam, physicist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
- Shula Marks, historian (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215)
- Frank Nabarro, physicist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
- Seymour Papert, Artificial Intelligence pioneer
- Peter Sarnak, mathematician
- Isaac Schapera, anthropologist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215)
- Anthony Segal, biochemist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
- Phillip V. Tobias, palaeoanthropologist
- Joseph Wolpe, psychotherapist
- Lewis Wolpert, developmental biologist
- Basil Yamey, economist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215,315)
- Solly Zuckerman, UK zoologist
Cultural figures
- Lionel Abrahams, poet
- Jillian Becker, writer
- Dani Behr, TV presenter
- Harry Bloom, writer & anti-apartheid activist (father (non-biological) of Orlando Bloom)
- Lisa Chait, radio presenter
- Johnny Clegg, World Beat musician
- John Cranko, choreographer
- Graeme Friedman, writer
- David Goldblatt, photographer
- Nadine Gordimer, writer, Nobel Prize (1991)
- Laurence Harvey, actor
- Ronald Harwood, playwright
- Manu Herbstein, writer
- Dan Jacobson, writer
- Sid James, comic actor
- Danny K, pop singer
- William Kentridge, artist
- Lennie Lee, artist
- Laurence Lerner, poet
- Manfred Mann (Manfred Lubowitz), R&B keyboardist
- Sarah Millin, writer
- Trevor Rabin, guitarist & film composer
- Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), political cartoonist
- Anthony Sher, stage actor
- Janet Suzman, stage actress
Business and professional figures
- Raymond Ackerman, supermarket tycoon
- Barney Barnato, diamond magnate [1]
- Alfred Beit, diamond magnate
- Donald Gordon, founder of insurance company Liberty Life, shopping centre owner & philanthropist
- Sydney Jacobson, newspaper editor [5]
- Solomon Joel, financier [6]
- Sol Kerzner, hotel & casino owner
- Sammy Marks, early entrepreneur from Pretoria
- Ernest & Harry Oppenheimer, diamond tycoons & philanthropists (Harry converted to Christianity)
- Percy Yutar, South Africa's first Jewish attorney-general and prosecutor of Nelson Mandela in the 1963 Rivonia Treason Trial.[7]
Sports figures
- Ali & Adam Bacher, cricketers
- Leo Camron, rugby union player and cricketer.
- Okey Geffin, rugby union player
- Ilana Kloss, tennis player
- Peter Lindenberg, powerboat racer (uconfirmed)
- Sarah Poewe, swimmer
- Philip Rabinowitz (runner), 100-year-old sprinter
- Jody Scheckter, Formula 1 driver
- Shaun Tomson, surfer
- Mandy Yachad, cricketer
Rugby union
Zambia
Zimbabwe
See also
References