List of Oceanian Jews

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The vast majority of Jews in Oceania (c. 120,000) live in Australia, with a small population (c. 5,000) in New Zealand. Most are Ashkenazi Jews, with many being survivors of the Holocaust arriving during and after World War II. More recently, a significant number of Jews have arrived from South Africa and Russia. The official number of people who practised Judaism in the 2001 census was only 83,459 but this number is expected to be much higher, as it did not count those overseas (i.e. dual Australian-Israeli nationals) or many non-practicing Jews who prefer not to disclose religion in the census are more common. The vast majority of Australia's Jews live in inner suburbs of Melbourne (particularly St Kilda, Elwood, Elsternwick, Caulfield and Toorak) and Sydney (Bondi, Dover Heights, Rose Bay, Vaucluse, St Ives and Hunters Hill) with smaller populations in Perth and the Gold Coast. In New Zealand, most Jews live in Auckland and Wellington with smaller populations in Dunedin and Christchurch. Dunedin Synagogue has possibly the world's southernmost Jewish congregation.^[1]

The following is a list of prominent Oceanian Jews, arranged by country of origin.

Australia

Academic figures

• Roy Clive Abraham, linguist^[2]
• Samuel Alexander, philosopher
• Neal Ashkanasy, psychologist and emotional intelligence academic
• Sir Otto Frankel, geneticist^[3]
• Bryan Gaensler, astronomer and former Young Australian of the Year
• Joseph Jacobs, historian & folklorist^[4]
• Kurt Mahler, mathematician
• Robert Manne, academic & social critic
• Bernhard Neumann, mathematician
• Gustav Nossal, immunologist (Jewish father)
• Peter Singer, philosopher
• Julius Stone, distinguished legal theorist, professor of jurisprudence and international law^[5]

Business figures

• Sir Peter Abeles, former chairman of Ansett
• Rodney Adler, CEO of HIH Insurance, convicted criminal
• Albert Bensimon, Adelaide jeweller and businessman
• Noel Biderman, CEO of Avid Entertainment and owner of Ashley Madison
• John Gandel & Marc Besen, founder/owners of Chadstone Shopping Centre and Sussan fashion chain
• Joseph Gutnick, mining magnate & ex-President of Melbourne F.C.
• Poppy King, cosmetist
• Frank Lowy, founder of The Westfield Group
• Sidney Myer, founder of Myer department store & philanthropist
• Leon & Richard Pratt, founder/owners of Visy Industries
• Rene Rivkin, stockbroker and convicted insider trader
• Abe Saffron, nightclub owner, underworld figure
• Joe Saragossi founder G James Australia leading glass and window manufacturers with over 2500 employees.
• John Saunders, co-founder of The Westfield Group^[6][7]
• Sidney Sinclair, men's fashion label founder
• Smorgon family, founder/owners of Smorgon Steel and other businesses
• Harry Triguboff, property developer, Meriton Apartments

Cultural figures

• Arthur Benjamin, composer
• Jimmy Barnes, singer, raised Protestant and is Buddhist,has some Jewish ancestry on mother's side
• Steve Bedwell, comedian/broadcaster
• Danny Ben-Moshe, writer
• Rachel Berger, comedian
• Lily Brett, writer
• Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize–winning writer^[8]
• Saskia Burmeister, actress
• Judy Cassab, painter
• Deborah Conway, singer/songwriter
• Ed Doolan, Australian-born British broadcaster
• Jack Feldstein, scriptwriter/neon animator
• Luke Ford, Los Angeles gossip columnist, journalist, moral leader (converted)
• FourPlay Electric String Quartet (3/4 Jewish)
• Amelia Frid, former child actress
• Renée Geyer, soul singer
• Alan Gold, author
• Libby Gorr, comedian
• David Helfgott, pianist
• David Hirschfelder, film composer
• Elena Kats-Chernin, composer
• Danny Katz, writer/comedian
• Barrie Kosky, creative director
• Ben Lee, singer/songwriter
• Jack Levi, aka Elliot Goblet
• Lior, singer/songwriter
• David Malouf, writer (Jewish mother)
• Miriam Margolyes, actress
• Bill Meyer, artist
• Margaret Michaelis-Sachs, photographer
• Isaac Nathan, Australia's first composer
• Helmut Newton, photographer
• Elliot Perlman, writer
• John Safran, comedian/documentarian
• Harry Seidler, architect
• Austen Tayshus, comedian
• Simon Tedeschi, pianist
• Roy Rene, music hall, theatrical and radio comedian
• Yidcore's Members (Bram, Myki, Tim and Rory), Jewish Punk Band, from Melbourne, Australia

Political figures

• Maurice Ashkanasy, Vice-chairman of Victorian Bar Council and member of Australian Labor party
• Peter Baume, Liberal cabinet minister, chancellor of the Australian National University
• Joe Berinson, Member of Federal Parliament, Minister in Whitlam's third Cabinet, State Upper house member, State Labor cabinet minister and Attorney General of Western Australia
• Moss Cass, former Labor cabinet minister
• Barry Cohen, Labor government minister in the Federal Parliament (1983–1987)
• Ian Cohen, Greens member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1995–2011)
• Sir Zelman Cowen, Governor-General (1977–1982)
• Michael Danby, Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria (from 2015)
• Mark Dreyfus QC, Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Marcus Einfeld, human rights activist and former Federal Court judge
• Sydney Einfeld, New South Wales Minister for Consumer Affairs (1976–1981)
• Josh Frydenberg, Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives
• Jennifer Huppert, Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council (2009–2010)
• Martin Indyk, United States ambassador to Israel (1995–1997 and 2000–2001)
• Sir Isaac Isaacs, Governor General (1931–1936)
• Dr John Kaye, Greens member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• Sir Richard Kingsland, Public Servant, RAAF pilot who rescued two senior British WWII leaders in Morocco in 1940
• Sir John Monash, World War I general and engineer.
• Martin Pakula, Labor member of the Victorian Legislative Council
• Leo Port, Lord Mayor of Sydney (1975–1978)
• Eric Roozendaal, NSW Labor cabinet minister (2008–2011)
• Elias Solomon, former member of Federal Parliament
• David Southwick, Liberal Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
• James Wolfensohn, World Bank president
• Sir Albert Wolff, Chief Justice of Western Australia

Religious figures

• Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple, emeritus senior rabbi of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, Senior Rabbi to the Australian Defence Force, Registrar of the Sydney Beth Din, author of OzTorah.com, and the leading spokesperson for Jews and Judaism in Australia from 1972 to 2005.
• Rabbi Rudolph (Ruddy) Brasch, senior reform rabbi in Sydney for over 30 years, a well-known author and broadcaster.
• Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, Rabbi of the Yeshiva Centre.
• Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, director of many Chabad operations in Victoria.
• Rabbi Chaim Gutnick, formerly rabbi of Elwood Synagogue for over forty years and life president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria.
• Mr Abraham Rabinovitch, philanthropist and founder of Sydney's main Orthodox Jewish educational institutions.

Sports figures

• Peter Fuzes, soccer goalkeeper for Hakoah and Australia, Maccabi Hall of Fame 2003. Played 1st grade 1964 till 1976; International career From 1966 to 1972, against Scotland 1967, Greece 1969, Israel 1969 & 1972. Played against various European club sides including AS ROMA 1966, Manchester United at the time of Bobby Charlton & Dennis Law.
• Michael Klinger, cricketer. Also an ex collegian at Mount Scopus Memorial College.
• Albert Rosenfeld, rugby league player
• Lionel Van Praag, speedway champion
• David Zalcberg Australian Jewish Olympic Table Tennis Player. Also an ex collegian at Mount Scopus Memorial College.
• Phil Moss Current manager of the Central Coast Mariners in the A-League, and former soccer player in the National Soccer League.
• Johnathon Moss Former first-class cricketer for the Victoria cricket team (2000 - 2007). Played for Australia at the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Fiji

• Alexander Schmerrill Bowman, early European settler
• Henry Marks, early European settler
• Karl Fleischman, mining, businessman

French Polynesia

• Queen Marau
• Alexander Salmon
• Alexander Ariipaea Salmon

New Zealand

Business figures

• Sir Woolf Fisher, industrialist^[9]
• Bendix Hallenstein, clothing manufacturer and merchant, and MP^[10]
• Michael Hirschfeld, businessman, activist & Labour Party president^[11]
• Nathaniel William Levin, businessman, father of:
• William Levin, businessman, benefactor^[12]
• David Nathan, retailer^[13]
• Joseph Nathan, founder of GlaxoSmithKline^[9]

Cultural figures

• Esmond de Beer, historian, collector, philanthropist^[14]
• Gina Bellman, actress^[15]
• Charles Brasch, poet, literature patron^[16]
• Taika Cohen (Waititi), film director, writer, painter, comedian and actor^[17]
• Angela D'Audney, television anchor^[18]
• Benjamin Farjeon, writer^[9]
• Willi Fels, philanthropist and collector^[19]
• Deb Filler, actor, writer, comic actor
• Richard Fuchs, composer and architect^[20]
• Grace Joel, artist^[21]
• Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author^[22]

Political figures

National figures

• Frederick Baume, Member of Parliament^[23]
• Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell, Prime Minister (1925) (Jewish mother)^[24]
• Sir Tom Eichelbaum, Chief Justice (1989–1999)^[25]
• John Key (born 1961), current New Zealand Prime Minister (Jewish mother)^[26]
• Sir Michael Myers, chief justice (1929–1946)^[13]
• Sir Julius Vogel, Prime Minister (1873–1875, 1876), newspaper founder, & science-fiction writer^[13]

Local body politicians

• Mayors
  • Auckland: Philip Philips (Auckland's first mayor, 1871–1874),^[9] Henry Isaacs (1874),^[9] Sir Arthur Myers 1905–08),^[9] Sir Ernest Davis (1935–1941),^[27] Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (1959–1965, 1968–1980),^[28] and Colin Kay (1980–1983)^[9]
  • Christchurch: Charles Louisson (1888–1889, 1898–1899)^[29]
  • Invercargill: Eve Poole (1983–1992)^[30]
  • Wellington: Ian Lawrence (1986–1989),^[30] Mark Blumsky (1995–2001)
• Other
  • Dame Barbara Goodman, Auckland local body politician

Sports figures

• Jo Aleh, Olympic sailor^[31]
• Nathan Cohen, Olympic champion and world champion rower^[32]
• Josh Kronfeld, rugby player^[33]

Other figures

• Lev Aptekar, chess master
• Sir Louis Barnett, surgeon^[9]
• Ethel Benjamin, first woman lawyer in the British Empire^[13]
• Sir Peter Gluckman, science adviser^[34]
• Wally Hirsch, former Race Relations Conciliator^[9]
• Pei Te Hurinui Jones, Ngati Maniapoto leader & scholar (Jewish father)
• Joel Samuel Polack, pioneer settler^[35]

See also

• Lists of Jews
• History of the Jews in Australia
• History of the Jews in New Zealand

External links

• Jews in New Zealand in Te Ara online encyclopaedia
• Jews in New Zealand in 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
• Prominent Australian Jews
• New Zealand Jewish archives: Notes on Jewish Participation in New Zealand History

References