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Vol. I · 2026
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Tier B
Music & Performing Arts · USA · Russian Empire

Art Garfunkel

Арт Гарфанкел

Singer, actor and poet, one half of Simon & Garfunkel, born in Forest Hills, Queens

🇺🇸 Fame: USA🇷🇺 Origin: Russian Empire🔗 Connection: Ancestry🗓 Paternal grandparents emigrated from Iasi, Romania, at the beginning of the twentieth century and settled in Manhattan; the maternal grandparents' origin is not documented in authoritative sources.🗣 Russian: No
AG
Profile #163
ProfessionSinger
Russian originPaternal grandparents from Iasi, Romania; maternal grandparents 'from Russia/Poland' per non-authoritative sources (town not documented)Russian Empire
ConnectionAncestry-
RussianNo
CategoryMusic & Performing ArtsTier B
Biography

Art Garfunkel — singer with roots in the Russian Empire

Art Garfunkel. Singer, actor and poet, one half of Simon & Garfunkel, born in Forest Hills, Queens. Born in 1941 in Forest Hills, Queens, to Rose (née Pearlman) and Jack Garfunkel. His father's parents emigrated from Iasi, in Romania, outside the Russian Empire. His mother's parents are described as Jewish immigrants from Russia or Poland only in non-authoritative sources, with no town named.

"Paternal grandparents emigrated from Iasi, Romania, at the beginning of the twentieth century and settled in Manhattan; the maternal grandparents' origin is not documented in authoritative sources."

Migration story
Russian Connection

Tracing the roots — Paternal grandparents from Iasi, Romania; maternal grandparents 'from Russia/Poland' per non-authoritative sources (town not documented)

Born in 1941 in Forest Hills, Queens, to Rose (née Pearlman) and Jack Garfunkel. His father's parents emigrated from Iasi, in Romania, outside the Russian Empire. His mother's parents are described as Jewish immigrants from Russia or Poland only in non-authoritative sources, with no town named.

Family Tree
Subject
Art Garfunkel🇺🇸 USA
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Grandparents
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Origin
Paternal grandparents from Iasi, Romania; maternal grandparents 'from Russia/Poland' per non-authoritative sources (town not documented)🇷🇺 Russian Empire
Historical context
Russian Empire · c. 1721–1917
Map of the Russian Empire

Paternal grandparents from Iasi, Romania; maternal grandparents 'from Russia/Poland' per non-authoritative sources (town not documented). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.

Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)
Key Achievements

A career defined by ambition

01
Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Bridge over Troubled Water (1971)
02
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Paul Simon (1990)
03
Mrs. Robinson, US No. 1 (1968)
04
Film roles in Catch-22 (1970) and Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Russian diasporaRussian Empire roots
Sources