Neil Sedaka — singer with roots in the Russian Empire
Neil Sedaka. Singer, songwriter and pianist from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn (1939-2026). His mother, Eleanor Appel, came from an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Polish and Russian descent; his father, Mac Sedaka, a taxi driver, was the son of Sephardi Jews who came from Istanbul in 1910. Published sources do not name the Russian ancestor, the generation or the town.
"Paternal grandparents came from Istanbul in 1910; the emigration of the mother's Polish-Russian forebears is not documented."
Migration storyTracing the roots — Mother's family of Polish and Russian Jewish descent (ancestor and town not documented); father's from Istanbul
His mother, Eleanor Appel, came from an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Polish and Russian descent; his father, Mac Sedaka, a taxi driver, was the son of Sephardi Jews who came from Istanbul in 1910. Published sources do not name the Russian ancestor, the generation or the town.
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Mother's family of Polish and Russian Jewish descent (ancestor and town not documented); father's from Istanbul. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.