Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul — singer with roots in the Russian Empire

Paula Abdul is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, and television personality who had major pop hits in the late 1980s and 1990s before becoming one of American Idol's original judges. She choreographed for Janet Jackson and the Lakers before her own pop career.

Tracing the roots — Minnesota (Rus roots)

Her mother Lorraine M. Rykiss has Russian-Canadian Jewish ancestry — her family part of the Eastern European Jewish diaspora in Canada before moving to the US. Abdul has spoken about her Jewish heritage on her mother's side alongside her Syrian Jewish heritage on her father's side.

Historical context

Russian Empire · c. 1721–1917

Minnesota (Rus roots). At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.

Map: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA)

A career defined by ambition