США
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Американцы с русскими и советскими корнями
Соединённые Штаты — дом крупнейшей и самой влиятельной ветви диаспоры русской цивилизации за пределами бывшего советского пространства. От великих волн еврейской эмиграции, бежавшей от погромов Российской империи между 1881 и 1914 годами, до советских отказников 1970-х и исхода учёных и предпринимателей после 1991 года — миллионы людей, несущих корни в империи, СССР и современной России, помогли сформировать американскую жизнь.
Их след повсюду. Сам Голливуд был во многом построен иммигрантами из Российской империи — основателями MGM, Warner Bros., Paramount и Universal. Google был сооснован родившимся в Москве Сергеем Брином; культура свободного знания «Википедии», вакцины от полиомиелита и гепатита, теория транзистора и музыка Ирвинга Берлина и Джорджа Гершвина — всё это восходит к этому наследию. Эта страница документирует выдающихся американцев — актёров, учёных, основателей, спортсменов и художников, — чьи семейные истории начинаются в русском мире.
Антон Ельчин
Leningrad-born star who redefined a generation
Энтони Блинкен
U.S. Secretary of State, rooted in Kyiv
Берни Сандерс
U.S. Senator from Vermont, grandson of emigrants from Białystok and Radzyń
Боб Дилан
Voice of a generation, roots in Odessa
Чак Шумер
Senate Majority Leader with Galician-Jewish roots
Дэвид Духовны
Actor and writer with Ukrainian Jewish roots
Элена Каган
First female Solicitor General, SCOTUS Justice
Гвинет Пэлтроу
Oscar winner with roots in the Russian Empire
Харрисон Форд
Han Solo's grandfather fled the Russian Empire
Кёрк Дуглас
Hollywood titan forged from Belarusian immigrant roots
Ленни Кравиц
Rock icon whose roots trace to imperial Kyiv
Леонардо ДиКаприо
Oscar-winning actor with Russian Imperial roots
Майкл Блумберг
Bloomberg L.P. founder and New York mayor, grandson of emigrants from Vilna and Grodno
Михаил Барышников
Soviet-trained dancer who redefined American ballet
Мила Кунис
Hollywood star born in Soviet Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Милла Йовович
Kyiv-born action icon who conquered Hollywood
Натали Портман
Oscar-winning actress with Lithuanian-Jewish roots
Регина Спектор
Moscow-born singer who made anti-folk poetry in New York
Сергей Брин
Google co-founder who escaped Soviet antisemitism
Стивен Спилберг
Hollywood titan, roots in the Russian Empire
Сильвестр Сталлоне
Rocky's roots run through Odessa
Вайнона Райдер
Hollywood icon with roots in the Russian Empire
Юл Бриннер
Vladivostok-born king of Hollywood's golden age
Юрий Мильнер
Soviet-born physicist turned Silicon Valley kingmaker
Аарон Копленд
Composer of Appalachian Spring; son of Jewish emigrants from Lithuania under the Russian Empire
Абнер Цвиллман
Prohibition-era crime boss known as the Al Capone of New Jersey
Абрахам Маслоу
Psychologist of the hierarchy of needs and a founder of humanistic psychology; son of Jewish immigrants from Kiev
Адам Левин
Singer of Maroon 5, born in Los Angeles
Адам Шифф
US Senator for California since December 2024, previously in the House of Representatives 2001–24; great-grandson of Lithuanian Jews
Агнес Брукнер
Hollywood actress born in Germany to Russian-German immigrant parents
Аким Тамиров
Armenian character actor born in the Russian Empire, trained at the Moscow Art Theatre; two Oscar nominations and the first Golden Globe for best supporting actor
Эл Джолсон
Singer and star of The Jazz Singer, born in Srednik in the Kovno Governorate
Алан Аркин
Oscar-winning American actor whose grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Russia and Germany
Алан Кинг
Stand-up comedian
Альберт Брукс
Hollywood's sharpest neurotic, rooted in the Pale.
Альберт Сейбин
Developer of the oral polio vaccine, born in Białystok; first mass-produced in the USSR
Алекс Карп
Philosopher-CEO who built the surveillance state's brain
Алекс Овечкин
NHL's all-time leading goal scorer (929 goals), born in Moscow in 1985; Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe 2018; retiring after the 2026–27 season
Александр Беркман
Russian-born anarchist who attempted to assassinate a steel baron and shaped American radical politics
Александр Генис
Soviet-born essayist who became the defining voice of Russian emigre literary culture in New York
Александр Георгиев
Rybinsk-born NHL goaltender who became the Colorado Avalanche starter
Александр Годунов
Bolshoi principal dancer born on Sakhalin; remained in the United States in 1979, danced with American Ballet Theatre and acted in Witness and Die Hard
Александр Картвели
Aircraft designer born in Tiflis in 1896; chief engineer of Seversky and Republic Aviation — P-47 Thunderbolt, F-84 Thunderjet, F-105 Thunderchief
Александр Могильный
Khabarovsk-born winger; the first NHL draftee to defect from the Soviet Union
Александр Поляков
The Soviet mind that rewired string theory
Александр Понятов
Engineer born in the Kazan Governorate in 1892; founder of Ampex, whose team built the first practical videotape recorder (1956)
Александр де Северски
Aviator and aircraft maker born in Tiflis in 1894; founder of Seversky Aircraft (later Republic Aviation) and author of Victory Through Air Power
Александр Ванг
American fashion designer raised by parents who emigrated from the USSR
Алексей Абрикосов
Soviet theorist who mapped the invisible architecture of superconductors.
Алексей Китаев
Architect of topological quantum computing
Алексей Ковалёв
Togliatti's magician who rewrote NHL artistry
Алексей Яшин
Sverdlovsk's son who electrified Ottawa.
Алексей Бродович
The Russian émigré who reinvented American design
Алисия Сильверстоун
Actress, Cher Horowitz in Clueless (1995)
Алла Назимова
Actress born in Yalta, trained in Moscow under Nemirovich-Danchenko; Ibsen star of Broadway and producer-star of the silent Salomé
Аллен Гинзберг
Poet of the Beat Generation; son of an emigrant from Nevel
Аманда Анисимова
Moscow-born, American-raised WTA force.
Аманда Байнс
Nickelodeon star with Russian-Jewish roots on her mother's side
Аманда Сейфрид
Mamma Mia actress with partial Russian ancestry through her mother's German-Russian family
Эми Шумер
Stand-up subversive who made discomfort funny.
Анатоль Литвак
Film director born in Kiev, trained in Petrograd; Mayerling, The Battle of Russia, The Snake Pit and Anastasia
Андре Агасси
Eight-time Grand Slam singles champion and 1996 Olympic gold medallist; grandson of a carpenter from Kiev
Андрей Кириленко
Izhevsk's iron-willed forward who redefined NBA versatility.
Андрей Линде
The physicist who inflated the universe
Андрей Окуньков
Moscow-born mathematician who reshaped probability and geometry
Андрей Свечников
Barnaul's prodigy rewriting NHL history.
Андрей Василевский
Ufa's son who became the NHL's last line.
Андрей Филев
Russian-born founder of Wrike who built one of the world's leading work management platforms
Андрей Хусид
Perm-born entrepreneur who co-founded Miro, the world's leading visual collaboration platform
Энди Джасси
Chief executive of Amazon since 2021 and founding head of Amazon Web Services, born in Scarsdale, New York
Анна Курникова
Tennis player born in Moscow in 1981; world No. 1 in doubles, two Australian Open doubles titles with Martina Hingis and a Wimbledon singles semi-final at sixteen
Анна Требунская
Russian ballroom champion who became a Dancing with the Stars fan favourite
Энн Эпплбаум
Historian and journalist, author of Gulag: A History (Pulitzer Prize 2004) and Red Famine; her great-grandparents emigrated from what is now Belarus
Анна Вялицына
Nizhny Novgorod's model who conquered New York
Аннет Махендру
Moscow-born actress who made espionage bilingual
Энни Лейбовиц
Portrait photographer born in Waterbury, Connecticut; Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue
Ари Флейшер
Bush's voice at the podium, rooted in the Pale
Арманд Хаммер
Industrialist and art collector — Occidental Petroleum, the Hammer Museum; son of emigrants from Odessa and Vitebsk, he did business in Soviet Russia from 1921
Арми Хаммер
Hollywood heir to an Odessa oil dynasty
Арнольд Ротштейн
The gambler who bankrolled organized crime
Арсен Томский
Russian founder of InDriver — the ride-hailing app born in Yakutia that challenged Uber globally
Арт Гарфанкел
Singer, actor and poet, one half of Simon & Garfunkel, born in Forest Hills, Queens
Артём Чигвинцев
Vladivostok-born dancer who conquered Hollywood.
Артемий Панарин
Chelyabinsk-raised NHL forward.
Артур Корнберг
Biochemist who first synthesised DNA in a test tube; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1959
Артур Миллер
American playwright of Death of a Salesman and The Crucible
Айн Рэнд
From Petrograd tenements to American philosophy
Барбара Уолтерс
American broadcast journalist; the first woman to co-anchor a US network evening news programme
Барбра Стрейзанд
Granddaughter of immigrants from the Russian Empire; winner of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards
Барни Балабан
President of Paramount for nearly thirty years, son of emigrants from Tiraspol and Odessa
Барри Манилоу
Singer-songwriter raised in Brooklyn by grandparents who emigrated from Russia
Бен Бернанке
Economist, chairman of the US Federal Reserve 2006–2014 and Nobel laureate 2022; grandson of Jewish emigrants from Lithuania
Бен Коэн
The ice cream idealist who turned a scoop into a cause.
Бен Горовиц
Silicon Valley titan shaped by immigrant grit.
Бен Стиллер
Actor and director; grandson of an emigrant from Frampol in Russian Poland
Бенни Гудмен
Clarinettist and bandleader, the 'King of Swing'; son of immigrants from Warsaw and Kovno; toured the USSR in 1962
Бернард Маркус
Son of Russian immigrants who built retail's cathedral.
Бетт Мидлер
Honolulu-born singer, actress and comedian; grandparents were Jewish immigrants
Билли Кристал
Comedian and actor from Long Island; his grandmothers came from Odessa and Kyiv; first American comedian to perform in the Soviet Union (1989)
Билли Джоэл
Bronx-born singer-songwriter and pianist, author of Piano Man
Билли Уайлдер
Galician-born writer-director of Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment
Бронсон Пинчот
Perfect Strangers star with Russian-descended father who became a beloved sitcom icon
Бадди Хэкетт
Brooklyn comedian with Russian-Jewish roots who was one of Las Vegas's last great stand-up kings
Багси Сигел
Figure in American organised crime, born in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrant parents
Кэлвин Кляйн
American fashion designer, born in the Bronx
Карл Райнер
Comedian, writer and director born in the Bronx; creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show (1922-2020)
Карл Саган
Astronomer and science communicator; son of an emigrant from Kamianets-Podilskyi
Кэрол Кинг
Manhattan-born songwriter and singer; co-writer of 1960s pop hits with Gerry Goffin and creator of Tapestry
Кэрри Фишер
Princess Leia and fearless memoirist with Russian-Jewish roots through her father Eddie Fisher
Чарльз Блюдорн
Viennese immigrant with Russian parents who presided over Paramount's golden age
Челси Хэндлер
Comedian, host of Chelsea Lately (E!, 2007–2014) and author of six No. 1 bestsellers
Шерил Берк
Dancing with the Stars champion with Russian Empire roots who became America's most-watched ballroom dancer
Чак Паланик
Novelist of Fight Club, born in Pasco, Washington
Клемент Гринберг
Son of Russian-Lithuanian Jewish immigrants who became the most powerful art critic of the 20th century
Константин Ронин
Russian-born actor who played a KGB spy in The Americans and became a Hollywood fixture
Кортни Лав
Singer, guitarist and songwriter of Hole, born in San Francisco
Безумный Русский Хакер
Donetsk-born YouTuber Taras Kul who became America's favourite science and life-hacks host
Кёрли Говард
Member of the Three Stooges, son of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants from Kaunas
Даниил Трифонов
Pianist born in Nizhny Novgorod, winner of the 2011 Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions
Дэнни Кей
Comedian, actor and singer born in Brooklyn to parents from Yekaterinoslav; first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF
Даррен Аронофски
Brooklyn-born director of Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Black Swan and The Whale, of Polish-Jewish descent
Даша Некрасова
Minsk-born actress and Red Scare podcast host who became a cult voice of millennial disillusionment
Даша Жукова
Moscow-born art patron and Garage Museum founder who brought contemporary art to Russia
Дэйв Франко
Hollywood actor with Russian-Jewish roots on his mother's side
Давид Диггс
Hamilton Tony winner with Russian-Jewish roots on his mother's side
Дэвид Копперфилд
Illusionist; grandson of Jewish emigrants from the Ukrainian SSR
Дэвид О. Селзник
Son of a Ukrainian Jewish immigrant who produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca
Дэвид Ремник
Russian-Jewish descended New Yorker editor who won the Pulitzer for his book on the Soviet collapse
Дэвид Сарнов
Head of RCA and founder of NBC, born in Uzlyany near Minsk
Дэвид Швиммер
Friends actor and director whose great-grandparents were Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire, per genealogical sources
Давид Янг
Yerevan-born entrepreneur who co-founded ABBYY and brought Russian AI to the world
Диана Арбус
Photographer born in New York; granddaughter of a Russian Jewish immigrant on her father's side
Диана фон Фюрстенберг
Fashion designer born in Brussels, creator of the wrap dress (1974); daughter of a father born in Bessarabia
Дианна Агрон
Glee actress with a Ukrainian-Russian Jewish family name that traces to Novgorod-Siversky
Дмитрий Тёмкин
Film composer born in Kremenchug; four Academy Awards; produced and arranged the Soviet film Tchaikovsky (1969)
Дмитрий Чаплин
Rostov-born dancer who became a So You Think You Can Dance star and Broadway choreographer
Дмитрий Орлов
Novokuznetsk-born NHL defenceman and Stanley Cup champion with the Washington Capitals
Дон Риклз
Brooklyn insult comedian born to Lithuanian-Russian Jewish parents who became Mr. Warmth
Дастин Хоффман
Two-time Oscar winner; grandson of emigrants from the Kiev Governorate
Датч Шульц
Prohibition-era New York gangster, son of German-Jewish immigrants
Эдди Кантор
Entertainer of the Ziegfeld Follies, Broadway, radio and film, who gave the March of Dimes its name; son of a young Jewish couple from Russia
Эдвард Г. Робинсон
Bucharest-born Hollywood star of Little Caesar and Double Indemnity
Ефим Зельманов
Soviet-born mathematician who solved a century-old problem and won the Fields Medal
Ефрем Зимбалист
Rostov violin virtuoso who became director of the Curtis Institute and shaped American classical music
Эмма Гольдман
Anarchist writer and speaker born in Kovno; deported from the US to Soviet Russia in 1919
Эрих фон Штрогейм
Vienna-born film director and actor of Greed and La Grande Illusion (1885-1957)
Эрнст Неизвестный
Yekaterinburg sculptor who argued with Khrushchev and created the Tree of Life
Эрика Баду
Neo-soul queen with Russian-Jewish roots on her mother's side
Евгений Дынкин
Soviet mathematician who pioneered probability theory and Dynkin diagrams before emigrating to Cornell
Юджин Клейнер
Vienna-born venture capitalist with Russian roots who co-founded Kleiner Perkins and Silicon Valley itself
Евгения Леонтович
Moscow-born actress who electrified Broadway and Hollywood from the 1920s to the 1970s
Евгений Малкин
Hockey centre born in Magnitogorsk in 1986; three Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh, Hart, Conn Smythe and two Art Ross trophies; in his 21st NHL season
Евгений Кузнецов
Chelyabinsk-born NHL star and three-time Stanley Cup champion with Washington Capitals
Евсей Домар
Russian Empire-born economist who co-created the Harrod-Domar growth model
Эзра Миллер
The Flash actor with Russian-Jewish roots who became one of Hollywood's most unconventional stars
ФПС Россия (Кайл Майерс)
Georgian-born American whose fake Russian persona became one of YouTube's first viral sensations
Фанни Брайс
Star of the Ziegfeld Follies and of radio's Baby Snooks, whose life inspired Funny Girl
Фёдор Емельяненко
MMA heavyweight born in Rubizhne, Ukrainian SSR, known as The Last Emperor; ranked by Fight Matrix as the greatest heavyweight
Фёдор Ларк
Born in Siberia in 1997 — adopted to the USA as a toddler, became a child actor in Medium
Фред Астер
Dancer and actor, star of Top Hat and Swing Time; son of Fritz Austerlitz of Linz, Austria-Hungary
Фред Зиннеманн
Born in Rzeszow in the Russian Empire, directed High Noon and A Man for All Seasons
Фивуш Финкель
Yiddish theatre legend from Brooklyn with Russian-Polish roots who found new fame in Picket Fences
Гарри Каспаров
World chess champion 1985–2000, born Garik Weinstein in Baku in 1963; world No. 1 for twenty years, writer and Croatian citizen since 2014
Гари Штейнгарт
Leningrad-born novelist whose satirical fiction made him the voice of the Russian-American experience
Гэри Вайнерчук
From Soviet Babruysk to Silicon Valley's loudest voice
Джин Симмонс
KISS co-founder born in Haifa to a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor
Джин Уайлдер
Actor and writer, born Jerome Silberman to a Russian Jewish family in Milwaukee
Геннадий Тартаковский
Moscow-born animation auteur who created Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Primal
Джордж Баланчин
Choreographer, trained at the Imperial Ballet School; co-founder of New York City Ballet
Джордж Бёрнс
New York-born comedian and actor, son of Jewish immigrants from Galicia
Георгий Гамов
Physicist and cosmologist born in Odessa; theory of alpha decay and the hot Big Bang
Джордж Гершвин
Brooklyn-born son of Odessa, soundtrack of America
Джордж Сорос
Investor and philanthropist, founder of the Open Society Foundations and the Central European University; his father spent the First World War and the Revolution as a prisoner in Russia
Гильда Рэднер
Original cast member of Saturday Night Live (1975–80), Emmy winner 1978; granddaughter of an emigrant from Lithuania
Глеб Савченко
Moscow-born professional dancer and Dancing with the Stars fan favourite
Гоголь Бордель
Eugene Hutz — born in Soviet Ukraine, created Gypsy punk and made immigration into a celebration
Голди Хон
American actress, Academy Award winner for Cactus Flower
Григорий Пятигорский
Cellist born in Yekaterinoslav (now Dnipro); principal cellist of the Bolshoi at fifteen, later of the Berlin Philharmonic, then a soloist and teacher in the United States
Григорий Брейт
Mykolaiv-born nuclear physicist who co-discovered the ionosphere and helped build the atomic bomb
Грегори Пинкус
Son of Russian-Jewish immigrants who co-invented the contraceptive pill and changed the world
Григорий Ратов
St. Petersburg actor and director who played every European rogue in 1930s Hollywood
Григорий Маргулис
Moscow mathematician who won the Fields Medal for revolutionising the theory of Lie groups
Гарольд Эджертон
Nebraska engineer with Russian-German immigrant parents who invented the electronic flash and made bullets visible
Гарри Уорнер
Born in the Russian Empire, co-founded Warner Bros and brought sound to cinema
Харви Файерстайн
Playwright and actor; author of Torch Song Trilogy and four-time Tony Award winner
Харви Кейтель
Actor of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The Piano; Academy Award nomination for Bugsy
Хеди Ламарр
Vienna-born film actress and co-inventor of frequency-hopping spread spectrum (1914-2000)
Хелена Рубинштейн
Cosmetics entrepreneur, born in Kraków
Хенни Янгман
King of the One-Liners, son of Russian immigrant parents who defined American stand-up
Генри Киссинджер
US Secretary of State, born in Fürth, Bavaria
Герман Мюллер
Nobel Prize-winning American geneticist who showed that X-rays cause mutations; worked in the USSR 1933–1937
Гершель Бернарди
Broadway and Hollywood actor with Ukrainian-Russian Jewish roots who voiced Charlie the Tuna
Хайман Риковер
Admiral and engineer born in Maków Mazowiecki in 1900; directed the development of the first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, and of US naval nuclear propulsion
Ида Розенталь
Minsk-born immigrant who co-founded Maidenform and invented the modern bra
Идина Мензел
Tony-winning Elphaba in Wicked and the voice of Elsa in Frozen
Игорь Джиджикин
Moscow-born actor who played the villain in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Игорь Ларионов
The Professor — Voskresensk-born centre and three-time Stanley Cup champion
Игорь Оленикофф
Moscow-born real estate billionaire and art collector who became one of America's wealthiest immigrants
Игорь Шестёркин
Moscow-born Vezina Trophy winner and the NHL's best goaltender
Игорь Сикорский
Aviation pioneer born in Kiev; built the first four-engine aircraft and the first viable American helicopter
Игорь Стравинский
Born near St. Petersburg, composed The Rite of Spring and changed music forever
Илья Кабаков
Born in Dnipro, became the most celebrated conceptual artist of the Soviet underground
Илья Ковальчук
Tver-born sniper and one of the NHL's most prolific goal-scorers of the 2000s
Илья Найшуллер
Moscow director who made the first-person action film Nobody and the viral Hardest Button to Button video
Илья Прусикин
Little Big frontman from Siberia who nearly won Eurovision and invented Russian rave pop
Илья Сорокин
Siberian-born goaltender who became one of the NHL's most electrifying netminders with the New York Islanders
Илья Суцкевер
The Soviet-born mind reshaping artificial intelligence
Ирина Шейк
Model born Irina Shaykhlislamova in Yemanzhelinsk in 1986; first Russian on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (2011)
Ирвинг Берлин
The immigrant who wrote America's anthem
Ирвинг Тальберг
Son of German Jewish immigrants; head of production at MGM from 1925
Айзек Азимов
The Russian-born prophet of the Space Age
Исаак Башевис Зингер
Yiddish writer born in Congress Poland; Nobel Prize in Literature (1978)
Израиль Гельфанд
Okny-born mathematician known for representation theory and functional analysis
Иван Проворов
Yaroslavl-born NHL defenceman and Columbus Blue Jackets cornerstone
Дж. Б. Прицкер
Governor of Illinois whose great-grandfather emigrated from Kyiv and built the Hyatt hotel empire
Дж. Дж. Абрамс
Film and television director and producer (Lost, Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), born in New York
Джек Бенни
Comedian, actor and violinist; son of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire
Джек Блэк
Actor and musician, son of the aerospace engineer Judith Love Cohen
Джек Кёрби
Son of Austrian-Jewish immigrants; co-creator of Captain America and the Fantastic Four
Джек Уорнер
Born in Canada to Jewish immigrants from Congress Poland (Russian Empire); head of production at Warner Bros. until 1969
Джеки Мэйсон
Son of Minsk-born immigrants; ordained rabbi turned stand-up comedian
Яков Маршак
Kyiv-born economist who directed research at the Cowles Commission and pioneered information economics
Джейк Джилленхол
Actor; great-grandson of Latvian Jewish emigrants on his mother's side
Якоб Дилан
The Wallflowers frontman and son of Bob Dylan, whose grandparents emigrated from Odessa
Джеймс Франко
Oscar-nominated actor and polymath whose mother has Russian-Jewish roots
Ян Кум
Co-founder of WhatsApp, born in Kyiv in 1976 and raised in Fastiv; emigrated to California at sixteen in 1992
Джанет Йеллен
Economist; first woman to chair the Federal Reserve and to serve as US Treasury Secretary; her father's family came from Sokołów Podlaski
Януш Камински
Polish-born cinematographer who shot Schindler's List and became Spielberg's visual eye
Джаред Полис
Governor of Colorado — his grandparents fled Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire to build an American family
Яша Хейфец
Violinist from Vilna, pupil of Leopold Auer in St Petersburg
Джейсон Александер
George Costanza on Seinfeld — a genealogy site traces his maternal line to the Russian Empire
Джейсон Райтман
Director of Juno and Up in the Air — son of Ivan Reitman, grandson of Czech-Russian Jewish refugees
Джейсон Сигел
How I Met Your Mother star and Muppets writer with Russian-Jewish roots on his father's side
Джефф Голдблюм
Actor and jazz pianist; grandson of an emigrant from the Minsk Governorate
Джеффри Тэмбор
Arrested Development and Transparent actor from a Jewish family with roots in Hungary and Ukraine
Дженнифер Коннелли
Actress, Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind (2001); her mother's ancestors were Jewish emigrants from Poland and Russia
Дженнифер Джейсон Ли
The Hateful Eight actress with Austrian-Russian Jewish roots through her mother's family
Дженни Слейт
SNL comedian and Obvious Child star with Russian-Jewish roots on her father's side
Джерри Сайнфелд
American stand-up comedian; co-creator and star of Seinfeld
Джерри Стиллер
Father of Ben Stiller and Seinfeld's Frank Costanza — his family came from Galicia and the Russian Empire
Ежи Нейман
Statistician born in Bendery in 1894 and educated in Kharkov; co-author of the Neyman–Pearson theory of testing, inventor of confidence intervals, founder of Berkeley's statistics department
Джим Дауни
Saturday Night Live political-comedy writer, called the 'best political humorist alive' by Lorne Michaels
Джоан Риверс
Brooklyn-born comedian and television host, daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants; first woman to host a late-night network talk show
Хоакин Феникс
Oscar-winning actor whose maternal grandfather's family came from Russia
Джои Рамон
Queens-born singer of the Ramones
Джон Гарфилд
Lower East Side-born son of Russian-Jewish immigrants; star of Body and Soul
Джон Бон Джови
Singer, songwriter and founder of Bon Jovi, born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Джон Стюарт
Host of The Daily Show, born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
Джона Хилл
Actor and filmmaker, born in Los Angeles
Джонас Солк
Developer of the first successful polio vaccine; son of an emigrant from Minsk
Джонатан Сафран Фоер
Novelist of Everything Is Illuminated, born in Washington, D.C.; grandson of Holocaust survivors from Volhynia
Иосиф Бродский
Poet born in Leningrad; Nobel Prize in Literature (1987)
Джозеф Гордон-Левитт
Actor and filmmaker; grandson of the director Michael Gordon
Джозеф Шенк
Film executive born in Rybinsk; president of United Artists, co-founder of Twentieth Century Pictures and chairman of 20th Century-Fox
Джош Гробан
Classical-crossover singer whose father descends from Jewish immigrants from Poland and Ukraine
Джулиана Маргулис
Emmy-winning actress of ER and The Good Wife, of Ashkenazi Jewish descent including Russia
Карина Смирнофф
Kharkiv-born ballroom champion and Dancing with the Stars professional dancer
Кэт Деннингс
Actress of 2 Broke Girls and the Thor films
Кейт Хадсон
Actress of Almost Famous and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days; co-founder of Fabletics
Кеннет Эрроу
American economist of Romanian-Jewish descent, 1972 Nobel laureate and author of the impossibility theorem
Кевин Клайн
American actor, Academy Award winner for A Fish Called Wanda and three-time Tony Award winner
Кирилл Капризов
Novokuznetsk sniper who became the Minnesota Wild's all-time leading scorer
Комар и Меламид
Moscow conceptual art duo who invented Sots Art, emigrated to New York, and turned democracy into a painting
Кайра Седжвик
Golden Globe and Emmy winner for The Closer
Лана Вуд
Natalie Wood's sister — born to Russian immigrant parents, played a Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever
Ларри Файн
Member of the Three Stooges, born in Philadelphia to a Russian-Jewish family
Ларри Кинг
Radio and television host born in Brooklyn; son of Jewish immigrants from Belarus; host of Larry King Live on CNN, 1985-2010
Лорен Бэколл
Bronx-born Hollywood and Broadway star whose paternal grandparents came from Valozhyn (now Belarus)
Ли Дж. Кобб
The original Willy Loman — Russian-Romanian Jewish actor who defined American theatrical realism
Ли Филипс
American actor and director with Russian Empire Jewish roots
Ли Страсберг
Galicia-born American acting teacher, artistic director of the Actors Studio (1951-1982)
Ленни Брюс
Stand-up comedian and satirist, born in Mineola, New York (1925-1966)
Леонард Бернстайн
America's maestro, born of the Pale's diaspora
Леонард Нимой
Spock of Star Trek, director of Star Trek III and IV and Three Men and a Baby; son of Yiddish-speaking parents from Iziaslav
Леонид Гурвич
Moscow-born economist; Nobel Prize in Economics (2007) at 90 for mechanism design theory
Леонид Радвинский
Odessa-born tech entrepreneur who owns OnlyFans and built a $2 billion content empire
Леопольд Ауэр
Hungarian-born violin teacher who trained Heifetz, Milstein and Zimbalist — the greatest pedagogue in history
Лера Ауэрбах
Chelyabinsk-born composer and pianist who became one of the most performed living composers in the world
Лев Горн
Stavropol-born actor who became a fixture of American film and television
Льюис Майлстоун
Film director born Leib Milstein in the Russian Empire; two Academy Awards, for Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front
Лекс Фридман
Moscow-born mind mapping the AI frontier
Лив Шрайбер
Actor and director — Tony for Glengarry Glen Ross, Ray Donovan, director of Everything Is Illuminated; grandson of an emigrant from the Russian Empire
Лиза Боне
Cosby Show breakout star whose mother has Russian-Jewish ancestry
Лиза Эдельштейн
House MD's Dr. Cuddy — her Russian-Jewish grandparents shaped a family of achievers
Лиза Кудроу
Actress and producer; granddaughter of an emigrant from Ilya, near Minsk
Литл Биг
St. Petersburg rave-pop collective who created gypsy punk anthems and nearly won Eurovision with UNO
Логан Лерман
Percy Jackson star whose family traces Russian and Polish Jewish roots
Лу Рид
Songwriter of the Velvet Underground; grandson of Russian and Polish Jewish emigrants
Луис Б. Майер
Co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, born in the Russian Empire (Dymer or Minsk)
Луис Лепке
Brooklyn gangster with Russian-Jewish roots who ran Murder Inc. — and went to the electric chair
Мадлен Олбрайт
First female US Secretary of State (1997–2001), born in Prague to Czech parents of Jewish origin
Мэгги Джилленхол
Actress and filmmaker — Secretary, Crazy Heart, The Honourable Woman, writer-director of The Lost Daughter; her mother's grandparents emigrated from Latvia
Максим Чмерковский
Odessa-born ballroom champion who became Dancing with the Stars' most beloved bad boy
Максим Покровский
Moscow rock frontman — lead singer of Nogu Svelo, Russia's most beloved quirky rock band
Мэн Рэй
Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia to Russian-Jewish immigrants; Dada and Surrealist photographer
Мэнди Мур
Singer and actress — debut album So Real (1999), A Walk to Remember, Rapunzel in Tangled, Rebecca Pearson in This Is Us
Мэнди Патинкин
Actor and singer descended from Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland
Марк Бениофф
Founder and chief executive of Salesforce, born in San Francisco; great-grandson of Isaac Benioff, a furrier from Kiev
Марк Ласри
Moroccan-born distressed-debt billionaire with Eastern European Jewish heritage who co-owned the Milwaukee Bucks
Мария Успенская
Actress and teacher born in Tula; founding member of the Moscow Art Theatre's First Studio, teacher of Lee Strasberg, twice nominated for an Academy Award
Мария Шарапова
Tennis player born in Nyagan (USSR), winner of five Grand Slam singles titles
Марк Кьюбан
Entrepreneur and investor from Pittsburgh: Broadcast.com, the Dallas Mavericks, Shark Tank and Cost Plus Drugs
Марк Ротко
From Dvinsk to the sublime: Rothko's color fields
Марина Линчук
Minsk-born Victoria's Secret Angel who became one of the world's top supermodels
Мэтью Бродерик
Actor, born in Manhattan; two-time Tony Award winner
Мэттью Вайнер
Creator of Mad Men; grandson of immigrants, his grandfather born in Russia
Макс Фактор
Make-up pioneer born in Congress Poland; worked in Moscow before emigrating in 1904
Макс Левчин
PayPal co-founder who coded his way from Kyiv to Silicon Valley
Майя Рудольф
SNL star whose father Richard Rudolph has Lithuanian-Jewish roots from the Russian Empire
Майим Бялик
Big Bang Theory and Blossom actress with Ukrainian-Polish Jewish roots who also has a PhD in neuroscience
Мел Брукс
Brooklyn-born comedian and filmmaker whose mother emigrated from Kyiv; creator of The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
Мелвин Кэлвин
Chemist who mapped the path of carbon in photosynthesis (the Calvin cycle); Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1961; son of emigrants from the Russian Empire
Мелвин Дуглас
Born Melvyn Hesselberg, son of a Riga-born Jewish concert pianist — American actor, two Academy Awards
Меррик Гарланд
US Attorney General 2021–25 and chief judge of the D.C. Circuit 2013–20; his grandparents left the Pale of Settlement in the early 1900s
Мейер Лански
Figure in American organised crime, born in Grodno; emigrated to New York in 1911
Майкл Болтон
American singer of How Am I Supposed to Live Without You, born Michael Bolotin
Майкл Шейбон
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist from an Ashkenazi Jewish family
Михаил Чехов
Actor and teacher, nephew of Anton Chekhov; star of the Moscow Art Theatre's First Studio and head of MAT-2, later an Oscar nominee for Spellbound and author of To the Actor
Майкл Делл
Founder of Dell Technologies, born in Houston, Texas
Майкл Дуглас
Producer and actor; grandson of emigrants from Chavusy
Майкл Дудикофф
American Ninja star whose father emigrated from Russia — an unexpected action hero of the 1980s
Майкл Корс
Fashion designer born on Long Island, New York
Михаил Струков
Born in Yekaterinoslav — the aviation engineer who invented the assault glider and built Chase Aircraft
Михаил Фокин
Choreographer born in St Petersburg; created The Dying Swan for Anna Pavlova and The Firebird and Petrushka for the Ballets Russes
Микки Коэн
Born to Kyiv Jewish immigrants — became the most feared gangster in Los Angeles
Майк Николс
Born in Berlin to a Russian-Jewish family that had lived in Siberia; film and stage director and EGOT winner
Майк Тодд
Born to Ukrainian-Polish Jewish immigrants — the showman who made Around the World in 80 Days and married Elizabeth Taylor
Михаил Шемякин
Moscow-born artist who was expelled from the Soviet Union and befriended Vladimir Vysotsky in Paris
Михаил Сергачев
Nizhnekamsk-born NHL defenceman and two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning
Милла Йовович
Born in Kyiv, raised between Moscow and Los Angeles — became The Fifth Element and Resident Evil icon
Милтон Берл
Comedian known as Mr. Television, host of Texaco Star Theater, born in Harlem (1908-2002)
Милтон Фридман
American economist and 1976 Nobel laureate, son of Jewish immigrants from Beregszász in the Kingdom of Hungary
Миша Ауэр
St Petersburg-born actor nominated for an Academy Award for My Man Godfrey (1936)
Мо Далиц
Russian-Jewish bootlegger who built Las Vegas alongside Bugsy Siegel and became its most legitimate mogul
Мо Говард
Leader of the Three Stooges, 190 Columbia shorts (1934–57); son of Lithuanian Jews from Kovno
Молли Пикон
The Queen of Second Avenue — her parents came from Kyiv, she became the greatest Yiddish theatre star in history
Монк Истман
Lower East Side gang leader of the 1890s–1900s and First World War soldier
Моррис Михтом
Brooklyn shopkeeper born in the Russian Empire who, with his wife Rose, made the first 'Teddy's bear' and founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company
Мстислав Ростропович
Cellist and conductor born in Baku; Moscow Conservatory pupil of Prokofiev and Shostakovich
Мюррей Букчин
New York anarchist thinker with Russian-Jewish roots whose ideas inspired the Kurdish revolution in Syria
Настя Люкин
Born in Moscow, became America's Olympic gymnastics all-around champion in Beijing 2008
Натали Вуд
Born in San Francisco to emigrants from Barnaul and Ussuriysk
Наташа Поли
Perm-born supermodel who became one of the world's most recognisable faces on the runway
Натан Мильштейн
Violinist born in Odessa; pupil of Stolyarsky and Auer, he left the USSR in 1925 with Vladimir Horowitz
Натан Шварц
Born in Odessa — bought a failing Massachusetts boot company and built it into Timberland
Неемия Персофф
Jerusalem-born character actor with Russian-Jewish parents who became a Hollywood legend
Нил Даймонд
Singer-songwriter; grandson of emigrants from Kyiv
Нил Седака
Singer, songwriter and pianist from Brighton Beach, Brooklyn (1939-2026)
Николас Шенк
Film executive born in Rybinsk in 1881; president of Loew's Inc., the parent company of MGM, for three decades
Николь Шерзингер
Singer and actress, born in Honolulu; Tony and Olivier Award winner
Никита Кучеров
Maykop-born ice hockey player; two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning
Нина Берберова
Born in St. Petersburg — émigré novelist who was rediscovered at 80 and became a literary sensation
Ноа Уайли
ER's Dr. Carter — his father Stephen Wyle has Russian-Jewish roots from the Russian Empire
Ноам Хомский
Linguist; son of emigrants from Volhynia and Belarus
Норман Мейлер
American writer, twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize; grandson of Lithuanian Jews (Russian Empire)
Оксана Баюл
Born in Dnipropetrovsk in 1977; world champion in 1993 and Olympic champion in 1994 in figure skating
Олег Шардин
Russian-born co-founder of Miro — the collaborative whiteboard platform used by 60 million people
Олег Кассини
Born in Paris to a Russian diplomat family — became Jackie Kennedy's official couturier
Олег Тактаров
Born in secret Soviet nuclear city Sarov — became UFC champion and Hollywood actor
Олег Видов
Soviet heartthrob who defected from the USSR — became a Hollywood actor and freedom symbol
Ольга Фонда
Born in Ukhta, Komi Republic — Russian actress who built a Hollywood career in action and thriller films
Оскар Зариски
Mathematician born in Kobrin in 1899; rebuilt the foundations of algebraic geometry on commutative algebra; Wolf Prize 1981
Отто Преминджер
Film director and producer of Laura and Anatomy of a Murder, born in Austrian Bukovina (1905-1986)
Отто Струве
Astronomer born in Kharkov in 1897, great-grandson of the founder of Pulkovo Observatory; director of Yerkes and McDonald observatories and first director of the NRAO
Пинк (Алиша Мур)
American pop singer who describes herself as an 'Irish-German-Lithuanian Jew'
Паша Ковалёв
Siberian ballroom champion who became Strictly Come Dancing's most passionate professional dancer
Патрисия Аркетт
Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress whose Jewish mother's ancestors emigrated from Poland and Russia
Пол Муни
Lemberg-born actor; Academy Award winner for The Story of Louis Pasteur
Пол Рейзер
Mad About You star whose family came from Russia and Romania — a quintessential New York Jewish comedian
Пол Радд
Actor; both parents descended from Jewish immigrants to London from Russia, Belarus and Poland
Пол Самуэльсон
Economist, author of Foundations of Economic Analysis and the first American Nobel laureate in economics; son of Russian-born Jewish parents
Пол Саймон
Newark-born singer-songwriter, son of Hungarian-Jewish parents
Пол Стэнли
Co-founder, rhythm guitarist and singer of Kiss, born in Manhattan
Пола Абдул
Singer, dancer and choreographer born in San Fernando, California; original judge on American Idol
Павел Дацюк
Sverdlovsk-born NHL forward nicknamed the Magic Man; two-time Stanley Cup champion with Detroit
Пегги Гуггенхайм
Art collector and patron born in New York; founder of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice
Питер Фальк
American actor best known as Lieutenant Columbo; reported to be of Russian Jewish ancestry on his father's side
Питер Шукофф
American comedian and rapper, co-creator of Epic Rap Battles of History; son of a Russian father
Филипп Кан
Paris-born tech pioneer whose mother was a Russian Jewish violinist — invented the camera phone
Питирим Сорокин
Sociologist born in the Komi lands, secretary to Kerensky in 1917, sent abroad in 1922; founder of Harvard's department of sociology
Раде Шербеджия
Croatian actor of Serb origin, cast again and again as Hollywood's Russian
Ральф Лорен
Fashion designer; son of emigrants from Pinsk and Drahichyn
Рашида Джонс
Parks and Recreation star whose great-grandfather came from Latvia (Russian Empire)
Ратмир Тимашев
Ufa-born co-founder of Veeam Software and Aelita Software
Рэд Баттонс
Oscar-winning comedian and actor, son of Russo-Polish Jewish immigrants
Рид Хоффман
Entrepreneur and investor, co-founder of LinkedIn
Рене Обержонуа
Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; his maternal great-grandmother was a Russian noblewoman
Ричард Фейнман
Nobel physicist; son of an emigrant from Minsk
Ричард Льюис
The prince of pain — his parents came from Russia and Romania, he turned neurosis into an art form
Ривер Феникс
Actor of Stand by Me, Running on Empty and My Own Private Idaho (Volpi Cup, 1991); his mother's father's family came from Russia
Роальд Хоффманн
Born Roald Safran in Złoczów, Poland, in 1937; Holocaust survivor and 1981 Nobel laureate in chemistry
Роб Райнер
Actor and director born in the Bronx, son of Carl Reiner (1947-2025)
Роберт Дауни мл.
American actor whose paternal great-grandparents were Lithuanian Jews
Роберт Солоу
American economist, 1987 Nobel laureate for his analysis of economic growth
Родни Данджерфилд
Comedian of Caddyshack and Back to School, son of a Hungarian-born mother
Роман Якобсон
Linguist born in Moscow, co-founder of the Moscow and Prague linguistic circles and a founder of structural linguistics
Розалин Ялоу
Medical physicist, co-developer of radioimmunoassay, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1977
Розанна Аркетт
Desperately Seeking Susan star — shares Polish-Russian Jewish roots with sisters Patricia and David
Рубен Мамулян
Stage and film director born in Tiflis to an Armenian family; staged Porgy and Bess, Oklahoma! and Carousel, and made Becky Sharp, the first three-strip Technicolor feature
Рудольф Абель
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne; Soviet intelligence officer exchanged for Gary Powers in 1962
Рут Бейдер Гинзбург
US Supreme Court Justice; daughter of an emigrant from Odessa
Сэм Генновей
American author and urban planner with Russian-Lebanese roots who wrote the definitive books on Walt Disney
Сэм Рэйми
Director of The Evil Dead and the Spider-Man trilogy, born in Royal Oak, Michigan
Сэмюэл Голдвин
Film producer born in Warsaw, Congress Poland; the 'G' in MGM
Сэмюэл Земуррей
Businessman born in Kishinev in 1877, the 'Banana Man' of Mobile and New Orleans; founder of Cuyamel Fruit and president of the United Fruit Company
Сара Джессика Паркер
Actress and producer, born in Nelsonville, Ohio
Саша Алекс Слоан
Introspective American pop singer-songwriter whose first name honours Russian heritage
Саша Фарбер
Moscow-born Dancing with the Stars professional and fan favourite
Саша Лусс
Born in Magadan — the Russian Far East model who starred in Anna and became an international face
Саша Пивоварова
Moscow-born Prada muse and avant-garde supermodel who redefined the early 2000s runway
Сол Беллоу
Son of Jewish immigrants from Saint Petersburg; Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
Савелий Крамаров
Moscow's most beloved comic actor who defected to Hollywood and starred alongside Clint Eastwood
Скарлетт Йоханссон
Actress whose mother's family came from Minsk and from Russian-ruled Poland
Шон Пенн
Actor and director with three Academy Awards — Mystic River, Milk and One Battle After Another (2026); grandson of emigrants from Merkinė, Lithuania
Зельман Ваксман
Nobel laureate for streptomycin, born in Nova Pryluka; coined the word 'antibiotic'
Семён Варламов
Samara-born NHL goaltender and Vezina Trophy finalist with the New York Islanders
Сергей Кусевицкий
Conductor and double-bass virtuoso born in Vyshny Volochyok; music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1924-1949
Сергей Бобровский
Novokuznetsk-born goaltender — two-time Vezina Trophy winner and two-time Stanley Cup champion
Сергей Довлатов
Writer born in Ufa and raised in Leningrad who emigrated in 1978; eight of his stories appeared in The New Yorker
Сергей Фёдоров
Pskov-born forward; three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings
Сергей Прокофьев
Composer born in the Russian Empire; lived abroad 1918-1936, then in the USSR
Сергей Рахманинов
Born near Novgorod — the composer whose Second Piano Concerto is the most romantic music ever written
Сергей Зубов
Moscow-born defenceman — one of the most offensively gifted blueliners in NHL history and two-time Stanley Cup champion
Шеки Грин
Chicago-born Las Vegas headliner whose mother was born in Russia
Шелдон Адельсон
Casino and convention developer — COMDEX, the Venetian, Sands Macao, Marina Bay Sands; son of a Boston cab driver from Lithuania
Шемп Говард
Original member of the Three Stooges, son of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants from Kaunas
Шолом-Алейхем
Born in Pereyaslav, Ukraine — the Mark Twain of Yiddish literature whose Tevye the Dairyman became Fiddler on the Roof
Сид Сизер
Star of Your Show of Shows, born in Yonkers to Jewish immigrant parents
Сидни Люмет
Son of Warsaw-born actor Baruch Lumet — directed 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network
Саймон Кузнец
Economist born in Pinsk who built the first official US national income accounts; Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 1971
Вячеслав Фетисов
Moscow-born captain of the Soviet hockey dynasty who defected, won the Stanley Cup, and became Russia's sports minister
Слава Рубин
Born in Minsk — co-founded Indiegogo and pioneered the global crowdfunding industry
София Кенин
Moscow-born WTA star who won the Australian Open at age 21 and represented the USA
Соломон Хурок
Born in Pogar, Russia — became America's greatest impresario and brought Russian culture to the world
Соня Таюрская
Irkutsk-born Little Big member who became an unlikely international pop star
Софи Такер
Born in Tulchyn, Ukraine — the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas and one of the original American pop stars
Стэн Гетц
Jazz tenor saxophonist known as 'The Sound'; grandson of emigrants from the Kiev area
Стэн Ли
Comic-book writer and Marvel editor, born in Manhattan to Romanian-Jewish parents
Стелла Адлер
Born in New York to Odessa-born Yiddish theatre king Jacob Adler — taught Brando, De Niro and Beatty
Степан Пачиков
Born in Azerbaijan — pioneered handwriting recognition software and co-founded Evernote
Степан Тимошенко
Engineer born in the Chernigov Governorate in 1878, regarded as the father of modern engineering mechanics; co-founder of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, later at Michigan and Stanford
Стив Балмер
Chief executive of Microsoft 2000-2014 and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, born in Detroit; grandson of a Jewish emigrant from Pinsk
Стивен Сигал
American action-film actor and aikido teacher; Russian citizen since 2016
Самнер Редстоун
American media magnate who controlled Viacom and CBS; his maternal grandparents emigrated from Kyiv
Сюзанна Хоффс
The Bangles frontwoman with Russian-Jewish roots — Eternal Flame and Walk Like an Egyptian
Тад Шульц
Warsaw-born New York Times journalist who covered the Bay of Pigs and became one of America's greatest foreign correspondents
Тамара де Лемпицка
Born in Warsaw — the Art Deco queen whose portraits of the jet set defined the glamour of the 1920s
Татьяна Патиц
Hamburg-born supermodel of Baltic-Russian origin — one of the original five supermodels of the 1990s
Татьяна Проскурякофф
Mayanist born in Tomsk in 1909; showed in 1960 that Maya inscriptions record the histories of real rulers, opening the way to the decipherment of Maya writing
Татьяна Толстая
Leningrad-born writer and TV host — great-grandniece of Leo Tolstoy and Russia's sharpest satirical voice
Тейлор Момзен
Gossip Girl actress turned rock frontwoman — her maternal grandmother has Russian Jewish roots
Теодор Бикель
Actor and folk singer who played Tevye more than 2,000 times and was often cast in Russian roles; the original Captain von Trapp
Теодор Кослофф
Born in Moscow — the Imperial Ballet dancer who became Cecil B. DeMille's choreographer and silent film star
Феодосий Добржанский
Born in Nemyriv, Ukraine — the geneticist who unified Darwin and Mendel and founded modern evolutionary biology
Тимоти Шаламе
Actor; great-grandson of Jewish emigrants on his mother's side
Тимур Бекмамбетов
Born in Kazakhstan, directed Night Watch — the biggest Russian blockbuster ever — then conquered Hollywood
Тони Кёртис
Son of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants; star of Some Like It Hot
Тоути Филдс
Hartford-born stand-up comedian of the 1960s and 70s
Тиа Леони
Madam Secretary actress whose mother has Polish-Russian Jewish roots
Валентин Чмерковский
Odessa-born ballroom champion and Dancing with the Stars fan favourite — Maksim's brother
Вэл Льютон
Born in Yalta — the producer who invented psychological horror and made RKO's greatest films
Валентин Гапонцев
Moscow-born physicist who founded the fibre laser maker IPG Photonics
Валентина Шевченко
Bishkek-born UFC flyweight queen with Soviet athletic roots — one of MMA's all-time greats
Валентина Зеляева
Born in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia — the supermodel from Siberia's Buddhist heartland who walked for Chanel and Prada
Валерий Буре
Pavel Bure's younger brother — NHL forward and husband of figure skater Candace Cameron
Валерий Люкин
Born in Aktobe, Kazakhstan — Soviet Olympic champion who trained his daughter Nastia to Olympic gold
Валерий Ничушкин
Chelyabinsk sniper who became a Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Colorado
Вик Морроу
Combat! star whose parents came from the Russian Empire — the quintessential TV tough guy
Влада Рослякова
Born in Omsk, Siberia — became one of the world's top supermodels and a Chanel muse
Владимир Горовиц
Born in Berdychiv, Ukraine — the greatest pianist of the 20th century, who fled Russia with Nathan Milstein in 1925
Владимир Ипатьев
Chemist born in Moscow in 1867, pioneer of high-pressure catalysis; academician in Russia, then at Universal Oil Products and Northwestern, where his processes made high-octane aviation fuel
Владимир Набоков
Exiled genius who reinvented the English novel
Владимир Тарасенко
Yaroslavl sniper who became one of the NHL's most electrifying goal-scorers with the St. Louis Blues
Владимир Воеводский
Born in Moscow — won the Fields Medal for work so abstract it reshaped the foundations of mathematics
Владимир Зворыкин
Born in Murom — the father of television, who invented the iconoscope and kinescope
Владислав Намесников
Volgograd-born NHL forward who has played for multiple teams across a decade in the league
Уоллес Шоун
The Princess Bride's Vizzini — his Russian-Jewish grandfather shaped a playwright who became Hollywood's most quotable villain
Уолтер Кёниг
Pavel Chekov of Star Trek and Alfred Bester of Babylon 5; son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants named Königsberg
Уолтер Маттау
American actor born on the Lower East Side to a father from Kyiv and a mother from Lithuania; Oscar and two-time Tony winner
Братья Уорнер
Born in Krasnosielc, Poland (Russian Empire) — the four brothers who built Hollywood's most socially conscious studio
Василий Леонтьев
Born in St. Petersburg — won the Nobel Prize for input-output analysis, the model governments use to run economies
Уильям Фридкин
Director of The French Connection and The Exorcist, born in Chicago to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine (1935-2023)
Уильям Пейли
Chicago-born son of an immigrant from Ukraine; head of CBS from 1928
Вуди Аллен
Filmmaker whose grandparents came from Panevėžys, Lithuania, and from Austria
Яков Синай
Moscow-born mathematician; Abel Prize laureate for work on dynamical systems and ergodic theory
Яков Смирнофф
Comedian born Yakov Pokhis in Odessa in 1951; the Soviet immigrant of 1980s American comedy ('What a country!'), later a Branson headliner and doctor of psychology
Иегуди Менухин
Born in New York to parents from Gomel and Yalta, Russian Empire; violinist and conductor
Йип Харбург
Born to Russian-Jewish immigrants on the Lower East Side — wrote Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Зак Эфрон
Actor, born in San Luis Obispo, California
Зиро Мостел
The original Tevye and the original Max Bialystock
Зои Кравиц
Actress and director; her father's family descends from Russian and Ukrainian Jews
Стивен Тайлер
Aerosmith frontman, grandson of an emigrant from Klichaw
Михаил Лукин
Moscow-born Harvard physics professor — one of the world's leading quantum computing scientists
Феликс Зандман
Survived the Holocaust hidden in a pit for 17 months — then built Vishay Intertechnology, one of the world's largest electronics companies
Александр Тамас
German investor, co-founder of Vy Capital and former partner at DST Global
Никита Кан
Russian-born philanthropist and real estate developer — partner of Oracle founder Larry Ellison
Артём Милинчук
Post-Soviet-born founder of FarmTogether — pioneering digital farmland investment for ultra-high-net-worth individuals
Поль Робсон
American bass-baritone, actor and activist, celebrated in the Soviet Union from 1934; Stalin Peace Prize 1952
Роберт Робинсон
Jamaican-born toolmaker from Ford's Detroit plant who went to Stalingrad in 1930 and lived 44 years in the USSR; author of Black on Red
Скотт Сторч
Hip-hop and R&B producer who played the keyboard riff of Dr. Dre's 'Still D.R.E.'; great-great-grandson of the Vilna-born choirmaster Meyer Machtenberg
Борис Цирков
Theosophist born in St Petersburg in 1902, grandnephew of Helena Blavatsky, who spent more than half a century editing her Collected Writings
Миша Эльман
Violinist born in Talnoye in 1891, pupil of Leopold Auer, famous for 'the Elman tone'; settled in the United States
Мстислав Добужинский
Painter and stage designer born in Novgorod in 1875, a leading member of the World of Art; later designer of the Lithuanian State Theatre and of productions in New York
Валерий Сойфер
Molecular geneticist and historian of science born in Gorky in 1936; author of Lysenko and the Tragedy of Soviet Science, professor at George Mason University
Елена Блаватская
Writer born in Yekaterinoslav in 1831 who co-founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875; author of Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine