List of West European Jews

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Apart from France, established Jewish populations exist in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. With the original medieval populations wiped out by the Black Death and the pogroms that followed it, the current Dutch and Belgian communities originate in the Jewish expulsion from Spain and Portugal, while a Swiss community was only established after emancipation in 1874. However, the vast majority of the population in the Netherlands and a large proportion of the one in Belgium were murdered in the Holocaust, and much of the modern Jewish population of these countries (as well as of Switzerland) derives from post-Holocaust arrivals from other parts of Europe. Here is a list of some prominent Jews in western Europe, arranged by country of origin.

Austria

Belgium

France

Ireland

Italy

Political figures

Religious and communal leaders

  • Samuel Aboab (1610–1694), prominent rabbi
  • Aaron ben Gershon abu Al-Rabi or Aronne Abulrabi of Catania (ca. 1400–1450), rabbinic scholar, cabalist and astrologer; called also Aldabi or Alrabi, Aaron was "the first Jew in the history to be invited during a Pontificate to discuss freely and without censorship about religious subjects and papal perplexities; Pope Martin V welcomed him in Rome[4]
  • Barbara Aiello, American-born rabbi active in Italy
  • Benjamin Artom (1835–1879), Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain
  • Umberto Cassuto (1883–1951), rabbi
  • Abraham Isaac Castello (1726–1789), rabbi
  • Leone Ebreo (1465–1523), Neoplatonic philosopher
  • Amos Luzzatto (1928–2020), writer and former president of the Italian Jewish Communities Union[5]
  • Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746), rabbi, scholar, mystic, also known as Ramchal
  • Samuel David Luzzatto (1800–1865), important rabbi and scholar, also known as Shadal
  • Raphael Meldola (1754–1828), rabbi
  • David Nieto (1654–1728), rabbi
  • Riccardo Pacifici (1904–1943), rabbi, murdered in Auschwitz
  • Joseph Pardo (1561–1619), rabbi
  • Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (1475–1550), rabbi, philosopher
  • Elio Toaff (1915–2015), rabbi and former Chief of Italian Jews Community
  • Isaiah di Trani (ca. 1180–1250), talmudist, rabbi, also known as RID
  • Moses David Vali (circa 1697 – December 17, 1776) biblical commentator, physician, scholar, and Kabbalist from Padua.

Academics

Mathematicians

Musicians

Writers

Artists

Business

Other

Luxembourg

Monaco

Netherlands

Scotland

Spain and Portugal

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Politicians

Actors

Religious and communal leaders

Other

See also

Notes

^ Of the 12 members of the 1928 Olympics Dutch Women's Gymnastics Team – the first ever women's gymnastics gold medalists – five were Jewish. All but Levie were murdered in the Holocaust.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e "Jews in Sports: Jewish Olympic Medalists (1896 - Present)". Jewish Virtual Library.
  2. ^ Ralph Miliband biography Archived 3 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Brussels Transit". Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  4. ^ Aaron ben Gershon Abu Al-Rabi biography
  5. ^ Italian Jewish Communities Union
  6. ^ "BONAVOGLIO (ḤEFEZ), MOSES, OF MESSINA - JewishEncyclopedia.com". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  7. ^ Clark, Charles W. (2001). "Ugo Fano (1912–2001)". Nature. 410 (6825): 164. doi:10.1038/35065786. S2CID 26743870. A member of a wealthy Italian Jewish family
  8. ^ Jewish Year Book 1985 p.188
  9. ^ a b c d "HOASM: Alvise Bassano".
  10. ^ Concise Dictionary of National Biography: "an Italian Jew"
  11. ^ The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed 2001), art. Obadiah the Proselyte
  12. ^ Concise Dictionary of National Biography: "born Umberto Wolff in Milan of Jewish parentage"
  13. ^ Fleishman, Jeffrey (1 December 2006). "A farcical attack on Hitler taboos". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  14. ^ L'ENTREPRISE PRÉFÉRÉE DU GRAND PUBLIC. Chanel, le luxe et le secret (in French)