List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa
Encyclopedia
There are a number of Black African groups that practice Judaism, the most prominent of which are the Beta Israel
of Ethiopia
. However, the vast majority of Jews in Sub-Saharan Africa
live in South Africa, and are of Ashkenazi (largely Lithuania
n) origin. Small post-colonial communities exist elsewhere. Here is a list of some prominent Sub-Saharan African Jews, arranged by country of origin.
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. However, the vast majority of Jews in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
live in South Africa, and are of Ashkenazi (largely Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n) origin. Small post-colonial communities exist elsewhere. Here is a list of some prominent Sub-Saharan African Jews, arranged by country of origin.
Ethiopia
- Ephraim Isaac, Phd Princeton Scholar
- Adisu MassalaAdisu Massala-Background:Masala was born in Ethiopia in 1961, and made aliyah in 1980 after crossing the Ethiopia-Sudan border to take a plane bound for Israel. Once in the country, he studied social work and mechanical engineering at Bar-Ilan University, gaining a BA and went on to work as a social worker...
, politician - Esti MamoEsti MamoEsti Mamo is an Israeli fashion model[] and actress.-Childhood:Of Ethiopian Jewish descent, Esti Mamo was born in 1983 in Chilga, in northwestern Ethiopia...
, Ethiopian-Israeli model - Meskie Shibru-SivanMeskie Shibru-SivanMeskie Shibru-Sivan is an Israeli actress and vocalist.Meskie was born in Ethiopia. She came to Israel without her family in 1985, when she was 16 years old. Supposedly she came to study Computer Science, but instead she studied acting at the Nissan Nativ School of Acting in Tel Aviv. Her family...
, actress and singer
Mozambique
- Albie SachsAlbie SachsAlbie Sachs was a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the court by Nelson Mandela in 1994 and retired in October 2009...
, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa) - Ruth FirstRuth FirstRuth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa)
Politicians and activists
- Hilda BernsteinHilda BernsteinHilda Bernstein was an author, artist, and an activist against apartheid and for women's rights. She was born Hilda Schwarz in London and emigrated to South Africa at the age of 18 years and became active in politics...
, anti-apartheid activist - Lionel BernsteinLionel BernsteinLionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.-Early life:Bernstein was born in Durban, the youngest of four children of Jewish émigrés from Europe. He was orphaned at eight years old, and brought up by relatives, after which he was sent to finish his...
, anti-apartheid activist - Harry BloomHarry BloomHarry Saul Bloom was a Jewish South African journalist, novelist, and political activist. Born Solomon Harris Bloom, he was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and subsequently became an advocate in Johannesburg...
, anti-apartheid activist - Jules Browde, barrister, jusrist and anti-apartheid activist. Law school classmate of Nelson Mandela.
- Selma Browde, physician, anti-apartheid activist, former Councilwoman - Johanessburg City Council, AIDS activist.
- Arthur ChaskalsonArthur ChaskalsonArthur Chaskalson, is a former President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Chief Justice of South Africa...
, chief justice - Abba EbanAbba EbanAbba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician.In his career he was Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations...
, Israeli diplomat (South African-born) - Bernard FriedmanBernard FriedmanDr Bernard Friedman , was a surgeon, politician, author, businessman, and outstanding orator who co-founded the anti-apartheid Progressive Party . He was educated at Pretoria Boys' High School and then he read medicine at Edinburgh University, where he was a gold medalist...
, anti-apartheid MP - Richard GoldstoneRichard GoldstoneRichard Joseph Goldstone is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from 1990 to 1994...
, judge and international war crimes prosecutor - Joel Joffe, human rights activist
- Ronnie KasrilsRonnie KasrilsRonald Kasrils is a South African politician. He was Minister for Intelligence Services from 27 April 2004 to 25 September 2008...
, current South African Intelligence Minister - Tony LeonTony LeonAnthony James "Tony" Leon is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance. Although still a member of the DA, he currently serves as the South African Ambassador to Argentina under the ANC government.-Early life:Leon grew up...
, previous opposition leader - Joe SlovoJoe SlovoFor Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...
, ANCAfrican National CongressThe African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
activist and leader of the South African Communist PartySouth African Communist PartySouth African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H... - Harry SchwarzHarry SchwarzHarry Heinz Schwarz was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid, who eventually served as the South African ambassador to the United States during the country’s transition to representative democracy.Schwarz rose from the childhood poverty he...
, anti-apartheid politician, lawyer and diplomat - Helen SuzmanHelen SuzmanHelen Suzman, DBE was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician.-Biography:Helen Suzman, a life-long citizen of South Africa, was born as Helen Gavronsky in 1917 to Jewish immigrants....
, anti-apartheid MP - Harold HansonHarold HansonHarold Joseph Hanson was an eminent South African advocate and Senior Member of the Johannesburg Bar Council. He was born in Johannesburg to Ralph Hanson, a Rand pioneer and Clara Lewis. Harold Hanson first married May Koseff with whom he had a daughter. His second marriage was in 1945 to Anna...
, QC and strong supporter of civil liberties - Robin Philip Cranko, Lawyer, Anti Aphartheid activist
- Helen ZilleHelen ZilleHelen Zille is the Premier of the Western Cape, a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance political party, and a former Mayor of Cape Town.Zille is a former journalist and anti-apartheid activist, and famously exposed the truth...
, Mayor of Cape Town, Leader of the Opposition Party
- Other Jewish ANC activists included Ruth FirstRuth FirstRuth First was a white South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar born in Johannesburg, South Africa...
, Albie SachsAlbie SachsAlbie Sachs was a judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He was appointed to the court by Nelson Mandela in 1994 and retired in October 2009...
and five of the six whites arrested in the Rivonia TrialRivonia TrialThe Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to overthrow the apartheid system.-Origins:...
: Denis GoldbergDenis GoldbergDenis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner, who was active in the struggle against apartheid and was imprisoned along with other key members of the anti-apartheid movement....
, Lionel BernsteinLionel BernsteinLionel "Rusty" Bernstein was a South African anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner.-Early life:Bernstein was born in Durban, the youngest of four children of Jewish émigrés from Europe. He was orphaned at eight years old, and brought up by relatives, after which he was sent to finish his...
, Arthur GoldreichArthur GoldreichArthur Goldreich was a South African-Israeli abstract painter and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement in the country of his birth.-Early life:...
, James KantorJames KantorJames Kantor was a South African Lawyer. He was Nelson Mandela's lawyer in the Rivonia Trial until he too was arrested and was charged with the same crimes as Mandela. Harry Schwarz, a close friend and a well-known politician, stepped in to act as his defense in the trial...
, Harold WolpeHarold WolpeHarold Wolpe was a South African political economist and writer who was involved in anti-apartheid politics. He was arrested and put in prison in 1963 but escaped and spent 30 years in exile in the United Kingdom. He returned to South Africa in 1990.-Selected bibliography:*“The Problem of the...
and Gaby Shapiro.
Academics
- Abraham Manie AdelsteinAbraham Manie AdelsteinAbraham Manie "Abe" Adelstein was a South African born doctor who became the United Kingdom's Chief Medical Statistician.-Career:...
, UK Chief Medical Statistician - Selig Percy AmoilsSelig Percy AmoilsSelig Percy Amoils, FRCS, born 1933, is a South African ophthalmologist and biomedical engineering inventor. In 1965, Amoils refined the cryoextraction method of cataract surgery by developing a cryoprobe that was cooled through the Joule-Thomson effect of gas expansion...
, Inventor & Surgeon - Moses BlackmanMoses BlackmanMoses Blackman was a South African-born British crystallographer.His father was a minister of religion, Rev. Joseph Blackman.-Education:...
, crystallographer - Sydney BrennerSydney BrennerSydney Brenner, CH FRS is a South African biologist and a 2002 Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate, shared with H...
, biologist, Nobel Prize (2002) - Leo CamronLeo CamronLeo Camron was a South African-Israeli educationalist and sportsman, from Natal particularly remembered for his English textbooks, and rugby advocacy.-Early life:...
, educationalist - Sydney CohenSydney CohenSydney Cohen CBE, FRS is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Pathology, Guy's Hospital Medical School and an authority on malaria.He was educated at King Edward VIIth School, Johannesburg and at Witwatersrand and London universities...
, pathologist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
, 2005, p214, 230) - Meyer FortesMeyer FortesMeyer Fortes was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana.Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard...
, anthropologist - Max GluckmanMax GluckmanMax Gluckman was a South African and British social anthropologist.He grew up in South Africa, working later under the British Administration in Northern Rhodesia...
, anthropologist - Aaron KlugAaron KlugSir Aaron Klug, OM, PRS is a Lithuanian-born British chemist and biophysicist, and winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes.-Biography:Klug was...
, chemist, Nobel Prize (1982) - Ludwig LachmannLudwig LachmannLudwig Lachmann was a German economist who became a member of and important contributor to the Austrian School.-Education and career:...
, economist - Arnold LazarusArnold LazarusArnold Allan Lazarus is a South African psychologist who is known for his contributions to behavior therapy.Concurrently with the pioneering contributions of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck, starting in the late 1950s and continuing through the 1970s, Lazarus developed what was arguably the first form...
, psychologist - Roland LevinskyRoland LevinskyProfessor Roland Levinsky was an academic researcher in biomedicine and a university senior manager. His last post, which he held at the time of his death, was as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom.He was born in South Africa to Jewish parents...
, biologist - Stanley MandelstamStanley MandelstamStanley Mandelstam is a South African-born theoretical physicist. He introduced the relativistically invariant Mandelstam variables into particle physics in 1958 as a convenient coordinate system for formulating his double dispersion relations...
, physicist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p214) - Shula MarksShula MarksShula Eta Marks, OBE, FBA is emeritus professor of history at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London....
, historian (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p215) - Frank NabarroFrank NabarroFrank Reginald Nunes Nabarro MBE OMS FRS was an English-born South African physicist and one of the pioneers of solid-state physics, which underpins much of 21st century technology.-Education:...
, physicist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p214) - Seymour PapertSeymour PapertSeymour Papert is an MIT mathematician, computer scientist, and educator. He is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, as well as an inventor of the Logo programming language....
, Artificial Intelligence pioneer - Peter SarnakPeter SarnakPeter Clive Sarnak is a South African-born mathematician. He has been Eugene Higgins Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University since 2002, succeeding Andrew Wiles, and is an editor of the Annals of Mathematics...
, mathematician - Isaac SchaperaIsaac SchaperaIsaac Schapera, FBA, FRSSAf was Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and regarded as one of the world's leading experts in the anthropology of South African tribesmen....
, anthropologist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p215) - Anthony SegalAnthony SegalAnthony Walter Segal is a British biochemist.He has been Charles Dent Professor of Medicine, University College London, since 1986. He was educated at the University of Cape Town and University of London . He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1998...
, biochemist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p214) - Phillip V. TobiasPhillip V. TobiasPhillip Vallentine Tobias is a South African palaeoanthropologist and Professor Emeritus at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg...
, palaeoanthropologist - Joseph WolpeJoseph WolpeJoseph Wolpe was born on April 20, 1915, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and died on December 4, 1997, from lung cancer. He is one of the most influential figures in behavior therapy....
, psychotherapist - Lewis WolpertLewis WolpertLewis Wolpert CBE FRS FRSL is a developmental biologist, author, and broadcaster.-Career:Wolpert was educated at the University of Witwatersrand , at Imperial College London, and at King's College London...
, developmental biologist - Basil YameyBasil YameyBasil S. Yamey, CBE is a South African economist. He was born in Cape Town in South Africa, and educated at the University of Cape Town. For many years he was a Professor at the London School of Economics...
, economist (Jewish Year BookJewish Year BookThe Jewish Year Book is an almanac targeted at the Jewish community in the United Kingdom. It has been published every year since 1896 and is currently published by Vallentine Mitchell in association with The Jewish Chronicle and is edited by Stephen W...
2005 p215,315) - Solly ZuckermanSolly ZuckermanSolly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman, OM, KCB, FRS was a British public servant, zoologist, and scientific advisor who is best remembered as an advisor to the Allies on bombing strategy in World War II, for his work to advance the cause of nuclear non-proliferation, and for his role in bringing...
, UK zoologist
Cultural figures
- Lionel AbrahamsLionel AbrahamsLionel Abrahams was a South African novelist, poet, editor, critic, essayist and publisher. He was born in Johannesburg, where he lived his entire life...
, poet - Jillian BeckerJillian BeckerJillian Becker is a novelist, prize-winning story-writer, critic, journalist, lecturer, best known internationally as a writer, researcher, and authority on the subject of terrorism.-Life:...
, writer - Dani BehrDani BehrDani Behr is an English singer, actress and television presenter.-Early life:Behr was born in Mill Hill London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Behr & Butchoff...
, tv presenter - Harry BloomHarry BloomHarry Saul Bloom was a Jewish South African journalist, novelist, and political activist. Born Solomon Harris Bloom, he was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and subsequently became an advocate in Johannesburg...
, writer & anti-apartheid activist (father (non-biological) of Orlando BloomOrlando BloomOrlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom is an English actor. He had his break-through roles in 2001 as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings and starring in 2003 as blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, and subsequently established himself as a lead in Hollywood...
) - Lisa Chait, radio presenter
- Johnny CleggJohnny Clegg (musician)Jonathan "Johnny" Clegg is a musician from South Africa, who has recorded and performed with his bands Juluka and Savuka. Sometimes called Le Zoulou Blanc , he is an important figure in South African popular music history, with songs that mix Zulu with English lyrics, and African with various...
, World Beat musician - John CrankoJohn CrankoJohn Cyril Cranko was a choreographer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet....
, choreographer - Graeme FriedmanGraeme FriedmanGraeme Friedman is a clinical psychologist and an award-winning writer whose short stories have appeared in anthologies published internationally . His latest book is The Fossil Artist , a novel about crime, authenticity, what it means to be human and how we come to love, has been has been...
, writer - David GoldblattDavid GoldblattDavid Goldblatt is a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid and more recently that country's landscapes.-Life and work:...
, photographer - Nadine GordimerNadine GordimerNadine Gordimer is a South African writer and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature when she was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".Her writing has long dealt...
, writer, Nobel Prize (1991) - Laurence HarveyLaurence HarveyLaurence Harvey was a Lithuanian-born actor who achieved fame in British and American films.- Early life :Harvey maintained throughout his life that his birth name was Laruschka Mischa Skikne. However, his legal name was Zvi Mosheh Skikne. He was the youngest of three boys born to Ber "Boris" and...
, actor - Ronald HarwoodRonald HarwoodSir Ronald Harwood CBE is an author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay...
, playwright - Manu HerbsteinManu HerbsteinManu Herbstein is the South African author of Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade , which won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, the first time the award had been given to an electronic book. The companion web site to his novel is at http://www.ama.africatoday.com where...
, writer - Dan JacobsonDan JacobsonDan Jacobson is a novelist, short story writer, critic and essayist. He has lived in Great Britain for most of his adult life, and for many years held a professorship in the English Department at University College London...
, writer - Sid JamesSid JamesSid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
, comic actor - Danny KDanny KDanny K is a versatile South African singer, songwriter and actor. He holds a B.A. degree from the Wits University...
, pop singer - William KentridgeWilliam KentridgeWilliam Kentridge is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films. These are constructed by filming a drawing, making erasures and changes, and filming it again. He continues this process meticulously, giving each change to the drawing a quarter of a second to two...
, artist - Lennie LeeLennie LeeLennie Lee is a South African conceptual artist who lives and works in London.-Life and career:Lennie Lee is a British artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He moved to the UK in 1960. He was educated at Dulwich college in London before winning a scholarship to study philosophy at Christ...
, artist - Laurence LernerLaurence LernerLaurence Lerner is a South African born British literary critic and poet and novelist. He was born in Cape Town to parents of Lithuanian-Jewish ancestry, and educated at the University of Cape Town and Pembroke College, Cambridge....
, poet - Manfred MannManfred MannManfred Mann was a British beat, rhythm and blues and pop band of the 1960s, named after their South African keyboardist, Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band...
(Manfred Lubowitz), R&B keyboardist - Sarah MillinSarah MillinSarah Gertrude Millin, née Liebson was a Kimberley, South African-born writer. In her lifetime, she was one of the most popular English-language novelists in South Africa...
, writer - Trevor RabinTrevor RabinTrevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
, guitarist & film composer - Jonathan ShapiroZapiroJonathan Shapiro, born 1958 in Cape Town, is a South African cartoonist, famous as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions...
(Zapiro), political cartoonist - Anthony Sher, stage actor
- Janet SuzmanJanet SuzmanDame Janet Suzman, DBE is a South African-born-British actress and director.-Early life:Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty and Saul Suzman, a wealthy importer of tobacco....
, stage actress
Business and professional figures
- Raymond AckermanRaymond AckermanRaymond Ackerman is a South African businessman, who purchased the Pick 'n Pay supermarket group from its founder Mr Jack Goldin . Raymond Ackerman was chairman until he stepped down in 2010. He is also well known for his philanthropic activities...
, supermarket tycoon - Barney BarnatoBarney BarnatoBarney Barnato , born Barnet Isaacs, was a British Randlord, one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later gold mining, in South Africa from the 1870s.-Background:...
, diamond magnate - Alfred BeitAlfred BeitAlfred Beit was a German, British South African, Jewish gold and diamond magnate, a supporter of British imperialism in Southern Africa and a major donor towards infrastructure development in central and Southern Africa, and to university education and research in several countries.- Life and...
, diamond magnate - Donald GordonDonald GordonSir Donald Gordon is a South African businessman and philanthropist.-Career:Educated at King Edward VII School in Johannesburg before doing his articles to be a Chartered Accountant at the firm Kessel Feinstein .He founded the Liberty Life Association of Africa in 1957 out of which he formed...
, founder of insurance company Liberty Life, shopping centre owner & philanthropist - Sydney Jacobson, newspaper editor
- Solomon JoelSolomon JoelSolomon Barnato Joel was a South African financier and mining, brewing and railway magnate.-Career:Known as "Solly", he was born into a Jewish family, being one of three sons of Joel Joel , and Kate Isaacs, who was a sister of Barnett Isaacs, later to be called Barney Barnato...
, financier - Sol KerznerSol KerznerSolomon Kerzner is a South African accountant and business magnate.-Background and career:Kerzner was born in Troyeville, Johannesburg, the youngest of four children to Jewish Russian immigrants...
, hotel & casino owner - Sammy MarksSammy MarksSamuel Marks better known as Sammy Marks 1843 - 18 February 1920, was a South African industrialist and financier.-Life history:Born the son of a Jewish tailor in 1843/44 at Neustadt-Sugind , in Lithuania, Russia and endowed with integrity, courage, astonishing business acumen and immense vitality...
, early entrepreneur from PretoriaPretoriaPretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is... - ErnestErnest OppenheimerSir Ernest Oppenheimer was a diamond and gold mining entrepreneur, financier and philanthropist, who controlled De Beers and founded the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.-Career:...
& Harry OppenheimerHarry OppenheimerHarry Frederick Oppenheimer was a prominent South African businessman and one of the world's richest men...
, diamond tycoons & philanthropists (Harry converted to Christianity) - Percy YutarPercy YutarDr. Percy Yutar was South Africa’s first Jewish attorney-general. Yutar was one of eight children in a family of Lithuanian immigrants...
, South Africa's first Jewish attorney-general and prosecutorProsecutorThe prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
of Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
in the 1963 Rivonia Treason TrialRivonia TrialThe Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in South Africa between 1963 and 1964, in which ten leaders of the African National Congress were tried for 221 acts of sabotage designed to overthrow the apartheid system.-Origins:...
.
Sports figures
- AliAli BacherAron "Ali" Bacher is a former South African Test cricketer and an administrator of the United Cricket Board of South Africa.-Biography:...
& Adam BacherAdam BacherAdam Marc Bacher is a South African cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler...
, cricketers - Leo CamronLeo CamronLeo Camron was a South African-Israeli educationalist and sportsman, from Natal particularly remembered for his English textbooks, and rugby advocacy.-Early life:...
, rugby union player and cricketer. - Okey GeffinOkey GeffinAaron "Okey" Geffin was a South African rugby union player.He is sometimes considered the greatest Jewish rugby player of all time, and he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998....
, rugby union player - Ilana KlossIlana KlossIlana Sheryl Kloss is a former professional tennis player and the commissioner of World Team Tennis.-Tennis career:Kloss was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before turning professional, in 1972 she won the Wimbledon juniors singles title. In 1974 she won U.S...
, tennis player - Peter Lindenberg, powerboat racer (uconfirmed)
- Sarah PoeweSarah PoeweSarah Poewe is an Olympic Breaststroke swimmer, who has swum internationally for both South Africa and Germany....
, swimmer - Philip Rabinowitz (runner), 100-year-old sprinter
- Jody ScheckterJody ScheckterJody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...
, Formula 1 driver - Shaun TomsonShaun TomsonShaun Tomson is a South African professional surfer and former world champion, environmentalist, actor, author and businessman.-Life and career:...
, surfer - Mandy YachadMandy YachadMandy Yachad is a former South African cricketer and field hockey player who represented the South African national team in both sports....
, cricketer
Rugby union
- Max Baise, South African rugby union referee.
- Louis Babrow
- Leo CamronLeo CamronLeo Camron was a South African-Israeli educationalist and sportsman, from Natal particularly remembered for his English textbooks, and rugby advocacy.-Early life:...
, South African who helped introduced rugby to Israel., also a cricketer - Okey GeffinOkey GeffinAaron "Okey" Geffin was a South African rugby union player.He is sometimes considered the greatest Jewish rugby player of all time, and he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1998....
, South African Rugby Union player - Joe KaminerJoe KaminerJoe Kaminer was a South African rugby union player.Kaminer, who is Jewish, was born in Warmbad and schooled in Pietersburg. He played a single test for the Boks, making his debut on 16 Aug 1958, with the Boks losing against France at Ellis Park...
- Jonathan KaplanJonathan Kaplan (rugby)Jonathan Isaac Kaplan , is a full-time international rugby union referee and currently holds the record for the most international matches as referee.-Background:...
, South African who holds the world record for refereeing the highest number of international rugby union test matches. - Alan MenterAlan MenterProfessor Alan Menter MD is an English-born dermatologist, and former flyhalf rugby union player for .-Rugby union:Menter played his first international game on the South African tour of France in 1968. The Springboks won both games...
, South African Rugby Union Player - Cecil MossCecil MossCecil Moss was a South African rugby union player and coach. He was professionally a physician. Moss was Jewish. He and his wife had two children....
- Sydney Nomis, South African Rugby Union player
- Wilf RosenbergWilf RosenbergWilfred "Wilf" Rosenberg was a South African rugby union and rugby league player.He was nicknamed the Flying Dentist.He was the son of a rabbi....
, rugby union player - Fred SmollanFred SmollanFrederick "Fred" Cecil Smollan was a South African rugby union player.He was the second Jew to represent in rugby union, after Morris Zimerman...
- Joel StranskyJoel StranskyJoel Theodore Stransky is a former South African rugby union rugby player, most notable for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the famous dramatic winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. He played as a fly-half.-Early life:Stransky was born in...
, South African rugby union player - Morris ZimmermanMorris ZimmermanMorris Zimmerman was an important craftsman, merchant and businessman in Baltimore, Md. He founded Howard Luggage Company, a landmark Maryland business closed in 2007 after 93 years...
Zimbabwe
- Norman GerasNorman GerasNorman Geras is Professor Emeritus of Government at the University of Manchester. In a long academic career, he has contributed substantially to the analysis of the works of Karl Marx, particularly in his book Marx and Human Nature and the article 'The Controversy About Marx and Justice', which...
http://eis.bris.ac.uk/~plcdib/imprints/normangerasinterview.html, professor of Government - Anthony GubbayAnthony GubbayAnthony Ray Gubbay is the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe. He served in the position from 1990 to 2001, when he was forced to take early retirement and replaced by Godfrey Chidyausiku....
, former chief justice - Alexander PinesAlexander PinesAlexander Pines is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, Senior Scientist in the Materials Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , and a member of the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences and the Department of...
, chemist - Roy WelenskyRoy WelenskySir Raphael "Roy" Welensky, KCMG was a Northern Rhodesian politician and the second and last prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland...
, prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and NyasalandFederation of Rhodesia and NyasalandThe Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, also known as the Central African Federation , was a semi-independent state in southern Africa that existed from 1953 to the end of 1963, comprising the former self-governing colony of Southern Rhodesia and the British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia,...
See also
- List of Jews
- List of South Africans
- Jews and Judaism in the African diaspora
- South Africa Maccabiah rugby union team