List of former Jews
Encyclopedia
List of former Jews, or more accurately, people of Jewish ethnicity and adherents of Judaism
who have converted
to another religion. According to certain concepts of Jewish being (cf. who is a Jew?
), a Jew who converts to another religion is still "a Jew," by family and heritage alone, if not also by culture, and to a certain extent, belief (cf. monotheism
).
The Jewish Encyclopedia gives some statistics on conversion of Jews to Protestantism
, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity
(which it calls "Greek Catholicism"). Some 2,000 European Jews converted to Christianity
every year during the 19th century, but in the 1890s the number was running closer to 3,000 per year—1,000 in Austria Hungary (Galizian Poland)
, 1,000 in Russia
(Poland
, Belarus
, Ukraine
, and Lithuania
), 500 in Germany
(Posen
), and the remainder in the English
world.
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
who have converted
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
to another religion. According to certain concepts of Jewish being (cf. who is a Jew?
Who is a Jew?
"Who is a Jew?" is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question is based in ideas about Jewish personhood which themselves have cultural, religious, genealogical, and personal dimensions...
), a Jew who converts to another religion is still "a Jew," by family and heritage alone, if not also by culture, and to a certain extent, belief (cf. monotheism
Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...
).
Conversion to Bahá'í Faith
- Justin BaldoniJustin BaldoniJustin Louis Baldoni is an American actor. Baldoni has acted in films such as Wedding Daze and in the television series Everwood and Heroes.-Background:...
(Everwood) Actor. - Arvid NelsonArvid NelsonArvid Nelson is an American comic book writer, best known for Rex Mundi.-Biography:Nelson started writing comics while at Dartmouth College, where he also converted to the Baha'i Faith...
is an American comic book writer, best known for Rex Mundi
Conversion to Christianity
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
(which it calls "Greek Catholicism"). Some 2,000 European Jews converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
every year during the 19th century, but in the 1890s the number was running closer to 3,000 per year—1,000 in Austria Hungary (Galizian Poland)
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, 1,000 in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and 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...
), 500 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(Posen
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
), and the remainder in the English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
world.
- Abd-al-Masih (martyr) – killed by his father for converting
- Michael Solomon AlexanderMichael Solomon AlexanderMichael Solomon Alexander was the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.-Life:...
– former Rabbi and first Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem - Petrus AlphonsiPetrus AlphonsiPetrus Alphonsi was a Jewish Spanish writer and astronomer, and polemicist, who converted to Christianity....
– physician in ordinary to King Alfonso VI of CastileAlfonso VI of CastileAlfonso VI , nicknamed the Brave or the Valiant, was King of León from 1065, King of Castile and de facto King of Galicia from 1072, and self-proclaimed "Emperor of all Spain". After the conquest of Toledo he was also self-proclaimed victoriosissimo rege in Toleto, et in Hispania et Gallecia... - Juan Alfonso de BaenaJuan Alfonso de BaenaJuan Alfonso de Baena was a Castilian troubadour. Born at Baena, he served as escribano escribiente at the court of John II of Castile. He was a Marrano...
– medieval Castilian troubadourTroubadourA troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz.... - Lovisa AugustiLovisa AugustiLovisa Sofia Augusti, , was a Swedish opera singer. She was a court singer and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.- Biography :...
- opera singer and actress. - Eduard BendemannEduard BendemannEduard Julius Friedrich Bendemann was a German painter.-Biography:Bendemann was born in Berlin. His father, Anton Heinrich Bendemann, was a Jewish banker. His mother, Fanny Eleonore Bendemann née von Halle, was a daughter of the Jewish banker Joel Samuel von Halle...
– German painter - Sir Julius BenedictJulius BenedictSir Julius Benedict was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career.-Life:...
– English composer - Leo de Benedicto ChristianoLeo de Benedicto ChristianoLeo de Benedicto Christiano, or just Benedictus Christianus, was a Jew of Trastevere in the late eleventh century. He converted to Christianity and was baptised by Pope Leo IX, whence he took his Christian name. He related himself to the ancient patrician families of Rome by marrying of his...
– medieval financier - Theodor BenfeyTheodor BenfeyThis is about the philologist. For the Theodor Benfey who developed a spiral periodic table of the elements in 1964 -- Otto Theodor Benfey -- see Alternative periodic tables....
– German philologist - Michael BernaysMichael BernaysMichael Bernays was born in Hamburg. He studied first law and then literature at Bonn and Heidelberg.He obtained a considerable reputation by his lectures on Shakespeare at Leipzig and an explanatory text to Beethoven's music to Egmont...
– German professor of literature - Gottfried BernhardyGottfried BernhardyGottfried Bernhardy , German philologist and literary historian, was born at Landsberg an der Warthe in the Neumark....
– German philologist and literary historian - Ludwig BörneLudwig BörneKarl Ludwig Börne was a German political writer and satirist.-Early life:Karl Ludwig Börne was born Loeb Baruch on May 6, 1786, at Frankfurt am Main, son of Jakob Baruch, a banker. His grandfather had been a government bureaucrat.-Education:Börne and his brothers were privately tutored by Jacob...
– German political writer and satirist - John BrahamJohn BrahamJohn Braham was a tenor opera singer born in London, England. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. He also wrote a number of songs, of minor importance, although The Death of Nelson is still remembered...
– English tenor opera star - Moritz Wilhelm August BreidenbachMoritz Wilhelm August Breidenbach- Life :Breidenbach was born at Offenbach as a son of Wolf Breidenbach. After his secondary education at a gymnasium at Frankfurt, he studied law at the University of Heidelberg, from which he was graduated in 1817 as a Doctor of Law....
– German jurist - Paulus Stephanus CasselPaulus Stephanus CasselPaulus Stephanus Cassel , born Selig Cassel, was a German Jewish convert to Christianity, writer, orator, and missionary to Jews.-Biography:Cassel was born in Gross-Glogau, Silesia...
– German who worked with the Church's Ministry Among Jewish PeopleChurch's Ministry Among Jewish PeopleChurch's Ministry Among Jewish People is an Anglican missionary society founded in 1809.-History:...
. - Julius Friedrich Cohnheim – German pathologist
- Isaac da CostaIsaac da CostaIsaac da Costa was a Dutch poet.Da Costa was born in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. His father, an aristocratic Sephardic Portuguese Jewish, Daniel da Costa, a relative of Uriel Acosta, was a prominent merchant in the city of Amsterdam; his mother, Rebecca Ricardo, was a near relative of the...
– Dutch language poet - Abraham CapadoseAbraham CapadoseThe Revd Dr Abraham Capadose or Capadoce was a Dutch physician and Calvinist writer...
– Dutch physician and writer; friend of Isaac da Costa - Carl Paul CaspariCarl Paul CaspariCarl Paul Caspari was a Norwegian neo-Lutheran theologian and academic. He wrote several books and is best known for his interpretations and translation of the Old Testament.-Early life:...
– Norwegian theologian - Jehuda CresquesJehuda CresquesJehuda Cresques , also known as Jafudà Cresques, Jaume Riba, and Cresques lo Juheu was a Catalan cartographer, and was once believed to be the man who coordinated the discoveries of the Portuguese naval school at Sagres in the early 15th century.Son of Abraham Cresques, a famous Jewish...
– Catalan cartographer - Ferdinand DavidFerdinand David (musician)Ferdinand David was a German virtuoso violinist and composer.Born in the same house in Hamburg where Felix Mendelssohn had been born the previous year, David was raised Jewish but later converted to Christianity...
– German virtuoso violinist and composer - Ludwig DessoirLudwig DessoirLudwig Dessoir, original name Leopold Dessauer was a German actor born in Posen, the son of a Jewish tradesman. He made his first appearance on the stage there in 1824 in a small part. After some experience at the theatre in Posen and on tour, he was engaged at Leipzig from 1834 to 1836...
– German actor - Benjamin Disraeli – British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
in the 19th century - Alfred DöblinAlfred DöblinAlfred Döblin was a German expressionist novelist, best known for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz .- 1878–1918:...
– German expressionist novelist - David Paul DrachDavid Paul DrachDavid Paul Drach was a Catholic convert from Judaism, and librarian of the College of Propaganda in Rome....
– Librarian of the Propaganda in Rome. - Alfred EdersheimAlfred EdersheimAlfred Edersheim was a Jewish convert to Christianity and a Biblical scholar known especially for his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah .- Early life and education :...
– Biblical scholar - Rachel FelixRachel (actress)Elisabeth "Eliza, or Élisa" Rachel Félix , better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel , was a French actress....
– French-Swiss theatre actress - Pero FerrúsPero FerrúsPero Ferrús was a Castilian poet. He lived in Alcalá de Henares....
– Castilian poet - Achille FouldAchille FouldAchille Fould was a French financier and politician.Born in Paris, the son of a successful Jewish banker, he was associated with and afterwards succeeded his father in the management of the business. As early as 1842 he entered political life, having been elected in that year as a deputy for the...
– French financier and politician - Heinrich von FriedbergHeinrich von FriedbergHeinrich von Friedberg was a German jurist and statesman.Friedberg was born in Märkisch Friedland in Pomerania. He studied law at the University of Berlin, earning his degree in 1836. He was attached to the Kammergericht at Berlin, where he became district attorney in 1848...
– German jurist and statesman - Ludwig FriedländerLudwig FriedländerLudwig Henrich Friedlaender was a German philologist.He studied at the universities of his hometown Königsberg, Leipzig, and Berlin from 1841 to 1845...
– German philologist - Arnold Fruchtenbaum – Founder of Ariel Ministries
- Eduard GansEduard GansEduard Gans was a German jurist.He was born in Berlin of prosperous Jewish parents. He studied law first at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, Berlin, then at Göttingen, and finally at Heidelberg, where he attended G. W. F. Hegel's lectures, and became thoroughly imbued with the principles of...
– German philosopher and jurist, exponent of the conservative Right HegeliansRight HegeliansThe Right Hegelians, Old Hegelians, or the Hegelian Right, were those followers of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in the early 19th century who took his philosophy in a politically and religiously conservative direction... - Hermann Mayer Salomon GoldschmidtHermann Mayer Salomon GoldschmidtHermann Mayer Salomon Goldschmidt was a German-French astronomer and painter who spent much of his life in France. He started out as a painter, but after attending a lecture by the famous French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier turned to astronomy...
– German astronomer and painter - Heinrich HeineHeinrich HeineChristian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
– GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
writer - Friedrich Gustav Jakob HenleFriedrich Gustav Jakob HenleFriedrich Gustav Jakob Henle was a German physician, pathologist and anatomist. He is credited with the discovery of the loop of Henle in the kidney. His essay "On Miasma and Contagia" was an early argument for the germ theory of disease...
– German physician, pathologist and anatomist - Jorge IsaacsJorge IsaacsJorge Isaacs Ferrer was a Colombian writer, politician and soldier. His only novel, María, became one of the most notable works of the Romantic movement in Spanish literature....
– Colombian writer, politician and soldier - Heinrich JacobyHeinrich JacobyHeinrich Jacoby , originally a musician, was a German educator whose teaching was based on developing sensitivity and awareness. A great role in his researches played the collaboration with the colleague Elsa Gindler, whom he met in 1924 in Berlin...
– German educator - Georg JellinekGeorg JellinekGeorg Jellinek was an Austrian public lawyer. Along with Hans Kelsen and the Hungarian Felix Somlo he belonged to the group of Austrian Legal Positivists and was considered to be "the exponent of public law in Austria“.-Early life:From 1867, Jellinek studied law, history of art and philosophy at...
– German legal philosopher - Paul S. L. JohnsonPaul S. L. JohnsonPaul Samuel Leo Johnson was an American scholar and pastor, the founder of the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement. He authored 17 volumes of religious writings entitled Epiphany Studies in the Scriptures, and published two magazines from about 1918 until his death in 1950...
– American scholar and pastor - David KalischDavid KalischDavid Kalisch was a German playwright and humorist.-Early life:...
– German playwright and humorist - Felix Philipp KanitzFelix Philipp KanitzFelix Philipp Kanitz was an Austro-Hungarian naturalist, geographer, ethnographer, archaeologist and author of travel notes....
– Austro-Hungarian naturalist, geographer, ethnographer, archaeologist and author of travel notes - Leopold KroneckerLeopold KroneckerLeopold Kronecker was a German mathematician who worked on number theory and algebra.He criticized Cantor's work on set theory, and was quoted by as having said, "God made integers; all else is the work of man"...
– German mathematician and logician - Lawrence KudlowLawrence KudlowLawrence "Larry" Kudlow is an American economist, television personality, and newspaper columnist. He is the host of CNBC's The Kudlow Report. As a syndicated columnist, his articles appear in numerous U.S. newspapers and web sites, including his own blog, Kudlow's Money Politic$.-Early...
– American economist - Hermann LebertHermann LebertHermann Lebert was a German physician.He studied medicine and the natural sciences first in Berlin and later in Zurich under Johann Lukas Schönlein. After he received his medical doctorate , he traveled throughout Switzerland, studying botany...
– German physician - Karl LehrsKarl LehrsKarl Ludwig Lehrs , was a German classical scholar.Born at Königsberg, he was of Jewish extraction, but in 1822 he converted to Christianity...
– German classical scholar - Osip Mikhailovich LernerOsip Mikhailovich LernerOsip Mikhailovich Lerner was a 19th century Russian Jewish intellectual and lawyer. Originally a maskil—a propagator of the Haskala, or "Jewish Enlightenment"—he later converted to Christianity and wrote a book denouncing Jews...
– 19th century Russian intellectual and lawyer - Fanny LewaldFanny LewaldFanny Lewald was a German Jewish author-Biography:She was born at Königsberg in East Prussia. When seventeen years of age she accepted Christianity. She traveled in the German Confederation, France and Italy...
– German author - Jean-Marie Lustiger- Cardinal, former Archbishop of Paris
- Heinrich Gustav Magnus – German chemist and physicist
- Ludwig Immanuel MagnusLudwig Immanuel MagnusLudwig Immanuel Magnus was a German Jewish mathematician who, in 1831, published a paper about the inversion transformation, which leads to inversive geometry....
– German mathematician - Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
– Composer (1860-1911) - Hugh MontefioreHugh MontefioreHugh William Montefiore was Bishop of Birmingham from 1977 to 1987.He was a member of a famous Jewish family. His father was Charles Sebag-Montefiore . He was educated at Rugby School , St John's College, Oxford, and Westcott House, Cambridge...
– Anglican Bishop of Birmingham from 1977 to 1987 - Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnJakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
– composer (1809-1847) - Karl Friedrich NeumannKarl Friedrich NeumannKarl Friedrich Neumann , German orientalist, was born, under the name of Bamberger, at Reichsmannsdorf, near Bamberg....
– German orientalist - Robert NovakRobert NovakRobert David Sanders "Bob" Novak was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving for the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he became a reporter for the Associated Press and then for...
– American Conservative Commentator - Harry Frederick Oppenheimer – South African businessman
- Francis PalgraveFrancis PalgraveSir Francis Palgrave FRS, born Francis Ephraim Cohen, was an English historian.- Early life :He was born in London, the son of Meyer Cohen, a Jewish stockbroker by his wife Rachel Levien Cohen . He was initially articled as a clerk to a London solicitor's firm, and remained there as chief clerk...
– English historian - Corey PavinCorey PavinCorey Allen Pavin is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour. He spent over 150 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Rankings between 1986 and 1997.-Biography:...
– PGA golfer - Johannes PfefferkornJohannes PfefferkornJohannes Pfefferkorn was a Jewish-born, German Catholic theologian and writer who converted from Judaism. Pfefferkorn actively preached against the Jews and attempted to destroy copies of the Talmud, and engaged in a long running pamphleteering battle with Johann Reuchlin.-Early life:Born a Jew,...
– German theologian and writer - Friedrich Adolf PhilippiFriedrich Adolf PhilippiFriedrich Adolf Philippi was a Lutheran theologian of Jewish origin.He was the son of a wealthy Jewish banker, a friend of Mendelssohn....
– German Lutheran theologian - Lorenzo Da PonteLorenzo Da PonteLorenzo Da Ponte was a Venetian opera librettist and poet. He wrote the librettos for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's greatest operas, Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro and Così fan tutte....
– Italian librettist - Harry ReemsHarry ReemsHarry Reems is the nom de film of one of the most notorious pornographic actors of the 1970s and star of the 1972 cult classic Deep Throat.-Early life and career:Reems was born Herbert Streicher...
– Adult film actor. - David RicardoDavid RicardoDavid Ricardo was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator,...
– English political economist - Gillian RoseGillian RoseGillian Rose was a British scholar who worked in the fields of philosophy and sociology. Notable facets of this social philosopher's work include criticism of neo-Kantianism and post-modernism, along with what has been described as "a forceful defense of Hegel's speculative thought."-Life and...
– British philosopher and sociologist - Moishe RosenMoishe RosenMartin "Moishe" Rosen was the founder and former Executive Director of Jews for Jesus, an evangelical Christian missionary organization that focuses specifically on evangelism to the Jewish people. His parents were Ben Rosen and Rose Baker. Rosen was raised in Denver, Colorado...
– Founder of Jews for JesusJews for JesusJews for Jesus is a conservative, Christian evangelical organization that focuses on the conversion of Jews to Christianity. Its members consider themselves to be Jews – either as defined by Jewish law, or as according to the view of Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus defines “Jewish” in terms of... - Joe RosenthalJoe RosenthalJoseph John Rosenthal was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima. His picture became one of the best-known photographs of the war.-Early life:Joseph Rosenthal was born on...
– American photographer - Anton RubinsteinAnton RubinsteinAnton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...
– Russian pianist, composer, and conductor - Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky – Episcopal Bishop of Shanghai, founder of Saint John's University, ShanghaiSaint John's University, ShanghaiSt. John's University was an Anglican university located in Shanghai, China. Before the Chinese Civil War it was regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in Shanghai and China...
, bible translator - Martin Eduard von SimsonMartin Eduard von SimsonMartin Sigismund Eduard von Simson was a German jurist and distinguished liberal politician of the Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire, who served as President of the Frankfurt Parliament as well as the first President of the German Parliament and of the Imperial Court...
– German jurist and politician - Dan SpitzDan SpitzDan Spitz is a musician best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the heavy metal band Anthrax from 1983–1995 and from 2005 to 2007. He is the brother of former White Lion and Black Sabbath bassist Dave Spitz.-Personal life:...
– lead guitarist of the heavy metalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band AnthraxAnthrax (band)Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene... - Friedrich Julius StahlFriedrich Julius StahlFriedrich Julius Stahl , German ecclesiastical lawyer and politician, was born at Würzburg, of Jewish parentage....
– PrussianKingdom of PrussiaThe Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
jurist and conservative thinker - Edith SteinEdith SteinSaint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross, sometimes also known as Saint Edith Stein , was a German Roman Catholic philosopher and nun, regarded as a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church...
– Nun, martyr, saint. - Mordechai VanunuMordechai VanunuMordechai Vanunu ; is a former Israeli nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently lured to Italy by a Mossad agent, where he was drugged and kidnapped by...
– considered a whistle-blower on Israel's nuclear programme who was subsequently kidnapped, tried and imprisoned by Israel. - Rahel VarnhagenRahel VarnhagenRahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen née Levin later Robert was a German-Jewish writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She is the subject of a celebrated biography, Rahel Varnhagen: The Life of a Jewess written by Hannah Arendt...
(born Rahel Levin) – writer and saloniste - Simone WeilSimone WeilSimone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
– French philosopher and activist - Otto WeiningerOtto WeiningerOtto Weininger was an Austrian philosopher. In 1903, he published the book Geschlecht und Charakter , which gained popularity after his suicide at the age of 23...
– Austrian philosopher - Joseph WolffJoseph WolffJoseph Wolff , Jewish Christian missionary, was born at Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany. He travelled widely, and was known as the Eccentric Missionary, according to Fitzroy Maclean's Eastern Approaches...
– German missionary - Sir Moses XimenesMorris XimemesSir Morris Ximenes was a captain in the British Army and Berkshire landowner who had converted to Anglicanism from Judaism....
– 18th century English merchant - David Levy YuleeDavid Levy YuleeDavid Levy Yulee, born David Levy was an American politician and attorney from Florida, a territorial delegate to Congress, the first Jewish member of the United States Senate, and a member of the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War...
, United States SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... - Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. is an American actor known for his starring roles in the television series 77 Sunset Strip and The F.B.I. He is also known as recurring character "Dandy Jim Buckley" in the series Maverick and as the voice behind the character Alfred Pennyworth in Batman: The Animated Series...
– AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor - Israel ZolliIsrael ZolliIsrael Zolli was from 1939 to 1945 Chief Rabbi of Rome. After the war, he converted to Roman Catholicism, taking the name Eugenio in honor of Pope Pius XII.-Early years/rabbinate:...
– former Chief RabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
of RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Conversion to Islam
- Abdullah ibn Salam – 7th century sahabiSahabaIn Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
said to have been a rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
of aristocratic stock. - Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-TabariAli ibn Sahl Rabban al-TabariAbu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari also given as 810-855 and 783-858 was a Persian Muslim hakim, Islamic scholar, physician and psychologist of Zoroastrian descent, who produced one of the first encyclopedia of medicine. He was a pioneer of pediatrics and the field of child development...
– 9th century Persian scholar physician (a hakimHakim (title)' and ' are two Arabic titles derived from the same triliteral ḤKM "appoint, choose, judge". Compare the Hebrew title hakham.-Hakīm :...
), who produced the first encyclopediaEncyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
of medicine. - Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-TabariAli ibn Sahl Rabban al-TabariAbu al-Hasan Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari also given as 810-855 and 783-858 was a Persian Muslim hakim, Islamic scholar, physician and psychologist of Zoroastrian descent, who produced one of the first encyclopedia of medicine. He was a pioneer of pediatrics and the field of child development...
a well-known Jewish convert to Islam doctor, belonging to the famous medical school of Tabaristan or Hyrcania) & a tutor of medicine to Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya al-Razi (known to the West as Rhazes). - Hibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-BaghdaadiHibat Allah Abu'l-Barakat al-BaghdaadiAbu'l-Barakāt Hibat Allah ibn Malkā al-Baghdādī was an Islamic philosopher and physician of Jewish-Arab descent from Baghdad, Iraq. Abu'l-Barakāt, an older contemporary and father-in-law of Maimonides, was originally known by his Hebrew birth name Nathanel before his conversion from Judaism to...
– influential physicistPhysicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, philosopher, and scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
who wrote a critique of Aristotelian philosophyAristotelianismAristotelianism is a tradition of philosophy that takes its defining inspiration from the work of Aristotle. The works of Aristotle were initially defended by the members of the Peripatetic school, and, later on, by the Neoplatonists, who produced many commentaries on Aristotle's writings...
and Aristotelian physicsAristotelian physicsAristotelian Physics the natural sciences, are described in the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle . In the Physics, Aristotle established general principles of change that govern all natural bodies; both living and inanimate, celestial and terrestrial—including all motion, change in respect...
. - Ibn KammunaIbn KammunaSa'd ibn Mansur Ibn Kammuna was a 13th Century Jewish physician , philosopher and critic of Islam who lived under the rule of the Mongols in Baghdad....
or was a 13th Century physician (ophthalmologist) and philosopher who lived in Baghdad. - Ibn Yahyā al-Maghribī al-Samaw'al was an ArabArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Muslim mathematician and astronomerIslamic astronomyIslamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...
of Jewish descentArab JewsArab Jews is a term referring to Jews living in the Arab World, or Jews descended from such persons.The term was occasionally used in the early 20th century, mainly by Arab nationalists, to describe the 1 million Jews living in the Arab world at the time...
. His father was a Jewish RabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
from MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, but al-Samawʾal converted to IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. - Jacob QueridoJacob QueridoJacob Querido was the successor of the self-proclaimed Jewish Messiah Sabbatai Zevi. Born in Thessaloniki, he was the son of Joseph the Philosopher and brother of Jochebed, Shabbatai Zevi's last wife...
– 17th century successor of the self-proclaimed Jewish MessiahMessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
Sabbatai ZeviSabbatai ZeviSabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
. - Ka'ab al-AhbarKa'ab al-AhbarKa‘b al-Aḥbār was a prominent rabbi from Yemen of the clan of Dhu Ra'in or Dhu al-Kila. He is counted among the Tabi‘in and narrated many Isra'iliyat.-Umar's era:...
an Arab Jew later on became a Sahaby. - Leila MouradLeila MouradLeila Mourad was an Egyptian singer and actress. She is also credited as "Laila Mourad" and "Layla Mourad".- Life :Leila Mourad was born in Al Daher, Cairo on February 17, 1918 to an Egyptian of Iraqi Jewish descent father, Zaki Mourad, a respected singer and musician in the twenties, and to a...
– EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian singer and actress who rose to fame in the 1940s and 1950s. - Leopold Weiss or Muhammad AsadMuhammad AsadMuhammad Asad , was an Austrian Polish Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar...
see below. - Lev NussimbaumLev NussimbaumLev Nussimbaum was a writer and journalist, a Jew, born in Kiev, who spent his childhood in Baku before fleeing the Bolsheviks in 1920 at the age of 14...
– prolific author on the topics of Middle East and Russian history; the NaziNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
propaganda ministry included his works on their list of "excellent books for German minds" before discovering he was an ethnic Jew. - Muhammad AsadMuhammad AsadMuhammad Asad , was an Austrian Polish Jew who converted to Islam, and a 20th century journalist, traveler, writer, social critic, linguist, thinker, reformer, diplomat, political theorist, translator and scholar...
(Leopold Weiss) – Viennese journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
who became Pakistani ambassador to the United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, his son Talal AsadTalal AsadTalal Asad is an anthropologist at the City University of New York.Asad has made important theoretical contributions to post-colonialism, Christianity, Islam, and ritual studies and has recently called for, and initiated, an anthropology of secularism...
is an anthropologist at the City University of New York - Rashid-al-Din Hamadani – 13th century Persian physician
- Sabbatai ZeviSabbatai ZeviSabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
- SarmadSarmadMuhammad Sa'id, mostly known as Sarmad Kashani or simply as Sarmad was a Persian mystic, poet and saint who travelled to and made the Indian subcontinent his permanent home during the 17th century...
– 17th century mystical poet and sufi saint, arrived from Persia to IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, beheaded for assumed heresyHeresyHeresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
by Aurungzebe. - Sultan Rafi Sharif BeySultan Rafi Sharif BeyRafi Yahya Abdullah Sharif-Bey was a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United States. He was a co-founder of the Sufi group The Noble Order of Moorish Sufis, the head Mufti of Moorish Science Temple #13 in Baltimore, and involved in the Ahmadiyyah movement.-Biography:Born Yale...
(Yale Singer) – a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United StatesIslam in the United StatesFrom the 1880s to 1914, several thousand Muslims immigrated to the United States from the Ottoman Empire, and from parts of South Asia; they did not form distinctive settlements, and probably most assimilated into the wider society....
. - Yaqub ibn KillisYaqub ibn KillisYaqub ibn Killis , was an Egyptian Vizier under the Fatimids .Yaqub ibn Yusuf ibn Killis was born in Baghdad in 930 in a Jewish family. After his family moved to Syria he came to Egypt in 943 and entered the service of the Regent Kafur. Soon he controlled the Egyptian state finances in his...
– 10th century Egyptian vizierVizierA vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
under the Fatimids.
Conversion to Hinduism
- Krishna Das (born Jeffrey Kagel) – singer who performs Indian chants called kirtanKirtanKirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...
s - Ram DassRam DassRam Dass is an American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the seminal 1971 book Be Here Now. He is known for his personal and professional associations with Timothy Leary at Harvard University in the early 1960s, for his travels to India and his relationship with the Hindu guru Neem...
(born Richard Alpert)- syncretist, and follower of the Hindu deity HanumanHanumanHanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. Professor of psychologyPsychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country... - Hridayananda Goswami (born Howard J. Resnick) – American spiritual leader of the International Society for Krishna ConsciousnessInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
- Tamal Krishna Goswami (born Thomas G. Herzig) – governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna ConsciousnessInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessThe International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
- John LevyJohn Levy (philosopher)John Levy was a British mystic, artist, and musician, best known for translating the works of his guru Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, Atma Darshan and Atma Niviriti into English.-Personal life:...
– British philosopher who translated books on Advaita VedantaAdvaita VedantaAdvaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...
See also
- List of people who converted to Judaism
- List of former Muslims
- Conversion to JudaismConversion to JudaismConversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
- List of former Christians
- List of former Roman Catholics
- List of former Protestants
- List of former Latter Day Saints
- Messianic JudaismMessianic JudaismMessianic Judaism is a syncretic religious movement that arose in the 1960s and 70s. It blends evangelical Christian theology with elements of Jewish terminology and ritual....
- Jews for JesusJews for JesusJews for Jesus is a conservative, Christian evangelical organization that focuses on the conversion of Jews to Christianity. Its members consider themselves to be Jews – either as defined by Jewish law, or as according to the view of Jews for Jesus. Jews for Jesus defines “Jewish” in terms of...