Paula Abdul — singer with roots in the Russian Empire
Paula Abdul. Singer, dancer and choreographer born in San Fernando, California; original judge on American Idol. Her father, Harry Abdul, was a Syrian Jew born in Aleppo and raised in Brazil; her mother, the concert pianist Lorraine Rykiss, grew up in a Jewish family in Minnedosa, Manitoba. Secondary sources describe the mother's forebears as Ashkenazi Jews from Ukraine, but none names the ancestor, the generation or the town.
Tracing the roots — Mother's family Jewish, from Minnedosa, Manitoba, with ancestors described as from Ukraine (ancestor and town not documented); father from Aleppo, Syria
Her father, Harry Abdul, was a Syrian Jew born in Aleppo and raised in Brazil; her mother, the concert pianist Lorraine Rykiss, grew up in a Jewish family in Minnedosa, Manitoba. Secondary sources describe the mother's forebears as Ashkenazi Jews from Ukraine, but none names the ancestor, the generation or the town.
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Mother's family Jewish, from Minnedosa, Manitoba, with ancestors described as from Ukraine (ancestor and town not documented); father from Aleppo, Syria. At the time, this region lay within the Russian Empire, which spanned from Poland to the Pacific.