Политика и общественные деятели

Энтони Блинкен

U.S. Secretary of State, rooted in Kyiv

Берни Сандерс

U.S. Senator from Vermont, grandson of emigrants from Białystok and Radzyń

Борис Джонсон

UK PM with roots in the Russian Empire

Кристя Фриланд

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister

Давид Бен-Гурион

Israel's founder, born in Płońsk, Russian Empire

Элена Каган

First female Solicitor General, SCOTUS Justice

Голда Меир

Israel's Iron Lady, born in Kyiv

Майкл Блумберг

Bloomberg L.P. founder and New York mayor, grandson of emigrants from Vilna and Grodno

Майкл Игнатьев

Canadian statesman, grandson of a tsarist minister

Натан Щаранский

Soviet dissident who defied the KGB for Israel

Ник Клегг

UK Deputy PM with Russian imperial roots

Адам Шифф

US Senator for California since December 2024, previously in the House of Representatives 2001–24; great-grandson of Lithuanian Jews

Александр Беркман

Russian-born anarchist who attempted to assassinate a steel baron and shaped American radical politics

Александр Литвиненко

The spy who came in from the cold—and told all.

Алексей Навальный

Russia's most prominent dissident, martyred for truth.

Анна Чапман

Russia's most glamorous Cold War ghost

Ариэль Шарон

Prime Minister of Israel (2001-2006); son of emigrants from Brest-Litovsk and Mogilev

Авигдор Либерман

Soviet-born powerbroker who reshaped Israeli politics.

Бен Бернанке

Economist, chairman of the US Federal Reserve 2006–2014 and Nobel laureate 2022; grandson of Jewish emigrants from Lithuania

Билл Браудер

Grandson of a Communist, foe of the Kremlin

Хаим Вейцман

Chemist and first President of Israel, born in Motal

Клаудиа Шейнбаум

President of Mexico since October 2024, the first woman in the office; her paternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews who emigrated to Mexico

Дэвид Милибэнд

British Foreign Secretary 2007–10 and president of the International Rescue Committee since 2013; grandson of a Warsaw leather worker born in the Russian Empire

Доминик Рааб

Former UK Deputy Prime Minister whose father fled Czechoslovakia with Russian imperial roots

Эд Милибэнд

British Foreign Secretary since July 2026 and Leader of the Labour Party 2010–15; grandson of a Warsaw leather worker born in the Russian Empire

Эдуард Лимонов

Provocateur, punk novelist, and opposition politician born in Dzerzhinsk who made Paris and New York his stage

Эли Коэн

Israeli intelligence officer, born in Alexandria to Syrian Jewish parents from Aleppo; executed in Damascus in 1965

Эмма Гольдман

Anarchist writer and speaker born in Kovno; deported from the US to Soviet Russia in 1919

Эфраим Кацир

Kyiv-born biophysicist who became the fourth President of Israel

Джордж Блейк

Dutch-British double agent who spied for the KGB and became one of the Cold War's most notorious moles

Грант Шаппс

UK Defence Secretary whose family came from Lithuania and Russia in the Russian Empire era

Грегор Гизи

German leftist politician whose mother was born in St. Petersburg and whose great-grandmother was Russian nobility

Хайнрих Цертик

Kazakhstan-born Russlanddeutscher who became a CDU politician representing Germany's Russian-German community

Хелен Сузман

Lithuanian-Russian Jewish South African who stood alone in parliament against apartheid for 13 years

Генри Киссинджер

US Secretary of State, born in Fürth, Bavaria

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

Дж. Б. Прицкер

Governor of Illinois whose great-grandfather emigrated from Kyiv and built the Hyatt hotel empire

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

Джаред Полис

Governor of Colorado — his grandparents fled Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire to build an American family

Джо Слово

Born in Obeliai, Lithuania, in 1926; South African Communist Party leader, MK chief of staff and Minister of Housing

Джон Кей

Former New Zealand Prime Minister whose mother escaped Vienna — her family had Russian Empire roots

Джош Фрайденберг

Australian Treasurer and deputy Liberal leader whose mother's family survived the Holocaust in Hungary

Ким Филби

British intelligence officer and Soviet agent who went to Moscow in 1963

Константин Развозов

Birobidzhan-born judoka who competed for Israel at Athens 2004 and served as Minister of Tourism

Леви Эшколь

Third Prime Minister of Israel (1963–69), born Levi Shkolnik in Oratov, Kiev Governorate, in 1895

Мадлен Олбрайт

First female US Secretary of State (1997–2001), born in Prague to Czech parents of Jewish origin

Малкольм Рифкинд

Foreign Secretary 1995–97, Defence, Transport and Scottish Secretary under Thatcher and Major; his family came from Mosėdis in the Kovno Governorate

Маргарет Ходж

UK Labour politician with Russian-Jewish roots who became the most feared tax investigator in Parliament

Мария Бутина

Barnaul-born Russian operative who infiltrated the NRA and US Republican circles — imprisoned then deported

Марк Дрейфус

Australia's Attorney-General whose grandparents fled the Russian Empire to build a new life

Менахем Бегин

Prime Minister of Israel (1977-1983), born in Brest-Litovsk

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

Моше Даян

Chief of Staff and minister; son of emigrants from Zhashkiv

Моше Шарет

Israel's first foreign minister (1948–56) and second prime minister (1954–55), born Moshe Shertok in Kherson in 1894

Роза Люксембург

Born in the Russian Empire's Polish territories — the most important female revolutionary thinker of the 20th century

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

Сергей Скрипаль

Former GRU colonel and double agent poisoned with Novichok in Salisbury — one of the Cold War's most dramatic epilogues

Шимон Перес

Born in Wiszniew (now Vishnyeva, Belarus); Prime Minister and President of Israel

Симон Визенталь

Holocaust survivor and documenter of Nazi crimes; son of an emigrant from the Russian Empire

Симона Вей

French magistrate and stateswoman, born in Nice

София Ландвер

Born in Leningrad — became Israel's Minister of Immigrant Absorption and voice of the Russian-speaking community

Таль Гилбоа

Israeli singer with Romanian-Russian Jewish roots who won The X Factor Israel

Тали Плосков

Born in Balti, Moldova — Israeli actress and public figure from the Russian-speaking community

Тони Леон

South African opposition leader whose family came from Lithuania and Russia — led the Democratic Alliance against apartheid's legacy

Виталий Кличко

Born in Kyrgyzstan — WBC heavyweight champion, PhD in sports science, Mayor of Kyiv during Russia's war

Владимир Кара-Мурза

Moscow journalist who survived two poisoning attempts and was imprisoned by Putin — then won the Pulitzer Prize

Вольфганг Лотц

Ицхак Бен-Цви

Second and longest-serving President of Israel (1952–63), historian and Labour Zionist leader, born Yitzhak Shimshelevich in Poltava in 1884

Ицхак Рабин

Prime Minister of Israel; son of emigrants from the Kiev Governorate and Mogilev

Ицхак Шамир

Seventh Prime Minister of Israel (1983–84, 1986–92), born Yitzhak Yezernitsky in Ruzhany in 1915

Юли Эдельштейн

Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine — imprisoned by the KGB as a Zionist, became Speaker of the Israeli Knesset

Залман Шазар

Third President of Israel (1963–73), journalist and scholar, born Shneur Zalman Rubashov in Mir, Minsk Governorate, in 1889

Зеэв Элькин

Born in Kharkiv — Israeli Cabinet minister and one of the most prominent Russian-born politicians in Israel

Марина Вайсбанд

Kyiv-born political director of Germany's Pirate Party — a new kind of democratic voice

Сергей Лагодинский

Volgograd-born MEP who became Germany's leading Russian-origin voice in the European Parliament

Пауль Земяк

CDU politician and former party secretary-general with Eastern European roots

Вальтер Хомолка

Germany's leading liberal rabbi — rebuilt Jewish life in Germany with Russian-Jewish diaspora roots

Эрнст Альбрехт

Brussels director-general, Lower Saxony premier, Knoop heir

Урсула фон дер Ляйен

President of the European Commission, descended from the Russian Empire's cotton baron

Франц Лефорт

The Genevan who became Peter the Great's closest advisor

Принц Филипп, герцог Эдинбургский

Grandson of a Romanov grand duchess born at Pavlovsk, whose DNA identified the last imperial family

Кая Каллас

Born in Soviet Tallinn, daughter of a mother deported to Siberia as a baby; EU foreign policy chief

Сийм Каллас

Born in Soviet Tallinn; Soviet banker and USSR People's Deputy, then architect of the Estonian kroon and EU Commissioner

Валдис Домбровскис

Born in Soviet Riga; physicist, three-term prime minister of Latvia and senior European Commissioner

Александр Стубб

President of Finland, grandson of two Vyborg-born grandparents from the Grand Duchy era

Принцесса Марина, герцогиня Кентская

Daughter of a Russian grand duchess, the last foreign princess to marry into the British royal family

Принц Майкл Кентский

Grandson of a Russian grand duchess, qualified Russian interpreter, whose DNA helped identify the Romanovs

Анна Павловна, королева Нидерландов

Daughter of Tsar Paul I who became Queen of the Netherlands and ancestor of the Dutch royal house

Королева Мария Румынская

Granddaughter of both Queen Victoria and Alexander II, Queen of Romania through the First World War

Король Михай I Румынский

Great-grandson of two Russian grand duchesses, and one of the few foreigners awarded the Soviet Order of Victory

Король Константин II Греческий

Last King of the Hellenes, Olympic champion, great-grandson of a grand duchess born at Pavlovsk

Королева София Испанская

Queen of Spain for four decades, great-granddaughter of a grand duchess born at Pavlovsk

Король Филипп VI Испанский

King of Spain, great-great-grandson of a Russian grand duchess born at Pavlovsk

Королева Маргрете II Датская

Queen of Denmark for fifty-two years, great-granddaughter of a grand duchess born at Peterhof

Король Фредерик X Датский

King of Denmark, great-great-grandson of a Russian grand duchess born at Peterhof

Король Виллем-Александр Нидерландский

King of the Netherlands, direct descendant of Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, daughter of Tsar Paul I

Король Карл III

King of the United Kingdom, great-grandson of a Russian grand duchess born at Pavlovsk

Принц Чула Чакрабон

Siamese prince, author and motor-racing team owner; son of a mother born in Lutsk in the Russian Empire

Екатерина Десницкая

Nurse from Lutsk who married Prince Chakrabongse of Siam in 1906 and became Mom Katerin Na Phitsanulok

Абрам Ганнибал

African-born godson of Peter the Great who became a Russian general-in-chief and military engineer; great-grandfather of Alexander Pushkin

Жуан Лоуренсу

President of Angola since 2017; studied at the Lenin Military-Political Academy in Moscow from 1978 to 1982

Жозе Эдуарду душ Сантуш

President of Angola 1979–2017; studied petroleum engineering in Baku in the 1960s and married a Russian there

Зеэв (Владимир) Жаботинский

Journalist, writer and translator born in Odessa in 1880; founder of the Jewish Legion in the First World War, of Revisionist Zionism and of the Betar movement