From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of notable
Russian Americans , including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
To be included in this list, the person must have a Wikipedia article showing they are Russian American or must have references showing they are Russian American and are notable.
Arts
Performance
Woody Allen
George Gershwin
Natalie Portman
Paul Abrahamian (born 1993), reality television personality, of Russian and Armenian descent
Dianna Agron (born 1986), actress, father is of Russian Jewish ancestry.
[1]
Monique Alexander (born 1982), pornographic actress, actress and model
Woody Allen (born 1935), actor, writer, director, and musician, his mother was of Russian Jewish ancestry
Pamela Anderson (born 1967), Canadian-American actress, sex symbol, activist known for her roles on the television series
Baywatch , mother is of Russian ancestry
Alan Arkin (1934–2023), actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, grandchild of Russian immigrants
René Auberjonois (1940–2019), Tony Award-winning character actor (and grandson of the painter), best known for his early 1980s role as Clayton Endicott III on the television show Benson and his role as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Olga Baclanova (1893–1974), actress.
[2]
Anna Baryshnikov (born 1992), actress, daughter of
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Shura Baryshnikov (born 1981), dancer, choreographer, actress
Emma Berman (born 2008), American actress, of Russian descent
Jon Bon Jovi (born 1962), singer-songwriter, mother of partial Russian descent
Alexey Brodovitch (1898–1971), the pioneer of graphic design, created a prototype of the modern glossy magazine about fashion
Eric Balfour (born 1977), actor, portraying Milo Pressman in 24 , is of Russian Jewish descent
Sasha Barrese (born 1981), actress of Irish, Dutch, American Indian, and Russian descent
Mikhail Baryshnikov (born 1948), dancer and actor, immigrant from Russia
[3]
Michael Bay (born 1965), American film director and producer (Bay's grandfather was Russian)
Irving Berlin (1888–1989), Russian-born, considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history, nominated eight times for
Academy Awards
Jack Black (born 1969), actor, comedian, musician, his mother is of Russian Jewish descent
Michael Bolton (born 1953), singer, all of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
[4]
Agnes Bruckner (born 1985), actress, mother has Russian background
Yul Brynner (1920–1985), Russian-born American actor, won
Academy Award
Cheryl Burke (born 1984), professional dancer is well known for starring on the television series
Dancing with the Stars , father is Russian and Irish descent
Semyon Bychkov (born 1952), conductor
Amanda Bynes (born 1986), actress, mother of Russian Jewish descent
Dove Cameron (born 1996), actress of Russian descent
Eddie Cantor (1892–1964), actor and dancer, parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Timothée Chalamet (born 1995), actor, mother is of Russian Jewish descent
Michael Chekhov (1891–1955), actor and dancer, immigrant from Russia.
Jennifer Connelly (born 1970), actress, mother is of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent
Lydia Cornell (born Lydia Korniloff, 1953), actress, father is of Russian descent
David Copperfield (born 1956), illusionist and stage magician, paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Eric Dane (born 1972), actor, of partial Russian-Jewish descent
Gavin DeGraw (born 1977), musician, mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
[5]
Alexis Denisof (born 1966), actor, father is of mostly Russian ancestry
Kat Dennings (born 1986), American actress. Grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants.
Leonardo DiCaprio (born 1974), actor,
Academy Award winner, maternal grandmother was Russian
Jim Downey (born 1952), comedy writer
Michael Dudikoff (born 1954), actor, father was an immigrant from Russia
Aaron Eckhart (born 1968), actor, father is of German and Russian descent
Ansel Elgort (born 1994), actor, his father is of Russian-Jewish descent.
Val Emmich (born 1979), singer-songwriter and actor of Italian, Russian, and German ancestry.
Peter Falk (1927–2011), born to a Polish Jewish father and a Russian Jewish mother.
[6]
Tina Fey (born 1970), American actress and comedian, father is of part-Russian descent.
Carrie Fisher (1956–2016), actress, father was of Russian Jewish descent.
Michel Fokine (1880–1942), dancer and choreographer.
Olga Fonda (born 1982), actress and model.
Harrison Ford (born 1942), actor, mother was of Russian Jewish descent.
Dave Franco (born 1985), actor, mother of Russian Jewish descent.
James Franco (born 1978), actor, mother of Russian Jewish descent.
Isabelle Fuhrman (born 1997), actress (Mother, Elena Fuhrman, is a Russian-Jewish immigrant, father is of Russian Jewish descent).
Drew Fuller (born 1980), actor of Russian, Scottish and English heritage.
Edward Furlong (born 1977), actor, the star of such film as
Terminator 2: Judgment Day and
American History X , his father
[7] is of Russian origin.
Galen Gering (born 1971), actor of Russian Jewish (father) and Basque Spanish (mother) descent.
George Gershwin (1898–1937), composer and pianist, author of
Rhapsody in Blue , Russian Jewish and Ukrainian Jewish ancestry.
Alexander Godunov (1949–1995), dancer and choreographer.
Katerina Graham (born 1989), actress, singer, record producer, dancer, and model, mother of Russian Jewish ancestry.
Seth Green (born 1974), actor, part Russian Jewish ancestry.
Jake Gyllenhaal (born 1980), his mother Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal is of Russian Jewish descent.
[8]
Maggie Gyllenhaal (born 1977), her mother
Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal is of Russian Jewish descent.
[8]
Armie Hammer (born 1986), actor, father of part Russian Jewish/Russian descent.
Juliana Harkavy (born 1985), actress, has Russian ancestors.
Ben Harper (born 1969), singer-songwriter, Jewish mother of Russian and Lithuanian ancestry.
[9]
Barbara Hershey (born 1948), actress, father of partial Russian Jewish descent.
Fedor Jeftichew (1868–1904), freak show attraction nicknamed "Jojo the dog-faced man" and a star of the Barnum Circus.
Kidada Jones (born 1974), actress, model, and fashion designer, daughter of actress
Peggy Lipton and musician
Quincy Jones ; her mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
Rashida Jones (born 1976),
[10] actress, model, and musician, daughter of actress
Peggy Lipton , mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
Milla Jovovich (born 1975), actress and model, born in
Kyiv to a Russian mother and a Serbian father.
Stacy Kamano (born 1974), actress of German, Russian, Polish and Japanese descent.
Lila Kedrova (1909–2000), Russian-born French-American actress, won
Academy Award for
Best Supporting Actress .
Olga Kern (born 1975), Russian-born classical pianist, won the 11th
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition , direct family ties to both
Rachmaninov and
Tchaikovsky .
[11]
Justin Kirk (born 1969), stage and film actor, mother is of Russian Jewish descent.
[12]
Charles Klapow (born 1980), American choreographer and dance instructor,
Emmy Award winner, father of Russian origin
Christopher Knight (born 1957), actor
Walter Koenig (born 1936) parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Theodore Kosloff (1882–1956), dancer and choreographer.
Lenny Kravitz (born 1964), American singer, father of Russian Jewish descent.
Zoë Kravitz (born 1988), American actress, singer and model daughter of
Lenny Kravitz , both parents of half Russian Jewish descent
Mila Kunis (born 1983), Russian Jewish immigrant (born in Ukrainian SSR).
Joe Lando (born 1961), film actor
Feodor Lark (born 1997), Russian-born television actor
Logan Lerman (born 1992), of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and Lithuanian Jewish descent
Margarita Levieva (born 1980), Russian-born Jewish American actress. Born in the
Soviet Union , she was a professional gymnast before going on to star in the films
The Invisible ,
Adventureland and
Spread
Peggy Lipton (1946–2019), actress, of Russian Jewish ancestry
Karina Lombard (born 1969), actress and singer of Lakota Sioux, Russian, Italian and Swiss descent
Annet Mahendru (born 1985), actress, mother is of Russian descent
James Maslow (born 1990), actor and singer of Scots Irish, English, and Russian Jewish descent
Marlee Matlin (born 1965), actress who starred in
Children of a Lesser God , of Russian Jewish descent
Walter Matthau (1920–2000), actor and comedian, parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Blake Michael (born 1996), actor of Russian Jewish descent
Wentworth Miller (born 1972), actor, mother of partial Russian descent
Eugene Mirman (born 1974), actor, born in Russia
Taylor Momsen (born 1993), actress, musician and model, she fronts the rock band
The Pretty Reckless
[13]
Mandy Moore (born 1984), actress, singer, of Russian Jewish descent (from her maternal grandfather)
Vic Morrow (1929–1982), actor, parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Sarah Natochenny (born 1987), voice actress
Alla Nazimova (1879–1945), theater and film actress, Jewish immigrant from Russia
Nancy Novotny (born 1963), voice actress, radio personality
Pat O'Brien (born 1965), guitarist, half Russian
Larisa Oleynik (born 1981), actress (
Mad Men ,
3rd Rock from the Sun ), father of Russian descent
Mandy Patinkin (born 1952), actor and singer, of Russian Jewish descent
Sean Penn (born 1960), two-time
Academy Award winning actor, paternal grandparents Jewish immigrants from Russia and Lithuania
Michael Perretta (born 1976), American hip hop musician, better known as
Evidence , Russian mother
Lee Philips (1927–1999) (Born Leon Friedman), parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Joaquin Phoenix (born 1974), actor, Jewish mother of Russian and Hungarian ancestry
[12]
River Phoenix (1970–1993), actor, Jewish mother of Russian and Hungarian ancestry
[14]
Bronson Pinchot (born 1959), actor, best known for
Perfect Strangers whose father, born Henry Poncharavsky, is of Russian ancestry
Alexander Polinsky (born 1974), actor
Natalie Portman (born 1981), actress, of Russian Jewish, Polish Jewish, Romanian Jewish, and Austrian Jewish ancestry
Mike Portnoy (born 1967), musician, founding member of American heavy metal band
Dream Theater
Princess Superstar (born 1971), musician, father is of Russian Jewish descent
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943), Russian-born composer who immigrated to the US in 1918 and lived there until his death in 1943. He acquired U.S. citizenship in 1943.
Sam Raimi (born 1959), Jewish American film, producer, actor and writer, whose parents came from Russia and Hungary
Ted Raimi (born 1965), actor and brother of Sam Raimi, star of
Xena: Warrior Princess
Raven (born 1979), drag queen and reality-television star
Sasha Velour (born 1987), drag queen and winner of
RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9
Joan Rivers (1933–2014), comedian, parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Sasha Roiz (born 1973), Russian Jewish immigrant (born in
Tel Aviv, Israel )
Paul Rudd (born 1969), American actor of Russian Jewish ancestry
Natalya Rudakova (born 1985), actress
Olesya Rulin (born 1986), actress and singer, immigrant from Russia
Melanie Safka-Schekeryk (born 1947), folk singer, father is of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry
Steven Seagal (born 1952), actor, father was of Russian Jewish descent
Jack Shaindlin (1909–1978), composer, musical director of the
March of Time newsreel series
Peter Shukoff (born 1979), YouTuber, co-founded ERB, of Russian descent
Jenny Slate (born 1982), actress, comedian and author, of Russian Jewish origin
Regina Spektor (born 1980), Russian born American singer-songwriter and pianist, born in
Moscow
Leonard Stone (1927–2011), father Russian Jewish immigrant from Russia
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), composer and pianist
[15]
Michael Strong (1918–1980) (born Cecil Natapoff) parents were Russian Jewish immigrants
Tara Strong (born 1973), Canadian-born actor whose family is of Russian Jewish descent
Gene Stupnitsky (born 1977), screenwriter, born in Kyiv, now Ukraine
Svoy (born 1980), Russian-born American songwriter/producer for
Universal Music Group
Gene Wilder (1933–2016), actor, father was a Russian immigrant and mother was of Polish descent
George Gaynes (1917–2016), actor, singer
Tonearm (Ilia Bis) , performance musician
Michelle Trachtenberg (born 1985), television and film actress, mother is an immigrant Jewish from Russia
[16]
Sofia Vassilieva (born 1992), actress, parents were Russian immigrants
Lana Wood (born 1946), actress, parents were immigrants from Russia
Natalie Wood (1938–1981), Academy Award-nominated actress, won a Golden Globe, parents were immigrants from Russia
Anton Yelchin (1989–2016), actor, Jewish immigrant from Russia
Elena Zoubareva (born 1972), opera singer, immigrant from Russia
Visual arts
Jane Aaron (1948–2015), filmmaker
Miya Ando (born 1978), artist
Andrey Avinoff (1884*
Alan Arkin (1934–2023), actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, grandchild of Russian immigrants1949), artist and painter
Irwin Chanin (1891–1988), architect and builder whose skyline signature was formed of jazzy
Art Deco towers and six elegant
Broadway theaters
Dimitri Devyatkin (born 1949), filmmaker and video artist
Misha Frid (born 1938), sculptor, artist, graphic designer and filmmaker
Alexander Golitzen (1908–2005), TV and theater art director
Ilya Kabakov (born 1933), sculptor, painter, installation artist
Fyodor Kamensky (1836–1913), sculptor
Louis Lozowick (1892–1973), American painter and printmaker. He was born in the Russian Empire, came to the United States in 1906
Ernst Neizvestny (1925–2016), sculptor, painter, graphic artist, and art philosopher
Elizabeth Shoumatoff (1888–1980), portrait painter
Israel Tsvaygenbaum (born 1961), Russian-American Painter and Russian Jewish descent
Literature
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992),
science fiction writer
[17]
Saul Bellow (1915–2005), writer
Reginald Bretnor (1911–1992), science fiction and fantasy writer
Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), Nobel Prize in Literature 1987
Michael Dorfman (born 1965), writer
Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990), short story writer and novelist
Alexander Genis (born 1953), writer and journalist, emigrated from Russian in 1977
Daniel Genis (born 1978), writer and journalist, parents emigrated from Russian in 1977
Jacob Gordin (1853–1909), playwright
Michelle Izmaylov (born 1991), Russian-American science fiction and fantasy writer
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977), writer
Chuck Palahniuk (born 1962),
[18] novelist & freelance journalist, most known for the award-winning novel
Fight Club
Ayn Rand (1905–1982), born as Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, a Russian-born American writer and philosopher and novelist
[19]
Michael Rostovtzeff (1870–1952), writer
[20]
Alex Shoumatoff (born 1946), magazine journalist and author
David Shrayer-Petrov (born 1936), Moscow-born author, medical scientist, and former refusenik
Maxim D. Shrayer (born 1967), Moscow-born bilingual author, literary scholar and translator
Gary Shteyngart (born 1972), Russian-born writer
[21]
Science
Alexei A. Abrikosov (1928–2017), theoretical physicist
Boris Altshuler (born 1955), contributed to the theory of universal conduction fluctuations
Andrey Avinoff (1884–1949),
museology ,
lepidoptery ,
entomology
Alexander Beilinson (born 1957), mathematician known for contributions to
representation theory ,
algebraic geometry and
mathematical physics
Viktor Belenko (born 1947), aerospace engineer, former
Soviet Air Force pilot
Lera Boroditsky (born 1976), cognitive scientist
[22]
Alexander Bolonkin (1933–2020), cybernetician
Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975), biologist
Alexei L. Efros (born 1938), physicist, received the
Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize
Alexander Esenin-Volpin (1924–2016), mathematician
Alex Eskin (born 1965), mathematician
Sergey Fomin (born 1958), mathematician
Edward Frenkel (born 1968), mathematician
Lex Fridman (born 1986), computer scientist
George Gamow (1904–1968), astrophysicist, developer of
Lemaître's
Big Bang theory , theoretical explanation of
alpha decay via
quantum tunneling
Dmitri Z. Garbuzov (1940–2006), physicist, was one of the pioneers and inventors of room temperature continuous-wave-operating diode
lasers and high-power
diode lasers
Victor Galitski ,
physicist ,
theorist in the areas of
condensed matter physics and
quantum physics
Moses Gomberg (1866–1947), founder of radical chemistry
Lev Gor'kov (1929–2016), pioneering work in the field of
superconductivity
Vladimir Nikolayevich Ipatieff (1867–1952), chemist, important contributions are in the field of
petroleum chemistry and
catalysts
Anton Kapustin (born 1971), theoretical physicist
Morris S. Kharasch (1895–1957), chemistry
Mikhail Khovanov (born 1972), mathematician
Sergei Khrushchev (1935–2020), professor and son of former
Soviet Premier
Nikita Khrushchev
Olga Kocharovskaya (born 1956), known for her contributions to
quantum optics and
gamma ray modulation
Simon Kuznets (1901–1985), economist, statistician, demographer, and economic historian, the winner of 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
Anatoly Larkin (1932–2005), physicist, discovered collective pinning of magnetic flux in
superconductors , predicted paraconductivity, made essential contributions to the
theory of weak localization , as well as developed the concept of the Ehrenfest time and its effect on phenomena of
quantum chaos
Andrei Linde (born 1948), developed a theory of
cosmological phase transitions , one of the main authors of the
inflationary universe theory , as well as the theory of
eternal inflation and inflationary
multiverse
Alexander Nikolayevich Lodygin (1847–1923), electrical engineer and inventor, one of inventors of the incandescent light bulb
Mikhail Lukin (born 1971), theoretical and experimental physicist
Grigory Margulis (born 1946), mathematician known for his introduction of methods from
ergodic theory into
diophantine approximation
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970), psychologist
Alexander A. Maximow (1874–1928), in the fields of medicine, histology, embryology and hematology
Alexander Migdal (born 1945), physicist, known for quantum chromodynamics and
conformal field theory
Guenakh Mitselmakher , physicist who contributed to the discovery of
GW150914 using his developed conductor
Andrei Okounkov (born 1969), winner of the Fields Medal (2006)
Ivan Ostromislensky (1880–1939), chemistry, pharmacy
Alexey Pajitnov (born 1956), software engineer and video game designer, inventor of Tetris
Vladimir Pentkovski (1946–2012), researcher who led the team that developed the architecture for the Pentium III processor
Boris Podolsky (1896–1966), physicist known for
EPR paradox
Alexander M. Polyakov (born 1945), known for contributions to
quantum field theory and
vacuum angle in
QCD
Gennady Potapenko (1894–1979), radio astronomer
Nikolay Prokof'ev , physicist, known for his works on theory of
supersolids includes the theory of
superfluidity of crystalline defects
Tatiana Proskouriakoff (1909–1985), Russian-American Mayanist
Anatol Rapoport (1911–2007), American mathematical psychologist
Alexander L. Rosenberg (1946–2012), mathematician
Ivan Raimi (born 1956),
Doctor of Medicine ,
osteopathic
Vladimir Rojansky (1900–1981), physicist
David Shrayer-Petrov (born 1936), medical scientist, microbiologist, immunologist, biophage specialist
Yakov Sinai (born 1935), mathematician known for his work on
dynamical systems . Sinai has won several awards, including the
Nemmers Prize , the
Wolf Prize in Mathematics and the
Abel Prize
James Alexander Shohat (1886–1944), mathematician
Alexander Shulgin (1925–2014), pharmacologist, chemist and drug developer
Mark Stockman (1947–2020), physicist
Otto Struve (1897–1963), astronomer
Boris Svistunov (born 1959), physicist, co-inventor of the widely used Worm Monte-Carlo algorithm
Jacob Tamarkin (1888–1945), mathematician and vice-president of
American Mathematical Society in 1942-43
Leon Theremin (1896–1993), physicist, inventor of the Theremin
Peter Turchin (born 1957), biologist and the father of cliodynamics
Petr Ufimtsev (born 1931), Russian-American mathematician and physicist
J. V. Uspensky (1883–1947), mathematician
Arkady Vainshtein (born 1942), theoretical physicist
Vladimir Vapnik (born 1936), developed the theory of the
support vector machine also known as the "fundamental theory of learning" an important part of
computational learning theory
Leonid Vaseršteĭn (born 1944), mathematician known for providing a proof of
Quillen–Suslin theorem
Lev Vekker (1918–2001), psychologist
Vladimir Voevodsky (1966–2017), the winner of the Fields Medal (2002)
Alexander Vyssotsky (1888–1973), astronomer
Paul Wiegmann (born 1952), physicist, pioneering contributions to the field of
quantum integrable systems , including the exact solution of
Kondo model
Vladimir Yurkevich (1885–1964), naval architect
Boris Zeldovich (1944–2018), physicist
Efim Zelmanov (born 1955), winner of the Fields Medal (1994), professor at the University of California, San Diego
George Zweig (born 1937), proposed the existence of
quarks at
CERN , independently of
Murray Gell-Mann
Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1888–1982), one of the inventors of television
[23]
[24]
Sports
Sue Bird
Bill Goldberg
Ted Williams
Benjamin Agosto (born 1982), ice dancer.
[25]
Doc Alexander (1897–1975),
NFL football player and coach
Lyle Alzado (1949–1992), NFL All Pro defensive tackle
Amanda Anisimova (born 2001), tennis player
Al Axelrod (1921–2004), Olympic fencer - bronze medalist
Deborah Babashoff (born 1970), competition swimmer
Jack Babashoff (born 1955), Olympic swimmer - silver medalist
[26]
Shirley Babashoff (born 1957), Olympic swimmer - gold/silver medalist
[26]
Bo Belinsky (1936–2001), baseball player
[27]
Mohini Bhardwaj (born 1978), gymnast
[28]
Fred Biletnikoff (born 1943), football wide receiver and coach
Sue Bird (born 1980), professional women's basketball player
[29]
Alex Bogomolov, Jr. (born 1983), professional tennis player
Nathan Bor (1913–1972), boxer
Alex Bregman (born 1994), baseball player
Daniel Bukantz (1917–2008), four-time Olympic fencer
Maxim Dlugy (born 1966), grandmaster of chess
Brandon Dubinsky (born 1986), hockey player
Rod Dyachenko (born 1983), footballer
[30]
Curtis Enis (born 1976), football player
Benny Friedman (1905–1982), NFL Hall of Fame football player
Alex Galchenyuk (born 1994), hockey player
Nastasya Generalova (born 2000), rhythmic gymnast, Russian mother
Bill Goldberg (born 1966), professional NFL
football player and undefeated
wrestler
[31]
Charles Goldenberg (1911–1986), All-Pro NFL player
Alexander Goldin (born 1964), chess grandmaster
Jon Robert Holden (born 1976), basketball player for Russian national team
Nat Holman (1896–1995), Hall of Fame basketball player
Red Holzman (1920–1998), NBA Hall of Fame basketball player and coach
[32]
Irving Jaffee (1906–1981), Olympic speed skater; two gold medals
Sofia Kenin (born 1998), tennis player
Andrei Kirilenko (born 1981), basketball player
Anna Kotchneva (born 1970), gymnast
Anna Kournikova (born 1981), tennis player and model
[33]
Vladimir Kozlov (born 1979), professional wrestler
Travis Kvapil (born 1976), race car driver
Varvara Lepchenko (born 1986), professional tennis player
[34]
Nastia Liukin (born 1989), gymnast
[35]
Valeri Liukin (born 1966), artistic gymnast
Ilia Malinin (born 2004), figure skater, first skater to land a
Quad Axel
Cade McNown (born 1977), football player
Frank Mir (born 1979), mixed martial artist
[36]
Boris Nachamkin (born 1933), NBA basketball player
Evgeni Nabokov (born 1975), San Jose Sharks' former Goalie
Patrick O'Neal (sportscaster) (born 1967), studio host and reporter
[37]
Denis Petukhov (born 1978), figure skater
[38]
Sergei Raad (born 1982), soccer player
Jack Sack (1902–1980),
American football player and coach
Dmitry Salita (born 1982), boxer
Ossie Schectman (1919–2013), basketball player who scored the first basket in National Basketball Association history
Andy Seminick (1920–2004), professional baseball player
[39]
Maria Sharapova (born 1987), tennis player
Allie Sherman (1923–2015), National Football League player and head coach
Mose Solomon (1900–1966), the "Rabbi of Swat," Major League Baseball player
Kerri Strug (born 1977), gymnast
Peter Tchernyshev (born 1971), ice-dancer
Phil Weintraub (1907–1987), Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder
Ted Williams (1918–2002), Major League Baseball left fielder
[40]
Military
Business
Dmitri Alperovitch (born 1980)
Marc Benioff (born 1964), founder of
Salesforce
Sergey Brin (born 1973), co-founder of
Google , Russian-Jewish immigrant
Boris Chaikovsky (1925–1996), founder of Tele-King International
Valentin Gapontsev (1939–2021),
fiber laser technology pioneer, founder of
IPG Photonics
Alexander Poniatoff (1892–1980), founder of
Ampex Corporation
Alexander P. de Seversky (1894–1974), founder of the
Seversky Aircraft Corporation , founder and trustee of the
New York Institute of Technology
Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972), an
aviation pioneer in both
helicopters and
fixed-wing aircraft , founder of the
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation , a leading US helicopter manufacturer
Serge Sorokko (born 1954), art dealer, publisher and patron
Michael Stroukoff (1883–1973), President of the
Chase Aircraft Company , founder of the
Stroukoff Aircraft Corporation
André Tchelistcheff (1901–1994), America's most influential post-Prohibition winemaker
Ratmir Timashev (born 1966), founder and
CEO of
Veeam Software .
Politics
Bella Abzug (1920–1998), former Representative from New York (Both of her parents were
Russian Jewish immigrants
[42] )
Alec Brook-Krasny (born 1958), first Soviet-born Russian speaker to become a member of the
New York State Assembly
Ben Cardin (born 1943), politician of Russian Jewish descent
William Cohen (born 1940), father of Russian Jewish descent
Russ Feingold (born 1953), partial Russian Jewish descent
Al Franken (born 1951), maternal grandmother of Russian Jewish descent
Gary Johnson (born 1953), mother of partial Russian descent
Jon Ossoff (born 1987), father of partial Russian Jewish descent
Bernie Sanders (born 1941), mother of partial Russian descent
[43]
Scott Stringer (born 1960),
New York City Comptroller and
Borough President of
Manhattan , of part Russian Jewish descent
Jim Talent (born 1956), former U.S. Senator, paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia
Economics
Simon Kuznets (1901–1985), contribution to the transformation of economics into an
empirical science and to the formation of quantitative economic history
Wassily Leontief (1905–1999), economist, Nobel Prize 1973
Hyman Minsky (1919–1996), economist, renowned for his research on financial crisis. Born to a Belarussian Jewish Menshevik immigrant family.
Modeling
Michele Merkin
Angelika Kallio (born 1972), model born in
Riga
Tatiana Kovylina (born 1981), model born in Kazan
Josie Maran (born 1978), model of Russian descent
Michele Merkin (born 1975), model and television host, also of Swedish and Russian Jewish descent
Anya Monzikova (born 1984), model and actress born in
Vologda
Irina Pantaeva (born 1972), model and actress born in
Ulan-Ude
Kristina Pimenova (born 2005), child model and actress
Sasha Pivovarova (born 1985), model born in
Moscow
Natasha Poly (born 1985), model born in Perm
Vlada Roslyakova (born 1987), model born in
Omsk
Tatiana Sorokko (born 1971), model and fashion writer born in
Arzamas-16
Daria Strokous (born 1990), model born in Moscow
Eugenia Volodina (born 1984), model born in
Kazan
Anne Vyalitsyna (born 1986), model and actress
Other
Svetlana Alliluyeva (1926–2011), daughter of
Joseph Stalin
David I. Arkin (1906–1980), teacher, painter, writer, lyricist, parents were Russian immigrants
Benny Benson (1913–1972), designer of
flag of Alaska
Antuan Bronshtein (1972–1973), convicted murderer; Russian immigrant
Jacob W. Davis (1831–1908), tailor, invention of
Jeans
Peter Demens (1850–1919), one of the founders of the U.S. city of
Saint Petersburg, Florida .
Max Factor Sr. (1877–1938), founder of the cosmetics giant Max Factor & Company, was born in Russian Poland. Russian nobility appointed Factor the official cosmetics expert for the royal family and the Imperial Russian Grand Opera
Betty Freeman (1921–2009), art philanthropist, father was a Russian immigrant
Masha Gessen (born 1967), journalist, author, translator and activist; Russian Jewish immigrant
Bianna Golodryga (born 1978), journalist; Russian Jewish immigrant (born in
Moldovan SSR )
John A. Gotti (born 1964), leader of the
Gambino Crime Family of the
Cosa Nostra . Mother is of Russian descent
Oleg Kalugin (born 1934), former head of
KGB operations in the United States
Taras Kulakov (born 1987),
YouTube personality known for
life hack and
gadget reviewing videos, of
Ukrainian descent
Loren Leman (born 1950), former lieutenant governor of Alaska, one of his ancestors was a Russian settler who married an indigenous
Alutiiq woman in
Kodiak while Russia claimed and colonized Alaska centuries ago
Janosh Neumann (born 1979), former FSB agent who defected to USA in 2008. His birth name is Alexey Artamonov.
[44]
Neil Sedaka (born 1939), singer-songwriter
Pitirim Sorokin (1889–1968), founded Harvard Sociology Department in 1930
Mikhail Varshavski (born 1989), known professionally as Doctor Mike, Russian-born
internet personality and
family medicine physician, moved to the U.S. with his family at the age of six.
[45]
Vitaly Zdorovetskiy (born 1992), Russian Jewish
YouTube personality known for his adult rated pranks, was born in
Murmansk
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