List of Mexican Jews

Mexico has had a Jewish population since the early Colonial Era. However, these early individuals could not openly worship as they were persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition for practicing Judaism. After achieving independence, Mexico eventually adopted freedom of religion and began receiving Jewish immigrants, many of them refugees. The book Estudio histórico de la migración judía a México 1900–1950 has records of almost 18,300 who emigrated to Mexico between 1900 and 1950. Most (7,023) were Ashkenazi Jews whose ancestors had settled in Eastern Europe, mainly Poland. A further 2,640 Jews arrived from either Spain or the Ottoman Empire and 1,619 came from Cuba and the United States.

The 2010 Census recorded 67,476 individuals professing Judaism,^[1] most of whom live in Mexico City.^[1]

The following is a list of notable past and present Mexican Jews (not all with both parents Jewish, nor all practising Judaism), arranged by their main field of activity: Jose Luis Seligson Visual Artist

Academia

Adina Cemet, sociologist, author, essayist.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]
Julio Frenk, president of the University of Miami, former Secretary of Health and dean of the Harvard School of Public Health^[6]
Enrique Krauze, public intellectual, historian, essayist, critic, producer, and publisher
Helen Kleinbort Krauze, historian, mother of Enrique Krauze^[7]
Arturo Warman, anthropologist, cabinet member of Salinas and Zedillo^[8]
Larissa Adler Lomnitz, social anthropologist (French-born)
Judit Bokser, sociologist
Flora Botton, sinologist and gender studies scholar
Daniel Cazés, anthropologist and gender studies scholar
Enrique Leff, economist, environmental sociologist and environmentalist
Katya Mandoki, philosophy scholar
Otto Mayer-Serral, musicologist
Andrés Roemer; lawyer and economist

Architecture

Sara Topelson de Grinberg, architect
Abraham Zabludovsky, architect
Alejandro Zohn, architect, Holocaust survivor

Arts

Classical music

Daniel Catán, composer^[9]
Max Lifchitz, composer^[10]^{[circular reference]}
Henryk Szeryng, violinist^[11]

Photography

Senya Fleshin, photographer and anarchist
Mariana Yampolsky, photographer

Visual arts

Maurice Ascalon, sculptor
Arnold Belkin, painter, born in Canada^[12]
Olga Costa, painter
Luis Filcer, Expressionist painter
Pedro Friedeberg, painter^[13]
Mathias Goeritz, painter, sculptor, born in Germany^[14]
Vlady Kibalchich Russakov, painter
Tosia Malamud, sculptor
Leonardo Nierman, painter, sculptor
Wolfgang Paalen, painter, sculptor and art philosopher
Fanny Rabel, painter, member of Los Fridos artistic group.
Diego Rivera, painter, muralist (Atheist)
José Sacal, sculptor^[15]^[16]

Business

Carlos Alazraki, advertising executive
Daniel Lubetzky, entrepreneur, author
Franz Mayer, financier, photographer, collector, and the founder of the Franz Mayer Museum
Moisés Saba, businessman; board member of various companies
Sergio Zyman, marketing executive

Entertainment

Film and television

Brigitte Alexander, actress, director, author and translator for UNESCO
Susana Alexander, actress
Erick Elias, actor
Irán Eory, actress, model
Amat Escalante, director
Gabriela Goldsmith, actress
Israel Jaitovich, host and comedian
Pati Jinich, TV chef, cookbook author
Brontis Jodorowsky, actor
Mauricio Kleiff, screenwriter
María Eugenia Llamas, actress
Mariana Levy, actress
Emmanuel Lubezki, cinematographer, winner of three Ariel Awards for Best Cinematography (1992, 1993, 1994) and three Oscars in the category (2013–2015)^[17]
Miroslava, actress
Norma Mora, actress
David Ostrosky, actor
Alfredo Ripstein, film producer
Arturo Ripstein, filmmaker, screenwriter, producer
Claudia Salinas, model, actress
Alexander Salkind, producer.
Ilya Salkind, producer.
Diego Schoening, singer, actor and television host
Alan Tacher, television host
Ari Telch, actor
Gregorio Walerstein, film producer and screenwriter

Music

Alix Bauer, singer, founding member of Timbiriche
Ari Borovoy, songwriter, founding member of the Latin pop group OV7
Adan Jodorowsky, musician, singer, and actor
Mark Tacher, musician, vocalist, guitarist, and television host
Ariel Pink, musician, indie rocker, progenitor of the hypnagogic pop genre

Journalism

Shanik Berman, journalist
David Faitelson, sports journalist
Giselle Fernández, television journalist
Adela Micha, TV and radio journalist
Jacobo Zabludovsky Kraveski, TV journalist^[18]

Literature

Chloe Aridjis, novelist^[19]
Sabina Berman, author, playwright, screenwriter
Anita Brenner, writer, historian^[20]
Mariana Frenk-Westheim, prose writer, Hispanist, translator
Margo Glantz, writer and critic^[21]* a prose writer who was author of the New York Times bestseller The Empress.
Bárbara Jacobs, author, poet, essayist, translator
Myriam Moscona, author, journalist, poet and Ladino translator^[22]
Moises Salinas author and psychologist^[23]
Sara Sefchovich, writer^[21]
Esther Seligson, writer, poet, translator, and historian
Ilan Stavans, literary critic^[24]

Science

Biology

Jerzy Rzedowski, botanist, plant geographer, researcher, Holocaust survivor
Annie Pardo Cemo, cell biologist

Engineering

Edward Esseis, nuclear engineer

Mathematics

Samuel Gitler Hammer, mathematician^[25]

Medicine

George Rosenkranz, pioneering scientist in the field of steroid chemistry; contract bridge Grand Life Master
Pablo Rudomín Zevnovaty, neuroscientist
Nora Volkow, psychiatrist; current director of the United States' National Institute on Drug Abuse
David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz, gastroenterologist; former director of the Salvador Zubirán National Institute of Health Sciences and Nutrition
Samuel Siegfried Karl von Basch, personal physician of emperor Maximilian of Mexico and the inventor of the blood pressure meter (also known as sphygmomanometer)
Edna Cukierman, biochemist
René Drucker Colín, neuroscientist
Enrique Graue Wiechers, ophtalmologist, former rector of UNAM.
Marcos Rojkind Matlyuk, physiologist
Arturo Rosenblueth, physiologist, known as one of the pioneers of cybernetics

Physics

Jacob Bekenstein, physicist^[26]
Deborah Berebichez, physicist
Gloria Koenigsberger, physicist^[27]
Marcos Moshinsky, awarded physicist, UNAM cathedratic, Ukrainian-born^[28]

Politics

Andrés Roemer, diplomat, author
Binyamin Temkin, Israeli politician
Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico
David Goldbaum, surveyor and politician of Baja California
Diego de Montemayor^{[citation needed]}, founder of Monterrey^[29]^[30]
Eliezer Ronen, Israeli politician
Gabriela Brimmer, writer and activist for persons with disabilities
Jorge Castañeda Gutman, politician and academic who served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs; also known for losing a Supreme Court ruling that would have allowed him to run as an Independent in the 2006 Presidential race
José Woldenberg, political scientist and sociologist
Juan de Oñate, Governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, descendant of Conversos
Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, adventurer, slave-trader, first Governor of Nuevo León
- Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal, Marrana, sister of Luis de Carabajal, executed along with family members for practicing Judaism
Luis de Carabajal the younger, author, merchant
Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg, Senator from Mexico City and former Secretary of Health
Vicente Lombardo Toledano, labor leader

Religion

Jacob Avigdor, Chief Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, author, Holocaust survivor
Yosef Dayan, rabbi and the author of several books in Hebrew, Spanish and Italian
Moisés Kaiman, rabbi from Monterrey

Sports

Ilana Berger, tennis player
Wolf Ruvinskis, wrestler

References

^ ^a ^b "Panorama de las religiones en México 2010" (PDF) (in Spanish). INEGI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
^ "Adina Cimet – English – Lexicon – NN Theatre". teatrnn.pl.
^ "Critical Approaches to Jewish-Mexican Literature Review | Sephardic Horizons". www.sephardichorizons.org.
^ Cimet, Adina (1995). "Jews as a Minority in Mexico". Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Latino-Américaines et Caraïbes. 20 (39/40): 215–225. doi:10.1080/08263663.1995.10816726. JSTOR 41799921.
^ "Adina Cimet | Autor en Diario Judío México |". 14 May 2020.
^ "Julio Frenk and the University of Miami: Family History". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 23 August 2015.
^ "Mexican Cartoon Character at Center of Dispute : NPR". npr.org. Retrieved 3 August 2010. I come from a Jewish family. My parents came from Poland to Mexico.
^ "Infancia y juventud – Arturo Warman" [Children and Youth – Arturo Warman]. catedrawarman.org (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ Opera Japonica/Daniel Catán Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine "I was born of Jewish parents in Mexico City."
^ "Max Lifchitz".
^ "Jewish Violinists". www.jinfo.org.
^ Ugalde Gómez Nadia. Arnold Belkin; la imágen como metáfora. México, 1999.
^ "Aldo Castillo Gallery". Archived from the original on June 23, 2006. Pedro Friedeberg was born in Florence, Italy in 1936 to German-Jewish parents
^ Wendl, Karel (1998). "The Route of Friendship: A Cultural/Artistic Event of the Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City - 1968" (PDF). OLYMPIKA: The International Journal of Olympic Studies. VII: 113–134. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2010 – via www.la84foundation.org.
^ "José Sacal, escultor". Diario Judío: Diario de la Vida Judía en México y el Mundo (in European Spanish). 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
^ "Agradece Eilat al escultor judío mexicano José Sacal por obra donada". Enlace Judío (in Mexican Spanish). 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
^ Bloom, Nate (2007-02-22). "Jewish Standard Hollywood's big night". Jewish Standard. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
^ 100 year of Jewish immigration Archived 2005-12-10 at the Wayback Machine "The exhibit has photos of many members of the community who have become well known for their artistic or cultural contributions. Wolf Ruvinskis was a famous wrestler in the 1950s.... Jacobo Zabludovsky is a household name, having been a prominent news anchor for decades both in television and radio."
^ Jacobs, Gerald (July 23, 2009). "Interview: Chloe Aridjis". The Jewish Chronicle.
^ Kerstin Jones. "Anita Brenner". ic.arizona.edu. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ ^a ^b Invenciones multitudinarias: escritoras judíomexicanas contemporáneas Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine "Guadalupe Cortina’s study of Mexican Jewish women writers features general introductions to four writers and textural analyses of their work. The writers are Margo Glantz, Ethel Krauze, Sara Levi Calderón, and, more briefly discussed than the previous three, Sara Sefchovich. "
^ Where Words Like Monarchs Fly Archived 2005-11-20 at the Wayback Machine "Myriam Moscona is the daughter of Sephardic parents who came to Mexico from Bulgaria."
^ ".:: Welcome To The Jewish Ledger ::". jewishledger.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
^ Interview: Ilan Stavans "born in Mexico in 1961 to an Eastern European Jewish family"
^ Agencias (10 September 2014). "Dr. Samuel Gitler Z"L, Multigalardonado matemático miembro del Colegio Nacional". Diario Judío (in Spanish).
^ "Jewish Physicists". www.jinfo.org.
^ "Instituto de Ciencias Físicas". www.fis.unam.mx.
^ "Marcos Moshinsky :: Background". Archived from the original on March 21, 2006. Moshinsky belongs to a family of Jewish emigrants from the Ukraine ... He has lived in Mexico, where he received his entire elementary and higher education and has spent almost all his professional life, from the age of three
^ Hordes, Stanley M. To the ends of the earth: A history of the crypto-Jews in New Mexico
^ Farias, George. The Farias chronicles: a history and genealogy of a Portuguese/Spanish family.

External links

Judíos Destacados en México, articles on notable Mexican Jews by Diario Judio

[INEGI-1] "Panorama de las religiones en México 2010" (PDF) (in Spanish). INEGI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.

[2] "Adina Cimet – English – Lexicon – NN Theatre". teatrnn.pl.

[3] "Critical Approaches to Jewish-Mexican Literature Review | Sephardic Horizons". www.sephardichorizons.org.

[4] Cimet, Adina (1995). "Jews as a Minority in Mexico". Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Latino-Américaines et Caraïbes. 20 (39/40): 215–225. doi:10.1080/08263663.1995.10816726. JSTOR 41799921.

[5] "Adina Cimet | Autor en Diario Judío México |". 14 May 2020.

[6] "Julio Frenk and the University of Miami: Family History". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 23 August 2015.

[7] "Mexican Cartoon Character at Center of Dispute : NPR". npr.org. Retrieved 3 August 2010. I come from a Jewish family. My parents came from Poland to Mexico.

[8] "Infancia y juventud – Arturo Warman" [Children and Youth – Arturo Warman]. catedrawarman.org (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.

[9] Opera Japonica/Daniel Catán Archived 2006-10-02 at the Wayback Machine "I was born of Jewish parents in Mexico City."

[10] "Max Lifchitz".

[11] "Jewish Violinists". www.jinfo.org.

[12] Ugalde Gómez Nadia. Arnold Belkin; la imágen como metáfora. México, 1999.

[13] "Aldo Castillo Gallery". Archived from the original on June 23, 2006. Pedro Friedeberg was born in Florence, Italy in 1936 to German-Jewish parents

[14] Wendl, Karel (1998). "The Route of Friendship: A Cultural/Artistic Event of the Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City - 1968" (PDF). OLYMPIKA: The International Journal of Olympic Studies. VII: 113–134. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2010 – via www.la84foundation.org.

[15] "José Sacal, escultor". Diario Judío: Diario de la Vida Judía en México y el Mundo (in European Spanish). 2013-08-16. Retrieved 2018-06-14.

[16] "Agradece Eilat al escultor judío mexicano José Sacal por obra donada". Enlace Judío (in Mexican Spanish). 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2018-06-14.

[standard-17] Bloom, Nate (2007-02-22). "Jewish Standard Hollywood's big night". Jewish Standard. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.

[eluniversal-18] 100 year of Jewish immigration Archived 2005-12-10 at the Wayback Machine "The exhibit has photos of many members of the community who have become well known for their artistic or cultural contributions. Wolf Ruvinskis was a famous wrestler in the 1950s.... Jacobo Zabludovsky is a household name, having been a prominent news anchor for decades both in television and radio."

[19] Jacobs, Gerald (July 23, 2009). "Interview: Chloe Aridjis". The Jewish Chronicle.

[20] Kerstin Jones. "Anita Brenner". ic.arizona.edu. Retrieved 3 August 2010.

[judiomexicanas-21] Invenciones multitudinarias: escritoras judíomexicanas contemporáneas Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine "Guadalupe Cortina’s study of Mexican Jewish women writers features general introductions to four writers and textural analyses of their work. The writers are Margo Glantz, Ethel Krauze, Sara Levi Calderón, and, more briefly discussed than the previous three, Sara Sefchovich. "

[22] Where Words Like Monarchs Fly Archived 2005-11-20 at the Wayback Machine "Myriam Moscona is the daughter of Sephardic parents who came to Mexico from Bulgaria."

[23] ".:: Welcome To The Jewish Ledger ::". jewishledger.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2010.

[24] Interview: Ilan Stavans "born in Mexico in 1961 to an Eastern European Jewish family"

[25] Agencias (10 September 2014). "Dr. Samuel Gitler Z"L, Multigalardonado matemático miembro del Colegio Nacional". Diario Judío (in Spanish).

[26] "Jewish Physicists". www.jinfo.org.

[27] "Instituto de Ciencias Físicas". www.fis.unam.mx.

[28] "Marcos Moshinsky :: Background". Archived from the original on March 21, 2006. Moshinsky belongs to a family of Jewish emigrants from the Ukraine ... He has lived in Mexico, where he received his entire elementary and higher education and has spent almost all his professional life, from the age of three

[29] Hordes, Stanley M. To the ends of the earth: A history of the crypto-Jews in New Mexico

[30] Farias, George. The Farias chronicles: a history and genealogy of a Portuguese/Spanish family.

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v t e Jews and Judaism in Mexico
Topics	History Mexican Jews
Synagogues	Bet El Synagogue, Mexico City Historic Synagogue Justo Sierra 71 Templo Adat Israel Shul de Alamos
Organizations	Comité Central de la Comunidad Judía de México Folks-Ligue Tribuna Israelita
Politics	Israel–Mexico relations Antisemitism
Publications	Foroys
Schools	Maguen David Monte Sinaí Olamí ORT Sefaradí Tarbut
List of Mexican Jews List of synagogues