http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=785
As you know, we get A LOT of suggestions ranging from excellent to insane. But rarely do we get such a great suggestion, that immediately we say "OF COURSE!" and rush to write the profile (of course, with our backlog, it takes over a month for that profile to appear).
Thank you, Jolie from Dallas!
(Not directly related - but I couldn't think of where else to post this!)
ReplyDeleteYour profile for Austrian Chancellor Bruno Kreisky lists ten (non-Muslim) countries where you really wouldn't expect a Jewish leader, with Austria then crossed out. In fact, depending on the laxness of your definitions, you might have also crossed out four others:
9) DR Congo - Keng Wa Dondo, born Leon Lubicz to a Jewish father and a Tutsi mother, was prime minister during the 80s and 90s.
8) India - Rufus Isaacs, a British Sephardic Jew, was governor-general in the 20s.
4) Ukraine - Yukhym Zvyahilsky was acting prime minister in the 90s.
1) Germany - Helmut Schmidt, whose paternal grandfather was Jewish, was chancellor in the 70s. Not very Jewish, I know, but Jewish enough for Hitler!
Thanks... We already know about Schmidt.
ReplyDeleteA bit more internet digging has revealed two more:
ReplyDelete10) Republic of Congo - Maurice Alfassa, a Turkish-born French Jew, was briefly acting governor-general in the 20s.
7) Norway - not a leader, but the chairman of the ruling Conservative Party in the 80s, Jo Benkow, was a Jew.
And now that you've updated the list to just European countries:
9) Italy - Luigi Luzzatti, a prime minister in the 1910s, was Jewish, while his predecessor, Sidney Sonnino, was half-Jewish.
4) Russia - Mikhail Fradkov and Sergei Kiriyenko were two recent half-Jewish prime ministers.
Meanwhile, Iceland (6), Albania (7) and Cyprus, countries with a combined Jewish population in the dozens, have all had Jewish first ladies: the Israeli-born Dorrit Moussaieff of Iceland, the Austrian-born Mrs Nishani of Albania, and the Indian-born Lila-Irene Clerides of Cyprus.
We Jews certainly get around...
Well, Russia, the prime minister is not the head of state (but don't tell that to Putin). And Italy... well... ummm... 1910s Italy is not exactly the same country as 2010s Italy. That being said... Yes, we do get around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all those names, I'm sure a few of them will make it to full profiles.