List of Caribbean Jews explained

Here is a list of some prominent Caribbean Jews, arranged by country of origin.

Antigua and Barbuda

• Jamaica Kincaid (1949-), writer, converted to Judaism^[1]

Aruba

• Henny Eman (1948-), Prime Minister^[2]
• Mike Eman (1961-), Prime Minister

Cuba

See main article: Jewish Cuban.

• Ruth Behar (1956-), writer^[3]
• José Antonio Bowen (1962-), jazz musician and president of Goucher College
• Fabio Grobart (1905-1994), Communist Party co-founder
• Olga Guillot (1922-2010), singer^[4]
• José Miller (1925-2006), leader of the Cuban Jewish community^[5]
• Meyer Rosenbaum (1910-1997), Rabbi and spiritual leader^[6]
• William Levy (1980-), actor in American film & TV, quarter Jewish^[7]

Curaçao

• Rebecca Cohen Henriquez (1864-1935), philanthropist
• George Maduro (1916-1940),^[8]
• Daniel De Leon (1852-1940), socialist leader^[9]

Dominican Republic

• Oscar Haza(1954-), journalist
• Francisco Henríquez y Carvajal (1859-1935), Dominican President^[10]
• Pedro Henríquez Ureña (1884-1946), academic and writer

Guyana

• Janet Jagan (1920-2009), née Rosenberg, president (1997–99)^[11]

Haiti

• Eric André (1983-), actor, comedian, and television host, dual American citizen star of The Eric Andre Show & Bad Trip
• Gilbert Bigio (1935-), businessman billionaire of Syrian descent and Israeli honorary consul in Haiti^[12]
• Luis de Torres (-1493), one of the first Jews to settle on Haiti, and also Christopher Columbus's interpreter
• Monique Péan (1981-), fine jewelry designer
• Sol (1988-), hip hop musician

Jamaica

• Ivan Barrow (1911-1979), cricketer who played 11 Tests for the West Indies.^[13]
• Chris Blackwell (1937-), founder of Island Records^[14]
• Jacob De Cordova (1808-1868), the founder of the Jamaica Gleaner
• Cecil Vernon Lindo (1870-1962) Jamaican banker and industrialist
• Leander de Cordova (1877-1969), Jamaican-born actor and film director, grandnephew of Jacob de Cordova
• Rudolph de Cordova (1860-1941), a Jamaican-born British writer, screenwriter and actor.
• Lewis Gordon (1962-), philosopher
• Isaac Mendes Belisario (1795-1849), artist^[15]
• Sean Paul (1973-), singer, quarter Jewish^[16]
• Frank Silvera (1914-1970), actor in American film & TV Killer's Kiss & Hombre, founder of Theatre of Being, half Jewish^{[17] [18]}
• Louis Simpson (1923-2012), poet, half Jewish^{[19] [20] [21]}
• Yehoshua Sofer (1958-), Jamaican-born Israeli hip hop and rap artist, also a martial artist & trainer.

Puerto Rico

See main article: Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico.

• Quiara Alegría Hudes (1977-), author, playwright. Wrote the book for Broadway's musical In the Heights. Her play, Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2007.^[22]
• Sandy Alomar Sr. (1943-), Baseball player, father was Jewish but an agnostic who allowed his children to be brought up as a Catholic
• Axel Anderson (1929-2012), German-born actor/director, Anderson made his debut in Puerto Rican television with a sitcom named Qué Pareja a local version of I Love Lucy.
• David Blaine (1978-), magician, Blaine is also an endurance artist and Guinness Book of Records world record-holder, American born, half Jewish.
• Mathias Brugman (1811-1866), was a leader in Puerto Rico's independence revolution against Spain known as El Grito de Lares (Lares' Cry), half Jewish
• Julio Kaplan (1950-), Argentina-born chess player and former world junior champion.
• Raphy Leavitt (1948-2015), composer, director and founder of "La Selecta"
• Ari Meyers (1969-), actress, Best known for her role as Emma Jane McArdle in the Kate & Allie (1984) TV series, born but not raised in Puerto Rico
• Joaquin Phoenix (1974-), actor, won Best Actor Oscar (for Joker), was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Gladiator in 2000 and in 2005, he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, and won a Golden Globe in the same category in 2006 for his role as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.
• Geraldo Rivera (1943-), journalist, half Jewish New York City born
• Jorge Seijo (1942-) Puerto Rican radio and television personality
• A. Cecil Snyder (1907-1959) Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, continual US born

Suriname

• Edgar Davids (1973-), footballer (Jewish grandmother)
• Jacques Judah Lyons (1814-1877), rabbi, later immigrated to the United States of America
• Pim de la Parra (1940-), film maker

US Virgin Islands

• Gabriel Milan (1631-1689), Governor of the Danish West Indies (U.S. Virgin Islands)
• Judah Benjamin (1811-1844), US and Confederate politician
• Ralph Moses Paiewonsky (1907-1991), businessman, politician and governor
• Camille Pissarro (1807-1903), artist
• David Levy Yulee (1810-1866), US politician

See also

• List of Jews
• List of Jamaicans

Notes and References

1. Web site: Black Jews: A Minority Within a Minority. Halper, D.. United Jewish Communities. https://web.archive.org/web/20090228091356/http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=26506. February 28, 2009. dead. August 3, 2010. mdy-all.
2. Web site: Aruban P.M. Welcomes Future Rabbis to Caribbean. Runyan, Joshua. Chabad. December 7, 2019.
3. Web site: An Island Called Home. University of Michigan. December 7, 2019.
4. Book: Amalia Ran. Moshe Morad. Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas. 21 January 2016. BRILL. 978-90-04-20477-5. 9–.
5. https://books.google.com/books?id=-EUYAAAAYAAJ&q=Dr+Jose+Miller Jewish Community of Cuba: The Golden Age, 1906-1958
6. Levinson, Jay. Jewish Community of Cuba: The Golden Years, 1906-1958, Westview Publishing Company, Nashville, Tennessee, (February 2006).
7. News: Nobody doesn't like William Levy. Starr. Michael. March 28, 2012. New York Post. June 22, 2018.
8. Kathleen Brandt-Carey: Knight without fear and beyond reproach. The life of George Maduro 1916-1945. Houten, Spectrum, 2016.
9. Web site: May 11: Daniel De Leon. Jewish Currents. December 7, 2019.
10. Familias capitaleñas: Los Henríquez . Cápsulas Genealógicas . 23 August 2010 . 1/3 . 3 February 2014 . Read. Jaime . Hoy . Santo Domingo . Spanish . Este apellido se origina en la península Ibérica, tanto en Portugal como en España, de familias judías sefardíes que marcharon posteriormente hacia el norte, llegando a Holanda, a raíz de la expulsión de judíos luego de la Reconquista. De allí parten hacia las colonias neerlandesas del Caribe, llegando a Curazao. En la República Dominicana, el tronco de esta familia fue Noel Henríquez Altías (n. 25 diciembre de 1813), natural de Curazao.
11. Rohter, Larry. "A Guyana Favorite: U.S.-Born Grandmother", The New York Times, 14 December 1997.
12. Web site: Around the Jewish World As Haiti Burns, Its Few Jews Choose Business over Politics . Press . 13 February 2004 . JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) . 21 December 2015.
13. Melvyn Barnett (2010). "A history of Jewish first-class cricketers" – Maccabi Australia. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
14. Book: Berger, Doreen. Blanche Lindo Blackwell. en.
15. [Tim Barringer]
16. Web site: Sean Paul . Top40.about.com . 18 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140504005112/http://top40.about.com/od/artistsls/p/seanpaul.htm . 4 May 2014 .
17. Book: Rodriguez, Clara . Heroes, Lovers, and Others: The Story of Latinos in Hollywood. 2008. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-533513-2. 160.
18. Book: Berry. Torriano. Berry. Venise T.. Historical Dictionary of African American Cinema. 12. 2007. Scarecrow Press. 978-0-8108-5545-8. 310.
19. Web site: Louis Simpson Biography – Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition . Enotes.com . 2012-09-18.
20. Web site: Louis Simpson Criticism (Vol. 149) . Enotes.com . 2012-09-18.
21. News: Louis Simpson a Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet dies at 89 . . 18 September 2012 . 2012-09-18. Rothstein . Mervyn .
22. Web site: Hedgebrook . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090721091900/http://www.hedgebrook.org/news.php . July 21, 2009 .