Ansel Elgort

Target's "Falling For You" New York City Premiere - Arrivals

Elgort in 2012, photo by PR Photos

Birth Name: Ansel Holby Elgort

Place of Birth: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Birth: March 14, 1994

Ethnicity:
*father – Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – Norwegian, as well as English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and German

Ansel Elgort is an American actor, singer, DJ, and music producer. He is known for starring in the films Carrie (2013), Divergent, and its sequels; The Fault in Our Stars, Men, Women & Children, Baby Driver, November Criminals, Jonathan, Billionaire Boys Club, The Goldfinch, and West Side Story (2021), and on television’s Tokyo Vice. His DJ name is Ansølo.

He is the son of Grethe Barrett Holby, an opera director, and Arthur Elgort, a fashion photographer. His sister, Sophie Elgort, is also a photographer. His cousin is stand-up comedian and actor Sam Morril, who is his father’s brother’s son. Ansel’s father is of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Ansel’s mother has English, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, and German ancestry on one side, and Norwegian on the other.

On his surname, which is Russian Jewish, Ansel has said:

I think it’s Russian. His father was a Russian Jew who fled and was an immigrant in New York City and grew up in Washington Heights. My dad grew up in Washington Heights. I grew up in New York in Manhattan. So we’re purebred New Yorkers.

Ansel has released a song, To Life (2015), with a Bar Mitzvah theme, mixing electronic and klezmer music.

Ansel was named after photographer and environmentalist Ansel Adams.

Ansel’s paternal grandfather was Henech “Harry” Elgort (the son of Samuel Shimel Elgort and Etel/Ethel/Etta Ushomesky/Schumerska). Henech was a Jewish emigrant from Roternissel, Russia. Samuel was born in St. Petersburg, the son of Mottel Elgort and Bloom. Etel was the daughter of Tellig Ushomesky/Schumerska and Thena Kiratt.

Ansel’s paternal grandmother was Sophie/Sophia Didimamoff (the daughter of Rafael Didimamoff and Katharine/Katherine/Katarzyna/Catherine/Katherina Kurtz). Sophie was born in New York, to a father from Akhaltsikhe, Russian Empire, now Georgia; and a mother from Lemberg, Austria, now in Lviv, Ukraine. Ansel’s grandmother’s exact heritage is not clear. She had a Catholic funeral (she re-married to a Catholic). It is not clear if she was of Jewish heritage, but it is possible, given her emigrant roots in Lviv and the surname Kurtz. Ansel’s cousin Sam Morril referred to his own father simply as Jewish (Ansel’s biological uncle).

Ansel’s father had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony. He attended a Jewish summer camp, Camp Windsor, c. the late 1940s. A picture can be seen here.

Ansel’s maternal grandfather was Warren Barrett Holby (the son of John Duncan Holby and Alice Quimby). Warren was born in Connecticut, and was a founding partner of Merritt & Holby, a housing development firm. John was the son of Frank Regnault Savoy Holby and Margaret Jane Duncan Avil, who was born in Iowa, to a father from England and a mother who lived in Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Ansel’s great-grandmother Alice was the daughter of Charles Linneaus Quimby and Kittie Moore.

Ansel’s maternal grandmother was Aase-Grethe Hall (the daughter of Wegard Hall and Margrethe Olsdatter Mauset). Aase-Grethe was Norwegian, born in Oslo; during World War II, she worked for the Resistance and the Norwegian government-in-exile, and helped save Jews from the Holocaust, including many children. Aase-Grethe was imprisoned in the Falstad concentration camp by the Nazis for these activities. She married Ansel’s American grandfather after World War II and moved to New York. In New York, she was a member of the American-Scandinavian Society Social Committee, and of the Norwegian Seamen’s Church. Ansel’s great-grandfather Wegard was born in Næs, Jodalen, Valdres, Oppland. Ansel’s great-grandmother Margrethe was born in Mausetgården, Surnadalsøra, Surnadal, Møre og Romsdal, the daughter of Ole Ingebrigtsson Mauset and Maria/Marie Engelsdatter Husby.

Sources: Family history of Ansel Elgort – https://www.hollywoodancestry.com

Genealogy of Ansel Elgort – https://www.geni.com

Ansel’s paternal grandmother, Sophie/Sophia Didimamoff, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Sophie/Sophia Didimamoff on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Sophie/Sophia Didimamoff on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary of Ansel’s paternal grandmother, Sophie/Sophia (Didimamoff) Elgort Bednarczyk – https://www.newspapers.com

Ansel’s maternal grandfather, Warren Barrett Holby, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary of Ansel’s maternal grandfather, Warren Barrett Holby – http://www.nytimes.com

Ansel’s maternal great-grandfather, John Duncan Holby, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Obituary of Ansel’s maternal grandmother, Aase-Grethe (Hall) Holby – http://query.nytimes.com

37 Responses

  1. passingtime85 says:

    Correction.

    Sophie Didimamoff’s parents Rafael Didimamoff and Katharine were both listed as being born in Russia, yet they spoke Polish according to a 1910 census. On later censuses Katharine listed her birth country as either Poland or Galacia and her mother tongue was Polish. I couldn’t find much more information on their background other than Katherine’s sister Caroline/Karrolina’s surname was Kurtz, so that may possibly be Katherine’s original surname.

  2. ashash says:

    Is his paternal grandmother Jewish?

    • follers says:

      I don’t know for sure, but on the 1910 census page that the Didimamoffs are listed on, pretty much every other family is Jewish. It would be very unusual if the Didimamoffs were recent non-Jewish Russian immigrants but lived in such a Jewish area at the time (not to mention that non-Jewish ethnic Russian immigrants to the U.S. around 1907 were very rare).

      • ashash says:

        I would assume she is Jewish then. Is it the maternal grandmother who you were wondering if was Jewish? It says she was put in a concentration camp for helping Jews, not because she was Jewish, so I think she isn’t.

        • follers says:

          I was wondering about the paternal grandmother. The name “Constantine”, Sophie’s brother, wasn’t typical for Russian Jews at the time, who mostly had Yiddish/Jewish first names. However, wealthy Jews did name their children with secular Russian names. The Didimamoffs had a servant living with them in 1910, so my best theory is that they were wealthy/assimilated Russian Jews. But I could be wrong.

          • ashash says:

            Probably wealthy Jews if they had a servant living with them. I think it’s unlikely that she wasn’t Jewish.

  3. theropod says:

    He’s the type that gets darker and handsomer as he grows and ages.

  4. J.J. says:

    correction; his eyes are hazel (light brown) and his hair is medium brown (brunette)

  5. andrew says:

    he just has 1 movie in his CV, who can know him?

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