Alex Pall

Pall in 2014, photo Prphotos

Birth Name: Alexander Jo Pall

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

Date of Birth: May 16, 1985

Ethnicity:
*75% Ashkenazi Jewish
*25% English

Alex Pall is an American music producer. He is one-half of electronic DJ and production duo The Chainsmokers, along with Andrew Taggart.

His father, Bill Pall, was American, of Ukrainian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and German Jewish descent. His mother, Margaret, is from London, England. Her father was English and her mother was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant, whose parents were killed in the Holocaust.

Alex’s paternal grandfather was David Boris Pall (the son of Adolph/Adolf Pallant, later Pall, and of Masha “Mary” Donner). David was a Canadian chemist, who was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and was raised in Saskatchewan. He founded Pall Corporation, and invented the Pall filter used in blood transfusions. David’s parents were Ukrainian Jewish emigrants, from Melitopol, Zaporizhia Oblast.

Alex’s paternal grandmother was Josephine Harriet “Josie” Blatt (the daughter of Velvel Moshe/Moses “William” Blatt and Lucy Romberg). Josephine was born in Massachusetts, U.S. Velvel was the son of a Polish Jewish emigrant, Yosef Tavi Blatt, later Joseph Henry Blatt, of Wrocław, and of Louise Singer, whose father, Isidor Singer, later Isidore Singer, was a Polish Jewish emigrant, from Poznań, and whose mother, Pauline Abrams, was a German Jewish immigrant. Alex’s great-grandmother Lucy was a Ukrainian Jewish emigrant, from Kharkiv, and was the daughter of Chanoch Henich Chaimovych “Henry” Romberg and Esther Malka/Mollie Solomovna Levinskaya/Levinsky.

Alex’s maternal grandfather was Sir Gordon Ethelbert Ward Wolstenholme (the son of Ethelbert George Wolstenholme and Clementina Ward). Gordon was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Alex’s great-grandfather Ethelbert was the son of Alfred Wolstenholme and Elizabeth Dickins. Clementina was the daughter of Herbert Ward and Elizabeth Allen.

Alex’s maternal grandmother was Lady Edith Dushanka Messinger (the daughter of Arthur Abraham Messinger and Julia Gelb). Lady Edith was a Hungarian Jewish emigrant, born in Budapest. Her parents were killed during Holocoust, at the Banjica concentration camp in Serbia, her father in 1941 and her mother in 1944. Alex’s great-grandfather Arthur was born in Gorke, Czechoslovakia. Arthur’s father, Jacob/Jakob Messinger, was from Jablanska Cesma, Kassa, Hungary, now Kosice, Slovakia, and was the son of Jozsef Isak Messinger and Zsuzsanna Sarah Baumhorn, who were Polish Jews, from Jabłonka, Lesser Voivodeship. Arthur’s mother, Regina/Regi Rela Löb, was the daughter of Isak Löb and Amalia Löw. Alex’s great-grandmother Julia was Hungarian Jewish, from Budapest.

Each of Alex’s grandparents was born in a different country, something that is fairly rare. Actors Remy Auberjonois, Hart Bochner, Raymond Cham, Jr., Noah Emmerich, Lily James, Stephen Lang, Jessica Lange, Logan Lerman, Robert Morley, Brett Pierce, Ben Rosenfield, Andy Samberg, and Wallace Shawn, filmmaker John G. Avildsen, musicians Tom Cochrane, Paula Cole, and Jeff Stinco, politicians Nick Clegg and Ricardo Maduro, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are others whose grandparents were born in four individual countries.

Sources: Genealogy of Alex Pall – https://www.geni.com

Obituary of Alex’s father – http://www.nytimes.com

Obituary of Alex’s paternal grandfather, David Boris Pall – http://www.nytimes.com

Birth record of Alex’s paternal grandmother, Josephine Harriet Blatt – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Alex’s paternal great-grandparents, Velvel Moshe/Moses “William” Blatt and Lucy Romberg – https://familysearch.org

Marriage record of Alex’s maternal grandparents, Sir Gordon Ethelbert Ward Wolstenholme and Lady Dušanka Messinger – https://familysearch.org

Obituaries of Alex’s maternal great-grandparents, Arthur Abraham Messinger and Julia (Gelb) Messinger – https://www.findagrave.com