Alexandre Aja
Birth Name: Alexandre Jouan-Arcady
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Date of Birth: 7 August, 1978
Ethnicity:
*father – Romanian-Sephardi Jewish
*mother – possibly French
Alexandre Aja is a French director, writer, producer, and actor. Known for his work in the horror genre, he has directed the films Furia (1999), Haute tension/High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Mirrors (2008), Piranha 3D (2010), Horns (2013), The 9th Life of Louis Drax, Crawl (2019), Oxygen (2021), and Never Let Go (2024). He also co-wrote his Furia, Haute tension, The Hills Have Eyes, and Mirrors, and the films Entre chiens et loups, P2, and Maniac (2012); all of them with Grégory Levasseur, with whom he has frequently collaborated.
Alexandre is the son of cinema critic Marie-Jo Jouan and actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter Alexandre Arcady. His father was born in Algiers, Algeria, and moved to France at the age of fifteen. His stepmother is director, producer, filmmaker, and actress Diane Kurys. His paternal half-brother is novelist and screenwriter Sacha Sperling, who is his father’s son with Diane.
Alexandre is married to Moroccan filmmaker Laïla Marrakchi.
Alexandre’s paternal grandfather was named Alexandre Egry/Arcady. Alexandre’s grandfather Alexandre was born in Arad, Romania. He may have had a Hungarian origin.
Alexandre’s paternal grandmother was Driffa Hadjedj (the daughter of Tobba Hadjedj and Lisa Messaouda Hadjedj). Driffa was born in Bordj-Bou-Arreridj, Algeria. Tobba was the son of Israel Hadjedj and Imouna Hadjedj.
Sources: Genealogy of Alexandre Aja (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Alexandre’s paternal grandmother, Driffa Hadjedj (focusing on her father’s side) – https://gw.geneanet.org
@follers
His paternal grandfather was at least part Hungarian by all reports and with such surname. Romania has been a melting pot of Romanians, Hungarians, German/Transylvania Saxons, Jews and Romani/Gypsies, among others.
I don’t make much of these very generic Hungarian names, especially when there’s been a name change involved.
BTW, I doubt it would be possible for most men to falsely claim to be Jewish in the late 1940s, for reasons that would become apparent fairly quickly into their relationship and/or marriage.
It sounds like a fictionalized version of an event by a press agent though Egry is not a Romanian surname at all. Hungarian seems right.
Btw I have to ask you an opinion about actor
Frank Wolff, reported as German. One of his grandmothers was a Cohn that is pretty much Jewish. Thoughts?
Thank u.
His paternal grandfather was an Hungarian legionary. Egry is an Hungarian surname indeed.
His mom is likely Breton or from Normandy but I have no further info
This article states his paternal grandfather, a Hungarian military man, had to invent to have Jewish roots to marry his paternal grandmother:
https://www.parismatch.com/Culture/Livres/Alexandre-Arcady-l-enfant-de-la-Casbah-1002970#21