Bret Stephens

Stephens in 2013, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Bret Louis Stephens

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

Date of Birth: November 21, 1973

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Bret Stephens is an American journalist, editor, columnist, and political commentator. He is a writer and contributor for The New York Times and NBC News, and is the first editor-in-chief of SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations. He was previously editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, and a foreign affairs columnist and deputy editorial page editor for The Wall Street Journal. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2013, while at the WSJ.

His parents were/are both Jewish. Bret’s father was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico, to U.S. citizen parents; his family owns a company there, General Products, for chemicals. Bret’s mother was born in Italy; her family was originally from Russia and Lithuania, and then moved to Berlin, Germany, before leaving because of the Nazi regime. Bret spent part of his childhood in Mexico City, as well.

Bret is married to music critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim.

Bret’s paternal grandfather was Earle Louis Stephens (born Louis Ehrlich, the son of Barnett Erlikh/Ehrlich and Bessie Belzman). Earle was born in Chisinau, Chisinau, Moldova, and changed the family name to Stephens after moving to the U.S. Barnett was the son of Moshko Erlikh. Bessie was the daughter of Gdal Belzman and Sarah.

Bret’s paternal grandmother was Annette Frances Margolis (the daughter of Samuel Margolis/Margolies and Cecelia/Cecilia Deborah Salisch). Annette was born in New York. She re-married to composer Conlon Nancarrow. Samuel was born in New York, the son of parents from Russia, Israel Margolis/Margolies and Annie Olshamer/Fanie Levy. Cecelia was also born in New York, the daughter of parents from Romania, Mendel/Mandel Salisch and Sarah Zimet.

Bret’s maternal grandfather was named Teodoro Sussich.

Bret’s maternal grandmother was Nina Grodzensky (the daughter of Israel/Ivan Grodzensky and Chesse/Xenia Baskind). Chesse was the daughter of Falck/Falko Josselovitch Baskind, who was born in Skud, Lithuania, and of Ratschel Schlesinger.

Sources: Genealogy of Bret Stephens – https://www.geni.com

Bret’s paternal grandmother, Annette Frances Margolis, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org