Roman Abramovich
Abramovich in 2013, photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich
Place of Birth: Saratov, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Date of Birth: 24 October, 1966
Ethnicity:
*75% Ashkenazi Jewish
*25% UKrainian
Roman Abramovich is a Russian billionaire businessperson, investor, and politician. He also has Israeli, Lithuanian, and Portuguese citizenship. He was a Member of the State Duma, from 10 January, 2000 to 17 December, 2000, and Governor of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, from 17 December, 2000 to 3 July, 2008. Roman was the owner of Chelsea Football Club, an English soccer team. He is the Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, and a trustee of the Moscow Jewish Museum.
Roman was born in the southern Russian city of Saratov, the son of Irina Vasilievna, a music teacher, who was born in Kiev, and Arkady/Aron Abramovich Leibovich, who was born in Tauragė, Lithuania, and worked in the economic council of the Komi ASSR. Roman’s paternal grandparents were Belarusian Jews. Roman’s maternal grandfather was of Ukrainian (non-Jewish) descent, and Roman’s maternal grandmother was Jewish. Orphaned at the age of three, after both of his parents died, he was raised in his uncles’ families, living first in Ukhta, a remote area of northern Russia in the Komi Republic, and then in Moscow.
Roman has five children, including businessperson Arkadiy Abramovich, with his former wife, Aeroflot stewardess, Irina Abramovich (born Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina); and two children with his former wife, Russian-American art collector, businessperson, magazine editor, and socialite Dasha Zhukova. Dasha is the daughter of businessperson Alexander Zhukov and molecular biologist Yelena Zhukova. She is also of Jewish heritage.
As part of his involvement with the Jewish community, Roman has established a forest of 25,000 new and rehabilitated trees in memory of Lithuania’s Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, titled Seed a Memory, allowing relatives of victims to name trees after them.
His Portuguese citizenship was obtained evidently through a claim to Sephardi Jewish ancestry.
Roman’s paternal grandfather was Nakhim/Nachman Leibowitz/Leibovich Abramovich/Abramavičius (the son of Leiba Lev Abramovich and Hanna Rosa Berkover). Nakhim was deported to Siberia by the Soviet authorities while living in Tauragė, Lithuania. He died in an NKVD camp (Soviet) in the settlement of Resheti, Krasnoyarsk Territory, in 1942. Leiba was the son of Berko Abramovich and Malka.
Roman’s paternal grandmother was Toybe/Taube/Tatyana Shimonovna/Stepanovna Berkover (the daughter of Shimon Berkover and Ite Goldstein). Toybe was born in Rivne, Rivnens’ka oblast, Ukraine.
Roman’s maternal grandfather was named Vasily Mikhailenko.
Roman’s maternal grandmother was Faina Borisovna Grutman (the daughter of Boris/Berko Grutman and Rachel Apeltsin). Boris was the son of Gersh Grutman. Rachel was born in Yasnogorodka, Kiev, the daughter of Shlomo Apeltsin.
Sources: http://russiapedia.rt.com
https://www.theguardian.com
https://www.bbc.com
Family histories of Roman Abramovich – http://roman-abramovich.com
http://www.eg.ru
Genealogy of Roman Abramovich – https://www.geni.com
He has evidently enough Sephardi ancestry to obtain Portuguese citizenship: https://www.timesofisrael.com/abramovich-gets-portuguese-passport-under-jewish-ancestry-law/
The Sephardi Jewish ancestry claims seem dubious IMO. Unless its very distant. I’ve seen other articles on his citizenship and they note that the history of Sephardi Jews in Russia/Eastern Europe is not very known and his surname is Ashkenazi.
I suspect this was part of the many “passport schemes” to obtain an EU passport. Typically by donating a large of money or “renting” a property. He reportedly is the biggest/one of the main benefactors to various Jewish communities in Europe. And an article I saw noted that Roman has had visa issues in the past because he did not have an EU passport.
I kinda agree with you… .
I’ve done some more digging and found the articles I mentioned in my earlier comment.
The Guardian describes it as a “naturlisation scheme”, and they, along with Reuters and the Times of Israel article all note that a citizenship applicants genealogy is studied by genealogists and experts “who look for evidence of interest in Sephardic culture”. The following sentence in the three articles state that Abramovich has donated money honouring the legacy of Sephardic Jews in Hamburg, Germany. Reuters also mentions that there is “little known” history of Sephardic Jews in Russia and that his surname is commonly Ashkenazi. Granted, one surname is not enough to rule out possible Sephardic ancestry, but looking at the research provided on this site page here, nothing seems to indicate any recent Sephardic ancestry.
I’m sorry if I come off as skeptical; maybe he does actually have Sephardic ancestry somewhere down the line. But reading some articles and knowing that his roots in Eastern Europe have me wondering…
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/19/roman-abramovich-gains-eu-citizenship-via-portuguese-passport
https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/chelsea-owner-abramovich-gets-portuguese-citizenship-2021-12-18/
quick update of his Israeli citizenship
*75% Ashkenazi Jewish
*25% Ukrainian
Sources only in Russian.
About his mother Irina Vasilievna Mikhailenko and grandmother Faina Borisovna Grutman. source: http://www.eg.ru/daily/crime/4919/
About paternal grandparents: “Before the War, his paternal grandparents – Nakhim (Nachman) Leibowitz (1887 – June 6, 1942, the camp Reshoty, Krasnoyarsk Krai) and Toybe Stepanovna (1890 -?) – lived in Belarus, after moved to Lithuania.” source: http://roman-abramovich.com/2012/09/
Thank you.
Nice find!
His paternal grandparents were originally from Belarus, and his mother from Ukraine of half Ukrainian (father) and half Jewish (mother) descent.
source? as for Putin, his biography is mysterious