54.6872° N, 25.2800° E

VILNIUS

Most Famous People Born in Vilnius, Lithuania

Notable people
881
Peak decade
1970s
Median birth year
1953
Most distinctive
Rabbi 13.2×

For four hundred years Vilnius was the Jerusalem of the North, seat of the Vilna Gaon and one of the densest Talmudic cities on earth. The Rabbi bench runs at better than thirteen times the baseline — the ghost of that lost yeshiva world — while a Basket cluster and a Chess count not far behind reflect the postwar reinvention around the Žalgiris sports complex, a Baltic capital of six hundred thousand punching far above its weight on both hardwood and board.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Vilnius during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1970s with 113 notable births.

What Vilnius Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Vilnius's biggest profession — 14% of all notables (120).

Vilnius over-indexes on rabbi13.2× the global rate.

Vilnius under-produces football — only 0.5× the global rate.

  1. Politician120
  2. Basket52
  3. Football51
  4. Actor40
  5. Sport31
  6. Painter24
  7. Writer23
  8. Singer22
  1. Rabbi1313.2×
  2. Chess2212.3×
  3. Basket524.7×
  4. Conductor94.0×
  5. Rower123.7×
  6. Athlete93.6×
  7. Sport312.1×
  8. Athletic192.0×
  1. Football510.5×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Vilnius's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Politics & Law
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Science
  • Other
All881
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Showing 55 of 881 notable people

0002 MUSIC

Jascha Heifetz

1901 - 1987

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0034 VIOLIN

Alexander Schneider

1908 - 1993

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0063 ACTOR

Shmuel Rodensky

1902 - 1989

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0065 PHILOSOPHER

Aron Gurwitsch

1901 - 1973

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0073 CHOREOGRAPHER

Asaf Messerer

1903 - 1992

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0087 MUSIC

Nadia Reisenberg

1904 - 1983

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0098 PLAYER

Daniel Prenn

1904 - 1991

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0110 POET

Shmerke Kaczerginski

1908 - 1954

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0168 WRITER

Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz

1909 - 1998

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0184 FILM

Antoni Bohdziewicz

1906 - 1970

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0218 ASTRONOMER

Włodzimierz Zonn

1905 - 1975

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0221 ACTOR

Jan Kurnakowicz

1901 - 1968

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0237 COMMANDER

Yisrael Amir

1903 - 2002

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0241 RESISTANCE

Yitzhak Wittenberg

1907 - 1943

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0243 POLITICIAN

Abraham Blum

1905 - 1943

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0246 LIBRARIAN

Dina Abramowicz

1909 - 2000

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0259 BALLET

Nadeschda Sergejewna Nadeschdina

1908 - 1979

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0263 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Dmitri Alexejewitsch Olderogge

1903 - 1987

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0272 HOCKEY

Anatole Vologe

1909 - 1944

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0273 PHYSICIST

Henryk Niewodniczański

1900 - 1968

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0294 SCREENWRITER

Sergei Yermolinsky

1900 - 1984

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0296 PAINTER

Antoni Uniechowski

1903 - 1976

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0303 SCREENWRITER

Michael Tschesno-Hell

1902 - 1980

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0315 ACTOR

Irving Cohen

1904 - 1991

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0318 WRITER

Max Gordon (Village Vanguard founder)

1903 - 1989

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0330 POET

Teodor Bujnicki

1907 - 1944

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0333 HISTORIAN

Antoni Gołubiew

1907 - 1979

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0344 RÉSISTANT

Georges Garel

1909 - 1979

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0357 ASTRONOMER

Wilhelmina Iwanowska

1905 - 1999

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0401 PHYSICIST

Emanuel R. Piore

1908 - 2000

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0411 SONGWRITER

Moe Jaffe

1901 - 1972

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0420 WRITER

Jacob Tsur

1906 - 1990

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0456 BOTANIST

Serguéi Lípshits

1905 - 1983

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0472 FOOTBALL

Leonas Juozapaitis

1901 - 1980

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0474 FOOTBALL

Stasys Sabaliauskas

1905 - 1927

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0489 CHESS

Leon Kremer

1901 - 1941

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0517 POLITICIAN

Aryeh Sheftel

1905 - 1980

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0545 WRITER

Wladimir Rabinovitch

1906 - 1981

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0573 CONVICT

Boris Kowerda

1907 - 1987

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0581 ACTOR

Rachel Messerer

1902 - 1993

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0590 ENGINEER

Tadeusz Żyliński

1904 - 1967

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0597 YIDDISH

Hirsch Schwartzberg

1907 - 1987

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0604 OFFICER

Aleksander Jeljaszewicz

1902 - 1978

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0620 PAINTER

Moses Bagel

1908 - 1995

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0631 THEOLOGIAN

Jakob Jocz

1906 - 1983

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0640 ACTIVIST

Luba Blum-Bielicka

1906 - 1973

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0658 FILM

Jakob Jonilowicz

1908 - 1975

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0696 COMEDIAN

Jevel Katz

1902 - 1940

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0748 ACTOR

Fania Rubina

1906 - 1997

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0780 EDUCATOR

Mira Bernstein

1908 - 1943

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0782 LAWYER

Malka Silberstein

1903 - 1941

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0822 ÉPOUX

Rachel Pludermacher

1908 - 2002

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0837 COMPOSER

Katriel Broydo

1907 - 1945

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0840 CONDUCTOR

Misha Veksler

1907 - 1943

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0863 HISTORIAN

Isaak Lwowitsch Tatarow

1901 - 1938

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