Many of the Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Spanish Inquisition settled in the Ottoman Empire, leaving behind, at the wake of Empire, large Sephardic communities in South-East Europe: mainly in Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Kalmi Baruh, writer and philosopher
  • Emerik Blum, businessman, founder of Energoinvest, former Mayor of Sarajevo
  • Ivan Ceresnjes, architect-researcher, former president of the Jewish community in Bosnia and Herzegovina and vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities, 1992–1996
  • Oskar Danon, composer and conductor
  • David Elazar, Israeli general and Chief of Staff of Israel Defense Forces
  • Jakob Finci, politician, ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Switzerland
  • Daniel Kabiljo, painter
  • Daniel Ozmo, painter
  • Isaac Pardo, rabbi of Sarajevo
  • Robert Rothbart, basketball player
  • Isak Samokovlija, writer

Bulgaria

  • Albert Aftalion, Bulgarian-born French economist
  • Binyamin Arditi
  • Aron Aronov, tenor
  • Mira Aroyo, member of the band Ladytron
  • Gabi Ashkenazi
  • Michael Bar-Zohar
  • Maxim Behar, president of M3 Communications Group
  • Haim Bejarano, Torah scholar and chief rabbi
  • Shimon Bejarano
  • Alexander Bozhkov, vice-premier (Jewish mother)
  • Elias Canetti, author and Nobel Prize winner
  • Sabetay Djaen, rabbi and teacher
  • Carl Djerassi
  • Itzhak Fintzi, dramatist
  • Pini Gershon
  • Moshe Gueron
  • Shlomo Kalo
  • Nikolay Kaufman, musicologist and composer
  • Yehezkel Lazarov
  • Moshe Leon
  • Milcho Leviev, jazz composer (Jewish father)
  • Raphael Mechoulam
  • Moni Moshonov
  • Ya'akov Nehushtan
  • Ya'akov Nitzani
  • Jules Pascin, artist (Jewish father) son of Isaac Passy
  • Valeri Petrov
  • Georgi Pirinski, Jr.
  • David Primo
  • Sarah-Theodora
  • Victor Shem-Tov
  • Maxim Staviski
  • Angel Wagenstein, author & screenwriter
  • Alexis Weissenberg, pianist
  • Jaime Yankelevich
  • Emanuel Zisman

Croatia

  • Viktor Axmann, architect
  • Slavko Brill, sculptor and ceramics artist
  • Julio Deutsch, architect
  • Hugo Ehrlich, architect
  • Ignjat Fischer, architect
  • Josip Frank, Croatian politician
  • Stjepan Gomboš, architect
  • Branko Grünbaum, mathematician
  • Leo Hönigsberg, architect
  • Rikard Lang, prominent Croatian university professor, lawyer and economist, UN's expert
  • Slobodan Lang, physician, politician, humanitarian
  • Slavko Löwy, architect
  • Rudolf Lubinski, architect
  • Branko Lustig, film producer and winner of two Academy Awards
  • Blessed Ivan Merz, beatified in 2003
  • Oscar Nemon, sculptor
  • Vladimir Šterk, architect
  • Ivo Stern, founder of the "Zagreb Radiostation"
  • Karlo Weissmann, physician and founder of the first sanatorium in Osijek
  • Dragutin Wolf, industrialist, founder of the food company Koestlin in Bjelovar

Cyprus

  • Aristobulus of Britannia (converted to Christianity)
  • Barnabas (mentioned in the New Testament)
  • Mike Brant, French-based singer (Cyprus-born)
  • Epiphanius of Salamis (converted to Christianity)
  • John the Merciful
  • Arie Zeev Raskin, rabbi
  • Georgios Savva, footballer

Greece

  • Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO
  • Hank Azaria, actor and producer
  • Sid Ganis, film producer
  • Anna Rezan, actress and singer
  • Moses Elisaf, physician and academic
  • Alberto Israel Errera, officer
  • Leon Cohen, Holocaust survivor
  • Marcel Nadjari, Holocaust survivor
  • Salamo Arouch, boxer and Holocaust survivor
  • Avraam Benaroya, socialist
  • Ioanna Tsatsou, writer

Montenegro

  • Jelena Đurović, writer, politician and journalist

North Macedonia

  • Estreya Haim Ovadya, Yugoslav partisan
  • Rafael Moshe Kamhi
  • Žamila Kolonomos, Sephardi Jewish partisan, writer, academic, and political activist

Serbia

  • David Albahari, writer
  • David Albala, military officer, physician, diplomat, and Jewish community leader
  • Oskar Danon, composer
  • Oskar Davičo, poet
  • Filip David, playwright and columnist
  • Predrag Ejdus, actor
  • Vanja Ejdus, actress
  • Rahela Ferari, actress
  • Ivan Ivanji, writer
  • Enriko Josif, composer
  • Danilo Kiš, writer
  • Marko Kon, pop singer
  • Shaul Ladany, Holocaust survivor, racewalker and two-time Olympian
  • Tommy Lapid, former Israeli politician of Hungarian descent, born in Novi Sad
  • Paulina Lebl-Albala, feminist, translator, literary critic, literature theoretician, and professor of literature in Belgrade
  • Sonja Licht, political activist
  • Izidor Papo, cardiac surgeon, general-colonel of the Yugoslav Army medical unit
  • Moša Pijade, politician, painter, art critic and publicist
  • Eva Ras, actress
  • Seka Sablić, actress
  • Erich Šlomović, art collector
  • Aleksandar Tišma, writer

Slovenia

  • Katja Boh, politician
  • Berta Bojetu, author
  • Israel Isserlin, Medieval rabbi
  • Lev Kreft, sociologist and politician
  • Dušan Šarotar, author and editor

Turkey

<!--Please keep the list in alphabetical order by surname.-->

Academia

alt=Dani Rodrik|thumb|142x142px|[[Dani Rodrik, Turkish economist and professor at Harvard University]]

  • Maír José Benardete (1895–1989), Ottoman-born American scholar of Sephardic studies; professor at Brooklyn College
  • Ruth Behar (born 1956), Cuban-American anthropologist; professor at the University of Michigan
  • José Benardete (1928–2016), American philosopher; professor of philosophy at Syracuse University
  • Seth Benardete (1930–2001), American classicist; professor New York University and The New School
  • Doron Ben-Atar (born 1957), American historian and playwright; professor of history at Fordham University
  • Seyla Benhabib (born 1950), Turkish-born American political theorist; professor at Columbia Law School
  • Edit Doron (1951–2019), Israeli linguist; professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Lois Ellen Frank (born 1960), American food historian; professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts
  • Yomtov Garti (1915–2011), Turkish mathematician and a teacher of mathematics, physics and cosmography
  • John Gerassi (1931–2012), French-American professor, journalist and political activist
  • Joseph Halévy (1827–1917), French orientalist and traveller; professor of Ethiopic in the École pratique des hautes études; librarian of the Société Asiatique
  • Israel Hanukoglu (born 1952), Turkish-born Israeli biochemist; professor at Ariel University; former science and technology adviser to the prime minister of Israel (1996–1999)
  • Yossef H. Hatzor (born 1959), Israeli professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  • Jaklin Kornfilt (<abbr></abbr> 1940s), Turkish theoretical linguist and professor at Syracuse University; known for her contributions to the fields of Turkish language and grammar, and Turkic language typology
  • Miriam Lichtheim (1914–2004), Turkish-born American-Israeli Egyptologist, academic, librarian and translator
  • Jacob L. Moreno (1889–1974), Romanian-American psychiatrist; the founder of psychodrama; pioneer of group psychotherapy
  • Jonathan D. Moreno (born 1952), American philosopher and historian; professor at the University of Pennsylvania
  • Aron Rodrigue (born 1957), Turkish-born American professor in Jewish Culture and History at Stanford University
  • Dani Rodrik (born 1957), Turkish economist and professor at Harvard University
  • Nathan Salmon (born 1951), American philosopher; professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Ishak Saporta (born 1957), Israeli professor of business ethics at Tel Aviv University
  • Simon Schama (born 1945), English historian and television presenter; professor at Columbia University

Arts and entertainment

right|thumb|150x150px|[[Berry Sakharof, Israeli rock singer and guitarist]]

alt=Yasmin Levy, Ladino singer|thumb|150x150px|[[Yasmin Levy, Ladino singer]]

alt=Alberto Hemsi, composer|thumb|134x134px|[[Alberto Hemsi, composer]]

alt=Dario Moreno, Turkish singer|thumb|158x158px|[[Dario Moreno, Turkish singer]]

  • Maurice Abravanel (1903–1993), Ottoman-born American classical music conductor
  • Anjelika Akbar (born 1969), Turkish composer, pianist and writer
  • Philip Arditti (born 1979), Turkish theatre and television actor
  • Adi Ashkenazi (born 1975), Israeli actress, screenwriter and stand-up comedian
  • Lior Ashkenazi (born 1968), Israeli actor, voice actor, comedian and television presenter
  • Mili Avital (born 1972), Israeli actress
  • Aki Avni (born 1967), Israeli actor, entertainer and television host
  • Jeff Baena (born 1977–), American screenwriter and film director
  • Kathy Barr (1929–2008), American vocalist
  • Albert Beger (born 1959), Istanbul-born Israeli saxophonist and flutist
  • Bea Benaderet (1906–1968), American actress
  • Ceki Benşuşe (born 1980), Turkish guitar player of the Turkish band Sefarad
  • Albert Bitran (1931–2018), French painter and sculptor
  • Can Bonomo (born 1987), Turkish singer who represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
  • Assi Cohen (born 1974), Israeli comedian and actor
  • Sacha Distel (1933–2004), French musician
  • Bob Dylan (born 1941), American singer and songwriter; 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature winner
  • Jesse Dylan (born 1966), American film director and production executive
  • Roza Eskenazi (1890 – 1980), Istanbul-born Greek dancer and singer of rebetiko
  • Savi Gabizon (born 1960), Israeli filmmaker, screenwriter and producer
  • Yehoram Gaon (born 1939), Israeli singer, actor, director, comedian, producer, television and radio host
  • Miki Gavrielov (born 1949), Israeli composer
  • Fernando Gerassi (1899–1974), Turkish-born American artist
  • Eydie Gormé (1928–2013), American singer
  • Isaac Guillory (1947–2000), American folk guitarist
  • Sienna Guillory (born 1975), English actress and former model
  • Emma Kingston (born 1991), British stage actress
  • Lainie Kazan (born 1940), American actress and singer
  • Alberto Hemsi (1898–1975), Turkish-born French composer
  • Victoria Kamhi (<abbr></abbr> 1905–1997), Turkish pianist
  • Tchéky Karyo (1953–2005), French actor and musician
  • Victor Laredo (1910–2003), American documentary photographer
  • Shaily Lipa (born 1974), Israeli cookbook author, content creator and TV cookery show host
  • Sami Levi (born 1981), Turkish soloist of the Turkish band Sefarad
  • Kohava Levy (born 1946), Israeli singer, songwriter, composer and poet in Ladino
  • Yasmin Levy (born 1975), Israeli Ladino singer and songwriter
  • Yitzhak Levy (1919–1977), Israeli singer, songwriter, musicologist and composer in Ladino
  • Linet (born 1975), Turkish-Israeli singer
  • Art Metrano (1936–2001), American actor
  • Paul Misraki (1908–1998), French composer
  • Darío Moreno (1921–1968), Turkish polyglot singer
  • Eliad Nachum (born 1990), Israeli singer, songwriter and television actor
  • Germaine Poliakov (1918–2020), French music teacher and Holocaust survivor
  • Jacques Rémy (1911–1981), French screenwriter
  • Berry Sakharof (born 1957), Israeli rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer
  • Rudolph Schildkraut (1862–1930), Austrian film and theatre actor
  • Altina Schinasi (1907–1999), American sculptor, filmmaker, actress and inventor
  • Neil Sedaka (born 1939), American singer, songwriter and pianist
  • Rotem Sela (born 1953), Israeli actress best known for starring in the Israeli television series Beauty and the Baker (2013–2021)
  • Shlomi Shabat (born 1954), Israeli vocalist and musician
  • Cem Stamati (born 1981), bass guitar player of the Turkish band Sefarad
  • Alona Tal (born 1983), Israeli actress and singer
  • Roy Gokay Wol (born 1984), Turkish-Israeli film producer and director
  • Ed Wynn (1886–1966), American actor and comedian
  • Keenan Wynn (1916–1986), American character actor
  • Ned Wynn (1941–2020), American actor and screenwriter

Business

alt=Abraham Salomon Camondo, Ottoman financier and philanthropist; patriarch of the House of Camondo|thumb|161x161px|[[Abraham Salomon Camondo, Ottoman financier and philanthropist; patriarch of the House of Camondo]]

right|thumb|140x140px|[[Isaac Carasso, founder of Groupe Danone]]

  • Ishak Alaton (1927–2016), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Alarko Holding
  • Leyla Alaton (born 1961), Turkish businesswoman and art collector, board member of Alarko and Alvimedica
  • Isak Andic (1953–2024), Turkish-Spanish businessman and co-founder of clothing retailer Mango
  • Howard Behar (born 1944), American businessman; president of Starbucks Coffee Company International
  • Abraham Salomon Camondo (1781–1873), Ottoman financier and philanthropist; patriarch of the House of Camondo
  • Isaac de Camondo (1851–1911), Ottoman-born French businessman and art collector
  • Moïse de Camondo (1860–1935), Ottoman-born French banker and art collector
  • Isaac Carasso (1874–1939), Ottoman-born Spanish businessman; founder of Groupe Danone; member of Carasso family
  • Giuseppe Eskenazi (born 1939), Turkish businessman and Chinese art dealer; founder of Eskenazi
  • Üzeyir Garih (1929–2001), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Alarko Holding
  • Cem Hakko (born 1955), Turkish businessman and president of Vakko
  • Vitali Hakko (1913–2007), Turkish businessman, founder of the Vakko
  • Jeffi Medina (born 1950), Turkish businessman and co-founder of Medina Turgul DDB; former president of Advertising Association of Turkey
  • Gracia Mendes Nasi (1510–1569), Ottoman-Portuguese philanthropist, businesswoman, and member of the Mendes Benveniste family; one of the wealthiest and most influential women of Renaissance Europe; known for securing a long-term lease of Tiberias in the Safed sanjak (modern day Israel) from Suleiman the Magnificent
  • Silvio Santos (1930–2024), Brazilian media mogul and television host
  • Morris Schinasi (1855–1928), Ottoman-born American businessman in the tobacco industry
  • Izak Senbahar (born 1959), American real estate developer

Politics, military and government

alt=Yitzhak Navon, President of Israel from 1978 to 1983|thumb|149x149px|[[Yitzhak Navon, President of Israel from 1978 to 1983]]

alt=Emmanuel Carasso, Ottoman lawyer and member of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies|thumb|110x110px|[[Emmanuel Carasso, Ottoman lawyer and member of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies]]

  • Avichay Adraee (born 1982), Israeli military officer; head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit
  • Mordechai Alkahi (1925–1947), Petah Tikva-born Turkish member of the Irgun
  • Solomon Ashkenazi (<abbr></abbr> 1520–1602), Ottoman-Venetian physician and businessman active in Ottoman, Venetian and Polish–Lithuanian politics
  • Ruhama Avraham (born 1964), Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset
  • Esther Benbassa (born 1950), French historian and politician; member of the French Senate (2011–2023)
  • Avraham Ben-Shoshan (born 1940), Israeli military officer; Commander of the Israeli Navy (1985-1989)
  • Eliezer Cohen (born 1934), Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset
  • Geulah Cohen (1925–2019), Israeli politician and activist
  • Nechemya Cohen (1943–1967), Israeli soldier; the most decorated soldier in the history of the IDF
  • Steve Cohen (born 1949), American attorney and politician; member of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Dalia Dorner (born 1934), Israeli-Turkish judge; justice of the Supreme Court of Israel (1993-2004)
  • Shlomo Gazit (1926–2020), Israeli military officer and academic; major general in the Israel Defense Forces, head of the Military Intelligence Directorate
  • Mordechai Gazit (1922–2016), Israeli diplomat; adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir; ambassador to France; and Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
  • Françoise Giroud (1916–2003), French journalist, screenwriter, writer, and politician; Minister of Culture
  • Emanuel Karasu (1862–1934), Ottoman lawyer and politician; member of the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies, member of the Young Turks
  • Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (born 1952), American politician, member of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Alejandro Mayorkas (born 1959), American attorney and government official, 7th United States Secretary of Homeland Security
  • Tamir Pardo (born 1953), Israeli intelligence officer; 11th Director of Mossad
  • Emin Pasha (1840–1892), Ottoman physician, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile
  • Luisa Porritt (born 1987), British politician
  • Issy Smith (1890–1940), British-Australian military officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross
  • Moshe Bar Siman Tov (born 1976), Israeli economist and the Director-General of the Ministry of Health
  • David Tzur (born 1959), Israeli politician and former policeman; member of the Knesset

Religion

alt=Ishak Haleva (1940–2025), Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Turkey (2002-2025)|thumb|100x100px|[[Ishak Haleva, Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Turkey (2002-2025)]]

alt=Abraham Palacci, Chief Rabbi and author of Smyrna; member of the Pallache family|thumb|121x121px|[[Abraham Palacci, Chief Rabbi and author of Smyrna; member of the Pallache family]]

  • Aaron Alfandari (<abbr></abbr> 1700–1774), Turkish Talmudic writer
  • Marc D. Angel (born 1945), American rabbi and author
  • Hayyim Isaac Algazi (<abbr></abbr> 1819), Turkish Chief Rabbi of Smyrna
  • Yom Tov Algazi (1727–1782), Ottoman Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (1773-1782)
  • Hayyim ben Jacob Alfandari (1558–1640), Turkish Talmudic educator and writer
  • Solomon Eliezer Alfandari (<abbr></abbr> 1826–1830), Ottoman rabbi, kabbalist and rosh yeshiva of Istanbul
  • Albert Jean Amateau (1889–1996), Turkish rabbi, lawyer and social activist
  • David Asseo (1914–2002), Turkish rabbi; Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of the Republic of Turkey (1961-2002)
  • Asenath Barzani (1590 – 1670), Ottoman-Kurdish female rabbinical scholar and poet
  • Joshua ben Israel Benveniste (<abbr></abbr> 1590 – 1668), Ottoman rabbi at Constantinople and physician
  • Elijah Capsali (<abbr></abbr> 1485–1550), Ottoman rabbi and historian
  • Moses Capsali (1420–1495), Ottoman rabbi; first Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of the Ottoman Empire
  • Abraham Danon (1857–1925), Turkish rabbi, Hebraist, writer and poet
  • Haim Moussa Douek (1905–1974), Turkish rabbi; last Chief Rabbi of Egypt
  • Menahem Egozi (<abbr></abbr> 1500s), Turkish Talmudist
  • Ishak Haleva (1940–2025), Turkish rabbi; Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) of Turkey (2002-2025)
  • Aaron ben Solomon ben Hasun (<abbr></abbr> 1500s), Turkish rabbi and Talmudic scholar
  • Barzillai ben Baruch Jabez (<abbr></abbr> 1700s), Turkish Talmudist
  • Elijah Mizrachi (<abbr></abbr> 1455–1525), Ottoman Talmudist and posek; authority on Halakha and mathematician
  • Chaim Nahum (1872–1960), Turkish rabbi; Grand Rabbi of the Ottoman Empire; jurist, and linguist; member of the Turkish delegation for the Lausanne Treaty