Finkelstein ( he, פֿינק(ע)לשׁטײַן or , russian: Финкельштейн) is a German and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

surname originating from Old High German ''funko'' (spark) and ''stein'' (stone). ''Fünkelstein'' meant pyrite (George J. Adler A Dictionary of the German and English Languages, 1848). The Yiddish version of pyrite, ''finkelstein'', could have denoted ''bareketh'', one of the 12 tribe stones of High Priest's breastplate (Exodus 28:

Notable people

Notable people with the surname include: * Abraham Finkelstein alias Arthur Fields (1884–1953), American singer and songwriter * Amy Finkelstein (born 1973), American professor of economics * Anthony Finkelstein (born 1959), British software engineer *

Arthur J. Finkelstein Arthur Jay Finkelstein (May 18, 1945 – August 18, 2017) was a New York state-based Republican Party (GOP) consultant who worked for conservative and right-wing candidates in the United States, Canada, Israel, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe ...

(1945–2017), American political strategist *

Avram Finkelstein Avram Finkelstein is an American artist, writer, gay rights activist and member of the AIDS art collective Gran Fury. Finkelstein describes himself as a "red diaper baby", raised by leftist parents who encouraged him to develop an interest in rad ...

, American gay rights activist * Ben-Ami Finkelstein (1910–1975), Swiss psychiatrist * Claire Finkelstein, American professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School * Clive Finkelstein (born ), Australian computer scientist * Daniel Finkelstein (born 1962), British journalist and politician * David Finkelstein (1929–2016), professor of Physics at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

Eric Finkelstein Eric Andrew Finkelstein is an American health economist. He is a Professor in the Health Services & Systems Research Program at Duke-NUS Medical School, where he is also the executive director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care. He is also a ...

(born 1970), American health economist *

Hans Finkelstein Hans Finkelstein (17 May 1885, Leipzig, Germany - December 1938) was a German chemist. He is particularly known for the Finkelstein reaction developed by and named after him. Biography Hans Finkelstein came from a liberal Jewish family and joi ...

(1885–1938), German chemist *

Heinrich Finkelstein Heinrich Finkelstein (31 July 1865 in Leipzig, Germany – 28 January 1942 in Santiago de Chile), was a German Jewish pediatrician and a pioneer in pediatric nutrition. Life His father was a businessman and the head of the local Jewish community ...

(1865–1942), German pediatrician *

Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein ( he, ישראל פינקלשטיין, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Fin ...

(born 1949), Israeli archaeologist * Jacob Finkelstein alias Jackie Fields (1908–1987), American boxer * Jerry Finkelstein (1916-2012), American publisher, businessman and political insider/power broker * Louis Finkelstein (1895–1991), American Talmud scholar *

Louis Finkelstein (artist) Louis Finkelstein (1923 – 20 June 2000) was an American Painting, painter, art critic and professor who taught for at Queens College, City University of New York. Several of his works have been compared to those of French artist and Post-Imp ...

(1923–2000), American painter and Queens College (CUNY) professor *

Max Finkelstein Max Finkelstein (March 5, 1884–May 3, 1940) was a captain in the New York City Police Department. Police career As president of Shomrim, a fraternal order of Jewish New York City police officers, he became famous in 1938 when Fiorello H. La Gu ...

(1884–1940), New York City policeman *

Meir Finkelstein Meir Finkelstein ( he, מאיר פינקלשטיין; born 1951) is a cantor and composer of contemporary Jewish liturgical music. He has composed more than 200 settings for the liturgy, as well as scored numerous television programs, made-for-TV ...

, Israeli-American cantor and composer of Jewish liturgical music *

Mel Finkelstein Mel Finkelstein was a Pulitzer Prize nominated photographer who rode the streets of New York City as a "camera cowboy" for more than 40 years working as a newspaper and freelance photographer.. Early life Finkelstein was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

, American photojournalist * Menachem Finkelstein (born 1951), Israeli district judge, Israel's Military Advocate General from 2000 to 2004 * Mendel Finkelstein (c.1878–1949), Australian cinema entrepreneur, founder of the Greater Wondergraph Company in Adelaide *

Nat Finkelstein Nathan Louis "Nat" Finkelstein (January 16, 1933 – October 2, 2009) was an American photographer and photojournalist. Finkelstein studied photography under Alexey Brodovitch, the art director of ''Harper's Bazaar'' and worked as a photojournali ...

(1933–2009), American photographer and photojournalist * Norman Finkelstein (born 1953), American political scientist and writer * Norman Finkelstein (poet) (born 1954), poet and writer * Peter Max Finkelstein alias Peter Max (born 1937), American artist *

Raymond Finkelstein Raymond Antony Finkelstein (born 16 July 1946) is an Australian lawyer and judge. From 1997 until 2011, he served as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia. His judgments were highly influential in commercial law, giving rise to new approach ...

(born 1946), Australian lawyer and judge *

Salo Finkelstein Salo Finkelstein (born 1896 or 1897, date of death unknown) was a mental calculator, ranked eighth in the "100 Greatest Mental Calculators". He was born in Łódź (then within the Russian Empire, now Poland) to a Jewish family. While at school he ...

(1896/7–unknown), Russian-American mental calculator * Samuel Finkelstein (1895–1942), Polish painter * Shimcha Finkelstein (1917–1987), Polish-Israeli table tennis player *

Sidney Finkelstein Sidney Finkelstein (1909–1974) was a writer of music who specialized in jazz and was best known for his books ''Jazz, A People's Music'' (1948) and ''How Music Expresses Ideas'' (1952). Along with Charles Seeger (father of Pete Seeger), Finke ...

, (1909-1974) American writer *

Vic Finkelstein Victor (Vic) Berel Finkelstein (25 January 1938 – 30 November 2011) was a disability rights activist and writer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and later living in Britain, Finkelstein is known as a pioneer of the social model of disability a ...

(1938–2011), South African-British disabled activist and writer * William Zorach alias Finkelstein (1889–1966), Lithuanian-American sculptor, painter, printmaker and writer

References

{{surname, Finkelstein Germanic-language surnames German-language surnames Jewish surnames Yiddish-language surnames Surnames from ornamental names de:Finkelstein

Notable people

See also

References