Birth Name: David Lawrence Geffen
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Date of Birth: February 21, 1943
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish, possibly Sephardi Jewish
David Geffen is an American business magnate, producer, film studio executive, and philanthropist. He created or co-created Asylum Records in 1970, Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1990, and DreamWorks SKG in 1994.
His father, Abraham Geffen, was a Lithuanian Jewish immigrant, from Vilnius. His mother, Batya Israelovna (Volovskaya), was a Moldovan Jewish immigrant, from Yagorlik, near Dubăsari, Transnistria.
David’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced back to his sixth great-grandfather, David Bentsion Gafanovich, of Kupiškis. Kupiškis was the hub for Jews from Portugal, who were of Sephardi Jewish origins. However, it is unclear if David Bentsion had Sephardi Jewish ancestry.
David’s paternal grandparents were Eliezer Leyb “Elias” Geffen (the son of Avraham David Geffen and Chana Gita “Sophie”) and Mina “Minnie” Montvilishky (the daughter of Link Geffen Montviliski). Avraham was the son of Eliash Jonah Geffen and Yocheved.
David’s maternal grandparents were Israel Volovsky and Sara Torgovitskaya.
Sources: Genealogy of David Geffen – https://www.geni.com
Naturalization record of David’s mother – http://search.ancestry.com
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