Long before he became a well-known name in the Western world, a resident of the UK and an Israeli citizen, in May 2018, mega philanthropist Roman Abramovich, who is believed to be one of the most affluent people in Israel, was among the most influential Jews in the former Soviet Union.
In 1999, Abramovich who was then 33 years old, was elected governor of the Russian province of Chukotka, and was subsequently elected for a second term, serving until 2008.
Among the Russians who became billionaires after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Forbes has ranked Abramovich as the 11th wealthiest Russian, but has also noted that he has donated more money than any of his compatriots to a variety of causes in Russia, Britain, the US, Portugal and Israel, as well as in other countries.
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Globally, he is known as the owner of the Premier League Chelsea Football Club, which he has used to motivate, educate and inspire fans to fight hate racism.
Abramovich leads and funds a unique and comprehensive global campaign, under the banner ‘Say No to Antisemitism,’ dedicated to raising awareness of the evils of antisemitism from an educational perspective. The club works with leading figures and authorities around the world to help spread the message.
As part of this effort, Chelsea players, management, staff and fans have personally met with Holocaust survivors, joined the March of the Living, and called to proactively tackle antisemitism. The campaign involves partners like the World Jewish Congress, ADL, the Holocaust Educational Trust, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the Royal Air Force.
The Chelsea Foundation recently launched a new program in partnership with the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation and the Israeli Football Association, introducing football sessions for Arab and Jewish children across Israel, a partnership that was developed following Chelsea Women’s visit to Israel in 2019, during which the team took part in football and education workshops with Arab and Jewish girls, benefiting 1000 children in the first year alone.
In terms of both investments and philanthropy, Abramovich is a strong believer in diversity.
A generous donation that he made to Keren Kayemet LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) for a comprehensive forest rehabilitation program in the southern Negev desert, helps to combat the area’s rising desertification and promotes increasing nature tourism to the area. Abramovich, who is of Jewish Lithuanian descent, and is very sensitive to Holocaust-related issues, decided to establish a forest of some 25,000 new and rehabilitated trees, in memory of Lithuania’s Jews who perished in the Holocaust, plus a virtual memorial and tribute to Lithuanian Jewry (Seed a Memory) enabling people from all over the world to commemorate their ancestors’ personal stories by naming a tree and including their name in the memorial.
An ardent, long-time supporter of Jewish culture around the world and an avid fan of modern art, Abramovich continuously contributes to Jewish art and culture initiatives, such as the Jewish Museum in Moscow and the M.ART contemporary culture festival in Tel Aviv. He also has been recognized by the Forum for Jewish Culture and Religion for his contribution of more than $500 million to Jewish causes in Israel, Russia and elsewhere over the past 20 years.
In 2015, Abramovich donated approximately $30m., to Tel Aviv University to establish an innovative Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, which aspires to become one of the leading facilities in the Middle East.
Still under construction, but nearing completion, it will bear his name.
Among Abramovich’s other beneficiaries is the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer to which he has donated in excess of $60m. for various advanced medicine ventures. These include the establishment of a new nuclear medicine center spanning 2,000 sq.m., the Sheba Cancer and Cancer Research centers, the Pediatric Middle East Congenital Heart Center and the Sheba Heart Center.
Recently, due to the alarming increase in COVID-19 cases in Israel, Abramovich gave Sheba another donation for a new subterranean Intensive Care Unit, spanning 5,400 sq.m., to provide Israel with vital crisis response in times of national emergencies.
Alongside his philanthropic activity, Abramovich has invested some $120m. in 20 Israeli start-ups ranging from medicine and renewable energy, to social media.