René Angélil
Angélil in 2007, photo by Prphotos
Date of Birth: January 16, 1942
Place of Birth: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Date of Death: January 14, 2016
Place of Death: Henderson, Nevada, U.S.
Ethnicity: Syrian, Lebanese
René Angélil was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager, and singer.
His father, Joseph Angélil, was a Syrian emigrant, from Damascus. His mother, Alice Sara, was born in Montréal, to emigrants, also from Damascus, and is said to have been of Lebanese ancestry.
René was married to singer Céline Dion, until his death. He had a son with his former wife Denyse Duquette; two children with his former wife, singer Anne Renée (Manon Kirouac); and three children with Céline. His daughter Anne-Marie Angélil is married to singer, songwriter, and musician Marc Dupré.
René’s paternal grandfather was named Salim Angélil.
René’s paternal grandmother was named Najla Khlat.
René’s maternal grandfather was Mitri Sara (the son of Khalil Sara and Nazha Arbaji). Mitri likely was born in Damascus. Khalil was the son of Nicolas Sara and Nazha Maatouk.
René’s maternal grandmother was Nours Sara (the daughter of Ghattas Sara and Rogina Doummar). Ghattas was the son of Nicolas Sara and Nazha Maatouk. Rogina was the daughter of Elias Doummar.
Sources: Article about René Angélil – https://www.lorientlejour.com
Genealogies of René Angélil – http://gw.geneanet.org
https://www.findagrave.com
Genealogy of René Angélil (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.geni.com
Andrew, I am well aware that you believe AJs mostly descend from Germanic and Slavic tribes who converted to Judaism, based on the alleged physical similarities. But genetic testing and studies on autosomal DNA disagree with that claim.
First off, I’d say this website is a bad metric as to what most AJs look like. Celebrities often get cosmetic work done and that is in addition to the fact that this website is not a flawless source of genealogy. Meaning genealogy can be misinterpreted or taken from an inaccurate source. There are even occasions where genealogy is forged, so an entire line of descent cannot be linked to a person.
Since the genes of AJs have been analyzed extensively due to disease mutations within the community, geneticists are well aware of their origins. The traditional theory that Roman Jews migrated to central Europe and developed unique Germanic customs is the correct one. There was no mass conversion of Germanic tribes to Judaism, because by the time a significant Jewish community was in Germany the religion was highly looked down upon. This is reflected not only by medieval art, but the expulsions following it.
The theory by a controversial Dutch historian, Jits van Straten, that Eastern European Jews descend from a mass conversion of Slavs is also incorrect. Genetic analysis completely disagrees with the theory and the study he has used by Costa et al. (2013) found a significant relationship with AJ mtDNA and Italians. Yet he still claims it came from Ukrainian women marrying Hellenized Israelites. The man is a quack. And so are the other politically motivated scholars like Shlomo Sand and Noam Chomsky.
Kevin Alan Brook did an unbiased study on Ashkenazi mtDNA and found mixed European and West Asian origins. The matrilines in that study could primarily be traced to Germany, Poland, Italy, and Israel. Please note that the Slavic/Germanic admixture in question came from people joining Jewish communities rather than a hypothetical mass conversion. I welcome serious replies, or counterarguments for that matter.
@l!ttletimmy
That’s not entirely tue I think AJs “mostly’ descend from Germanic and Slavic tribes who converted to Judaism. I think AJ are an heterogenous ethnic group that having lived in a vast area from France/Germany thoughout all former Eastern Bloc, are actually descendants of various Euro and West Asian (meaning from Anatolia-Caucasus rather than Levant) people, thus if we assume some “Roman Jews” moved to Italy to Rhine Valley giving birth to a Jewish community, they are not representative of all the other millions of Jews that popped over the centuries in Eastern Europe. The point is that all these studies are not free from a political influence, so that’s obvious mainstream scholars tend to refuse certain theories. In short I believe AJ have little to nothing in common with Italians or Greeks.
You’re entitled to your opinion. I respectfully disagree.
@l!ttletimmy
I don’t trust genetic stuff that claim Northern Italians and Spaniards are similar. The latter are more Mediterranean. At the same, I don’t trust how an AJ like Jared Kushner would be genetically closer to a Greek lslander. You will tell me that phenotype and genotype don’t go along, but I am sceptic how people can believe such stuff.
@andrew, people believe such stuff because Ashkenazi Jews are descended from a severe bottleneck. They’ve been reported to be closely related, perhaps 30th cousins or closer. This makes sense to me considering how serious their genetic disorders are and how many of them they have. Genetic disorders rarely come out of nowhere, they are directly tied to small gene pools and endogamy.
As for denying Ashkenazi origins in the Levant, that’s understandable, but clearly tied to an antizionist ideology. It is understandable based on how atrociously Israel’s government treats Palestinians. A damn shame, but I wouldn’t blame this on all AJs. People do that without realizing Israel exists in the first place due to how terribly Jews were treated in Europe.
@ Urimnak
AJ=Ashkenazi Jew. I picked a random example in Jared Kushner, a man who, as Jew, supposedly would be genetically closer to a Southern Italian/Greek Islander. Something baffling to believe. Yes, his face looks “strange’ to me as well, because he has a clear Eastern European (Russian/Polish) vibe on him, for our Western perspectiv. Of course you will disagree by default and you see him as “Hispanic” or Semitic (they are interchangeable for you) at random as usual.
Possibly. Aren’t Parsi basically Persian people relocated in Indian subcontinent?
Bhabha looks like Ray William Johnson who is believed to be Indian though it’s nothing clear about it.
@l!ttletimmy
Yes andrew, Parsis are descended from Persian/Zoroastrian exiles to India, but they did mix with the locals. Genetic testing seems to indicate they’re around 1/4 south Asian on average. Similar situation with Ashkenazi Jews who descend mostly from Italian Jews, but have 10-20% Slavic/Germanic admixture.
Also, Ray William Johnson does look like Satya. Funny you noticed that, they look like they could be brothers! RWJ is Native American though, not south asian. He said so in a video.
@l!ttletimmy
Oh sorry, the site is not moderated anymore. She has been banned several times and flagged by Google. She is so nasty and hopeless.
Well, you know I personally dont believe AJ descend to Italian Jews, being a (heterogenous) culture originated in Medieval Germany. Anyway I enjoy to debat with you.
He looks Parsi. Like Middle Eastern with some significant south asian influence. What do you think Andrew? Sort of similar looking to Satya Bhabha imo, but older obviously