Salvador Allende

Salvador Allende was many things: a physician, a socialist, a president, and, ultimately, a victim of a military coup. What he was not, however, was Jewish. His family tree, stretching back to Basque, Belgian, and Chilean roots, seems decidedly goyish, making his "O" score about as low as his approval ratings from the Chilean right wing.

His political career was a whirlwind of social reforms, nationalization, and, eventually, immense international pressure and domestic unrest. While he certainly left a mark on history, it wasn't exactly the kind that would have bubbes kvelling over his shul attendance or bar mitzvah speeches.

Allende's commitment to democratic socialism and his dramatic final stand in the Palacio de La Moneda undoubtedly make him a significant historical figure. However, any Jewish connection appears to be, shall we say, purely theoretical, existing perhaps only in the fevered dreams of anti-communist propagandists looking for a new scapegoat.