Mexico has had a Jewish population since the early Colonial Era. However, these early individuals could not openly worship as they were persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition for practicing Judaism. After achieving independence, Mexico eventually adopted freedom of religion and began receiving Jewish immigrants, many of them refugees. The book Estudio histórico de la migración judía a México 1900–1950 has records of almost 18,300 who emigrated to Mexico between 1900 and 1950. Most (7,023) were Ashkenazi Jews whose ancestors had settled in Eastern Europe, mainly Poland. A further 2,640 Jews arrived from either Spain or the Ottoman Empire and 1,619 came from Cuba and the United States. The 2010 Census recorded 67,476 individuals professing Judaism, most of whom live in Mexico City. The following is a list of notable past and present Mexican Jews (not all with both parents Jewish, nor all practising Judaism), arranged by their main field of activity: Jose Luis Seligson Visual Artist

Academia

Architecture

Arts

Classical music

Photography

Visual arts

Business

Entertainment

Film and television

Music

Journalism

Literature

Science

Biology

Engineering

Mathematics

Medicine

Physics

Politics

Religion

Sports