Birth Name: Melina E. Matsoukas
Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: January 14, 1981
Ethnicity:
*Jewish (father)
*Afro-Jamaican, possibly Afro-Cuban (mother)
Melina Matsoukas is an American director of commercials, videos, and and television shows.
Melina is the daughter of Diana-Elena (Foster) and David D. Matsoukas. Melina’s father has Greek Jewish and Polish Jewish ancestry. Melina’s mother was born in Cuba, and has been described as an “Afro-Cuban of Jamaican descent”. Melina was raised in New York and New Jersey.
Melina has stated:
I grew up in the Bronx until I was about ten, and then we moved to New Jersey. I grew up in a very multicultural family. My mother is Afro-Cuban and Jamaican, and my father is Greek and Jewish. I felt the influences from all the different cultures — the stories, the ideas. And my parents are both communists and activists, so they’ve always been all about equality and doing something important with your life. I always wanted to do something big, I just didn’t know how I would go about changing the world.
Melinda’s paternal grandparents were Greek and Polish Jews.
Melina’s maternal grandfather was Carlos Abraham Foster. Carlos was born in Oriente Province, Cuba, to parents from Jamaica. Melina’s maternal grandmother was also from Cuba.
Sources: http://www.thenewyorker.com
Marriage record of Melina’s parents – http://www.familysearch.org
Obituary of Melina’s maternal grandfather – http://www.nytimes.com
Photo by Joe Seer/www.bigstockphoto.com/