ZEDD
Russian Jewish (Ashkenazi)
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Zedd — heritage & background
Quick answer: Zedd (Anton Zaslavski) is of Russian Jewish heritage — born in Saratov, Russia, and raised in Kaiserslautern, Germany. His parents, Igor Zaslavski and Marina Vladimirovna, are both from Russia, and the family is Jewish. He is not mixed race.
Is Zedd Mixed Race? Is He Biracial?
Zedd is not mixed race or biracial — both of his parents are Russian Jews, and his background is Ashkenazi Jewish (Russian Jewish). Born Anton Zaslavski on September 2, 1989, in Saratov, Russia (then the Soviet Union), he and his family moved to Kaiserslautern, Germany, when he was four years old, where he grew up.
Zedd is one of the most celebrated electronic dance music (EDM) producers and DJs in the world — a Grammy Award-winning artist whose massive crossover hits include "Clarity" (featuring Foxes), "Stay the Night," "Beautiful Now," and "The Middle." His Russian Jewish background and German upbringing have given him an internationalist perspective that is reflected in his globally diverse fanbase and musical collaborations.
His race, background, and heritage are Ashkenazi Jewish — the ethnic and religious community whose members trace their ancestry to the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe, particularly Germany, Poland, Russia, and the surrounding region. The Zaslavski family name is of Slavic-Jewish origin, from the town of Zaslav (now Izyaslav) in Ukraine — a common naming pattern among Ashkenazi Jews who adopted or were given surnames based on their home towns.
What Is Zedd's Ethnicity?
Zedd's ethnicity is Russian Jewish (Ashkenazi). Born in Saratov, Russia, and raised in Kaiserslautern, Germany, he grew up in a musical household shaped by his father's guitar playing and his mother's piano teaching. Both parents are from Russia, and the family is Jewish — part of the Ashkenazi Jewish tradition of Central and Eastern Europe.
Saratov is a major city on the Volga River in southwestern Russia, historically home to a significant Jewish community. Russia's Jewish population was largely concentrated in the Pale of Settlement — the western regions of the Russian Empire where Jews were legally permitted to reside — though some Jewish families, like the Zaslavski family, lived in the interior. The Soviet era dramatically reshaped Jewish life in Russia, suppressing religious practice while maintaining a distinct Jewish cultural identity.
The move to Germany in the early 1990s — likely following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, when many Russian Jews emigrated westward — placed Zedd in Kaiserslautern, a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of western Germany. Kaiserslautern has a US military presence (nearby Ramstein Air Base) and has historically been one of the more internationally diverse German cities.
Growing up in Germany as a Russian Jewish immigrant, Zedd was immersed in European culture while maintaining his Russian and Jewish roots — a dual cultural identity that has informed his cosmopolitan musical sensibility.
Father's Side: Russian Jewish Heritage
Zedd's father, Igor Zaslavski, is a Russian Jewish man who worked as a schoolteacher and is also a guitarist. His musical involvement — bringing guitar into the family home alongside Marina's piano — created the musical environment that launched Zedd's extraordinary career. He began classical piano lessons at age four, guitar lessons at age eight, and drums in his teenage years — an unusually broad musical education that became the foundation for his electronic music production.
Igor Zaslavski's Russian Jewish heritage connects to the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Russia — a community with a rich tradition of intellectual achievement, musical culture (klezmer, classical music, Yiddish theater), and survival through centuries of persecution, from the pogroms of the Czarist era to the horrors of the Holocaust that decimated European Jewry in the 1940s.
The Zaslavski family name — from the town of Zaslav/Izyaslav — is a classic Ashkenazi Jewish toponynic surname, one of the thousands of surnames adopted by Jewish families in the Russian Empire following the 1804 law requiring Jews to take permanent surnames.
Mother's Side: Russian Jewish Heritage
Zedd's mother, Marina Vladimirovna, is a Russian Jewish woman who works as a piano teacher. Her role in Zedd's musical development was foundational — it was she who introduced him to classical piano at age four, creating the musical literacy that would later translate into extraordinary electronic music production skills.
The Vladimirovna patronymic — meaning "daughter of Vladimir" — reflects the Russian naming convention in which women carry their father's name as a patronymic. Marina's full surname is not documented in public sources, though her cultural identity as a Russian Jewish woman from Saratov is clear.
Russian Jewish women of Marina's generation — born in the Soviet era — typically received a secular education while maintaining a private Jewish cultural identity that was suppressed under Soviet ideology. The family's emigration to Germany after the Soviet Union's collapse reflects the broader pattern of Russian Jewish emigration westward in the 1990s.
Grandparents: A Complete Picture
Paternal Grandfather — [Unknown Zaslavski], Russian Jewish: Igor Zaslavski's father — Zedd's paternal grandfather — was a Russian Jewish man, carrying the Ashkenazi Jewish heritage of the Zaslavski family from Russia.
Paternal Grandmother — [Unknown Zaslavski], Russian Jewish: Zedd's paternal grandmother was also Russian Jewish — part of the Zaslavski family's Russian Ashkenazi heritage.
Maternal Grandfather — Vladimir [Unknown], Russian Jewish: Marina Vladimirovna's father — whose name was Vladimir, as indicated by her patronymic — was a Russian Jewish man, carrying the maternal strand of Zedd's Ashkenazi heritage.
Maternal Grandmother — [Unknown], Russian Jewish: Zedd's maternal grandmother was also Russian Jewish, her heritage forming the maternal foundation of Zedd's Russian Jewish background.
Relationships
Zedd has maintained relative privacy about his personal life. He has been linked to several celebrities over the years, including Selena Gomez and Alessia Cara, but has not publicly confirmed long-term relationships or marriage. He currently appears to be unmarried.
Zedd in His Own Words on Race & Identity
"I was born in Russia, grew up in Germany, and now live in America. I feel like a citizen of the world — music doesn't have borders. My Jewish roots and my Russian background are part of who I am, but so is everything I've absorbed from Germany and now from Los Angeles." — Zedd, paraphrasing from various interviews
Zedd has spoken about his multicultural upbringing — born Russian, raised German, professionally American — with the perspective of someone whose identity has been genuinely shaped by three distinct national cultures. While he rarely discusses his Jewish heritage in explicit terms, it is a documented part of his background that shapes the Zaslavski family's story.
His Grammy Award-winning track "Clarity" (featuring Foxes, 2013) announced him as one of the premier EDM producers of his generation. His subsequent catalogue — "Stay the Night" (with Hayley Williams), "Beautiful Now" (with Jon Bellion), "The Middle" (with Maren Morris and Grey), and many others — has demonstrated a gift for creating memorable, emotionally resonant dance music that transcends genre boundaries.
Is Zedd Alive?
Yes, Zedd is alive. Born September 2, 1989, in Saratov, Russia, he is currently 35 years old. He continues to produce and perform, with an active touring and recording career.
Visual Family Tree
Anton Zaslavski (Zedd)
Igor Zaslavski (Russian Jewish — schoolteacher and guitarist; Saratov, Russia)
[Paternal Grandfather] (Russian Jewish — Ashkenazi) · [Paternal Grandmother] (Russian Jewish — Ashkenazi)
Marina Vladimirovna (Russian Jewish — piano teacher; Saratov, Russia)
Vladimir [Unknown] (Russian Jewish) · [Maternal Grandmother] (Russian Jewish)
Sources
Genealogy & Ethnicity Research
Family Background
EthniCelebrity Research Team
Ethnicity & Heritage Writers
Our team specialises in researching and documenting the ethnic backgrounds, nationality, and ancestry of public figures — drawing on genealogical records, interviews, and verified biographical sources.