Current Position: Senior Research Associate (ret.), Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics, Avraham Harman Research Institute of Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (email: mtolts@huji.ac.il) 

Areas of Specialization: Demographic Statistics; Ethnicity; Family Demography; Migration; Historical Demography and History of Demography

Subjects of Study: General Demography of the Former Soviet Union; Demography of Soviet and post-Soviet Jewry; History of Soviet Population Statistics; Demographic Thought of Russian Émigré Scholars (1920s–1950s) 

Biography:

• Harvard Davis Center Profile 

• Academic Profile on ORCID 

Publications in English

• “Emigration from Russia to Israel: Flow Dynamics and Its Components in 1990-2023,” Demographic Review, 2023, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 52-68. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Russian Jewry in the Post-Soviet Era: Socio-Demographic Transformation,” E. Lederhendler (ed.), Becoming Post-Communist: Jews and the New Political Cultures of Russia and Eastern Europe (Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Vol. 33). New York: Oxford University Press, 2023, pp. 121-138. Full text on ResearchGate

• Annual estimates of Jewish population in Russia and Ukraine, 1989 - 2023 (Dataset). The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Contemporary Jewry, 2023. Full text on ResearchGate

• Jews in Ukraine, by Region, 1989 and 2001 (Dataset). The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Contemporary Jewry, 2022. Full text on ResearchGate

• "The Results of the 1939 Soviet Census: Two Problems of Adequacy," Demographic Review. English Selection, 2020, Vol. 7, pp. 121-134. Full text on ResearchGate

• “A Half Century of Jewish Emigration from the Former Soviet Union,” M. Denisenko, S. Strozza and M. Light (eds.),  Migration from the Newly Independent States. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2020, pp. 323-344. Full text on ResearchGate

• “A Forgotten Forerunner of Demographic Transition Theory: A Commentary,” Population and Development Review, 2019, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 421-424. Full text on ResearchGate

• “A Half Century of Jewish Emigration from the Former Soviet Union: Demographic Aspects,” Paper presented at the seminar on Russian and Eurasian Jewry, Harvard University, 20 November 2019. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Post-Soviet Jewish Demographic Dynamics: An Analysis of Recent Data,” S. DellaPergola and U. Rebhun (eds.), Jewish Population and Identity: Concept and Reality. Dordrecht: Springer, 2018, pp. 213-229. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Alexander Kulischer on the Demographic Future of Russia,” Demographic Review. English Selection, 2017, Vol. 4, pp. 133-150. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demography of the Contemporary Russian-Speaking Jewish Diaspora,” Z. Gitelman (ed.), The New Jewish Diaspora: Russian-Speaking Immigrants in the United States, Israel, and Germany. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2016, pp. 23-40. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demographic Transformations among Ex-Soviet Migrants in Israel,” E. Lederhendler and U. Rebhun (eds.), Research in Jewish Demography and Identity. Boston, MA: Academic Studies Press, 2015, pp. 146-168. Full text on ResearchGate

• “An Unnoticed Contribution to Demographic Transition Theory,” Demographic Review. English Selection, 2015, Vol. 2, pp. 62-81 (with A.G. Vishnevsky). Full text on ResearchGate

• "Jewish Demography: From the Soviet Past to the Post-Soviet Present," M. Beizer (ed.), History of the Jews in Russia: From the Revolution of 1917 to the Fall of the Soviet Union. Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, 2015, pp. 315-337 [in Hebrew].

• “Sources for the Demographic Study of the Jews in the Former Soviet Union,” U. Rebhun (ed.), The Social Scientific Study of Jewry: Sources, Approaches, Debates (Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Vol. 27). New York: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 160-177. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Jews in Georgia in the Late Soviet Period: A Demographic Profile,” G. Akhiezer, R. Enoch and S. Weinstein (eds.), Studies in Caucasian, Georgian, and Bukharan Jewry: Historical, Sociological, and Cultural Aspects. Ariel University, Institute for Research of Jewish Communities of the Caucasus and Central Asia, 2014, pp. 102-116. Full text on ResearchGate

• “A Demographer in Spite of Himself: The Migrant’s Destiny of Miron Kantorowicz (Myron K. Gordon),” Paper presented at an academic seminar at the Institute of Demography of the National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Moscow, 13 November 2012 [Revised as of 5 October 2014]. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demography of the Contemporary Russian-Speaking Jewish Diaspora,” Paper presented at the conference on the contemporary Russian-speaking Jewish Diaspora, Harvard University, 13-15 November 2011. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Population since World War I [up to the 21st Century]," The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe / Online Edition, 2010.

• “Migration since World War I [up to the 21st Century]," The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe / Online Edition, 2010.

• “Mixed Marriage and Post-Soviet Aliyah,” S. Reinharz and S. DellaPergola (eds.), Jewish Intermarriage Around the World. New Brunswick, USA and London, UK: Transaction Publishers, 2009, pp. 89-104; for internet version, see: The round-table discussion on intermarriage (marriage between Jews and non-Jews) at Brandeis University, 17-18 December 2003. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Post-Soviet Aliyah and Jewish Demographic Transformation” Paper presented at the 15th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem,  2-6 August 2009. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Demographic Profile of the Bukharan Jews in the Late Soviet Period,” I. Baldauf, M. Gammer and T. Loy  (eds.), Bukharan Jews in the 20th Century: History, Experience and Narration. Wiesbaden: Reichert-Verlag, 2008, pp. 77-90. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demography of North Caucasian Jewry: A Note on Population Dynamics and Shifting Identity,” M. Gammer (ed.), Ethno-Nationalism, Islam and the State in the Caucasus: Post-Soviet Disorder. London and New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 212-224. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Population since World War I [up to the 21st Century],” G.D. Hundert (ed.), The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 1429-1434. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Migration since World War I [up to the 21st Century],” G.D. Hundert (ed.),The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008, pp. 1434-1440. Full text on ResearchGate

• "Population Trends in the Russian Federation: Reflections on the Legacy of Soviet Censorship and Distortions of Demographic Statistics," Eurasian Geography and Economics, 2008, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 87–98. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Jews in the Three Post-Soviet Slavic Countries: Selected Population Trends,” W. Moskovich and L. Finberg (eds.), Jews and Slavs, Vol. 19. Jerusalem and Kiev: Hebrew University; [Ukrainian] Institute of Jewish Studies, 2008, pp. 200-208.

• “Post-Soviet Jewish Demography, 1989-2004,” Z. Gitelman and Y. Ro’i (eds.), Revolution, Repression and Revival: The Soviet Jewish Experience. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007, pp.  283-311. Full text on ResearchGate

• “After the Exodus: Post-Soviet Jewry in the Contemporary World,” V.A. Iontsev (ed.), International Migration: Economics and Politics. Moscow: Lomonosov University of Moscow, 2006, pp. 62-70.

• "Contemporary Trends in Family Formation among the Jews in Russia,” Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe, 2006, No. 2 (57), pp. 5-23. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demography: Jewish Women in the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and other Successor States,” P. Hyman and D. Ofer (eds.), Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jerusalem: Shalvi Publishing; Jewish Publication Society of America. CD-ROM edition, 2006; for internet version, see: Jewish Women's Archive.

• “Ethnic Composition of Kazakhstan on the Eve of the Second World War: Re-Evaluation of the 1939 Soviet Census Results,” Central Asian Survey, 2006, Vol. 25, No. 1-2, pp. 143-148. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Extra-Marital Conceptions in Contemporary Russia’s Fertility,” Research Note Prepared for the European Population Conference, Liverpool, UK, 21-24 June 2006 (with O. Antonova and E. Andreev). Full text on ResearchGate

• “Contemporary Jewish Diaspora in Global Context: Human Development Correlates of Population Trends,” Israel Studies, 2005, Vol. 10, No.1, pp. 61-95 (with S. DellaPergola and U. Rebhun). Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demographic Trends  Among the Jews in the Three Post-Soviet Slavic Republics,” Paper presented at the 14th World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, 31 July - 4 August 2005. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demographische Trends unter den Juden der ehemaligen Sowjetunion,” Menora: Jahrbuch für deutsch-jüdische Geschichte 2004. Band 15. Berlin/Vienna: Philo, 2005, S. 15-44.

• “The Post-Soviet Jewish Population in Russia and the World,” Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe, 2004, No. 1 (52), pp. 37-63. Full text on ResearchGate

• "Demographic Trends among the Jews of the Former Soviet Union," Paper presented at the International Conference in Honor of Professor Mordechai Altshuler on Soviet and Post-Soviet Jewry, Jerusalem, 28-30 December 2003. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Mass Aliyah and Jewish Emigration from Russia: Dynamics and Factors,” East European Jewish Affairs, 2003, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 71-96. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demography of the Jews in the Former Soviet Union: Yesterday and Today,” Z.  Gitelman with M. Glants and M.I. Goldman (eds.), Jewish Life After the USSR. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2003, pp. 173-206. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Aliya from the Russian Federation: An Analysis of Recent Data,” Jews in Eastern Europe,  2002, No. 1-2 (47-48), pp. 5-23. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Statistical Analysis of Aliyah and Jewish Emigration from Russia,” V.A. Iontsev (ed.), The World in the Mirror of International Migration. Moscow: Lomonosov University of Moscow, 2002, pp. 172-186. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Failure of Demographic Statistics: A Soviet Response to Population Troubles,” Paper presented at the IUSSP XXIVth General Population Conference, Salvador-Bahia, Brazil, 18-24 August 2001 [Revised as of 12 July 2012]. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jewish Demography of the Former Soviet Union,” S. DellaPergola and J. Even (eds.), Papers in Jewish Demography 1997. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 2001, pp. 109-139. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Post-Soviet Jewish Emigration,” Paper presented at the European Population Conference, Helsinki, Finland, 7-9 June 2001. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jewish Population of the Russian Federation, 1989-1999,” W. Moskovich (ed.), Jews and Slavs, Vol. 9. Jerusalem and Vienna: Hebrew University and University of Vienna, 2001, pp. 305-323 [Hebrew translation published in: The Jews of the Former Soviet Union in Israel and in the Diaspora, 2002, Vol. 5 (20-21), pp. 307-324].

• “Russian Jewish Migration in the Post-Soviet Era,” Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales, 2000, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 183-199. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jews in the Russian Federation: A Decade of Demographic Decline,” Jews in Eastern Europe, 1999, No. 3 (40), pp. 5-36. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jews in Russia: A Century of Demographic Dynamics,” Paper presented at the conference “Population of Russia in the 20th Century” (Moscow, 21–22 December 1998) [partly published in: Diasporas, 1999, No. 1, pp. 180-198]. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Yiddish in the Former Soviet Union Since 1959: A Statistical-Demographic Analysis,” Paper Presented at the Conference “Yiddish in the Contemporary World”, University of Oxford, 19-21 April 1998 (Revised as of 4 May 2012) [partly published in: G. Estraikh and M. Krutikov (eds.), Yiddish in the Contemporary World. Oxford: European Humanities Research Centre, University of Oxford, 1999, pp. 133-146]. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Recent Jewish Emigration and Population Decline in Russia,” Jews in Eastern Europe, 1998, No. 1 (35), pp. 5-24. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Demographic Trends Among the Jews in the Three Slavic Republics of the Former USSR: A Comparative Analysis,” S. DellaPergola and J. Even (eds.), Papers in Jewish Demography 1993. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1997, pp. 147-175. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Interrelationship between Emigration and the Socio-Demographic Profile of Russian Jewry,” N. Lewin-Epstein, Y. Ro’i and P. Ritterband (eds.), Russian Jews on Three Continents. London: Frank Cass, 1997, pp. 147-176. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Ethnicity, Religion and Demographic Change in Russia: Russians, Tatars and Jews,” Evolution or Revolution in European Population (European Population Conference, Milano 1995), Vol. 2. Milan: EAPS and IUSSP, 1996, pp. 165-179. Full text on ResearchGate

• World and Regional Jewish Population Projections: Russian Republic, 1994-2019 (Interim Report). The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Contemporary Jewry, 1996 (with S. DellaPergola and U. Rebhun). Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Jewish Population of Russia, 1989-1995,” Jews in Eastern Europe, 1996, No. 3 (31), pp. 5-19. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Modernization of Demographic Behaviour in the Muslim Republics of the Former USSR,” Y. Ro’i (ed.), Muslim Eurasia: Conflicting Legacies. London: Frank Cass, 1995, pp. 231-253. Full text on ResearchGate

• “The Soviet Censuses of 1937 and 1939: Some Problems of Data Evaluation,” Paper presented at the International Conference on Soviet Population in the 1920s and 1930s, Toronto, 27-29 January 1995 [Revised as of 30 May 2009]. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Trends in Soviet Jewish Demography since the Second World War,” Y. Ro’i (ed.), Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union. London: Frank Cass, 1995, pp. 365-382. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Figures that Came in from the Cold,” Jews in Eastern Europe, 1994, No. 3 (25), pp. 79-84. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Changes in the Composition of the Jewish Population of the USSR: Aging and the Marriage Market," Yahadut Zemanenu, 1994, Vol. 9, pp. 243-258 [in Hebrew]; for internet version in English, see: Ibid., Paper presented at the Third Canada-CIS Academic Dialogue on Jewish Themes, Jerusalem, 22-25 December 1992. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jews in the Russian Republic since the Second World War: The Dynamics of Demographic Erosion,” International Population Conference, Montreal 1993, Vol. 3. Liège: IUSSP, 1993, pp. 99-111. 

• “Some Basic Trends in Soviet Jewish Demography,” U.O. Schmelz and S. DellaPergola (eds.), Papers in Jewish Demography 1989. Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1993, pp. 237-243

• “The Balance of Births and Deaths among Soviet Jewry,” Jews and Jewish Topics in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1992, No. 2 (18), pp. 13-26. Full text on ResearchGate

• “Jewish Marriages in the USSR: A Demographic Analysis,” East European Jewish Affairs, 1992, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 3-19. Full text on ResearchGate

• "Marriage in the USSR: Past and Present," Paper presented at the USA – USSR Population Symposium, Washington, D.C., 18-20 March 1991. Full text on ResearchGate

• Demographic Tables. Moscow: UN Fund for Population Activities and Lomonosov University of Moscow, 1986. – 97 pp. (with L.E. Darsky) [for updated version in Russian, see: Дарский Л.Е., Тольц М.С. Демографические таблицы / Под ред. и с предисл. М.Б. Денисенко. М.: МАКС Пресс, 2013. – 104 с.].

• "A Description of Some Components of the Birthrate in a Large City," Soviet Sociology (New York), 1975, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 51-62. Full text on ResearchGate