Daniel Platzman

12/14/2016 – Daniel Platzman – “Passengers” Los Angeles Premiere – Arrivals – Regency Village Theatre – Westwood, CA, USA – Photo Credit: Izumi Hasegawa / PRPhotos.com

Birth Name: Daniel James Platzman

Place of Birth: Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Date of Birth: September 28, 1986

Ethnicity:
*father – Ashkenazi Jewish
*mother – Irish, small amount of French Huguenot

Daniel Platzman is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He is the drummer of pop rock band Imagine Dragons. The band’s members also include Ben McKee, Dan Reynolds, and Wayne Sermon.

Daniel is the son of Kathleen and Loren Platzman. His father is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family. His mother is of almost entirely Irish descent, with a small amount of French Huguenot.

Daniel’s paternal grandfather was Robert Leroy Platzman (the son of Alfred Platzman and Rose Kaufman/Kaufmann). Daniel’s grandfather Robert was born in Minnesota, to a Jewish family. He was a noted physicist, chemist, and teacher, who was an Associate professor of Physics at Purdue University, senior physicist at Argonne National Laboratory, and Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of Chicago. Daniel’s great-grandfather Alfred was born in Berlin, Germany, the son of Isaac Ignatz Platzmann, from Tarnow, and of Ida Huldschinksy, who was born in Breslau/Wrocław, Poland. Daniel’s great-great-aunt, his great-grandfather Alfred’s sister Eugenie/Jenny (Platzmann) Isenburg, was killed in the Holocaust, in 1942, at Treblinka. Daniel’s great-grandmother Rose was born in Wisconsin, to Romanian Jewish parents.

Daniel’s paternal grandmother was Eva Maria/Marie Goldschmidt (the daughter of Ernst Friedrich Goldschmidt and Theresia Maria Adela Sanders). Eva was born in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, to a Jewish family. Ernst was born in Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, the son of Bernhard Goldschmidt and Sara Levitta. Daniel’s great-grandmother Theresia was born in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemburg, and was murdered in the Holocaust. She was the daughter of Daniel Sanders and Friederike Roos.

Daniel’s maternal grandfather was James M. Gratto (the son of Melville Murdock Gratto and Mary Alice O’Donnell). The name Gratto was spelled Gretteaux several generations back. Melville was the son of Murdock MacLeod Gratto, who was Canadian, from Nova Scotia, and had French Huguenot ancestry; and of Anne/Annie/Ann Mallaly/Mallely, whose parents were Irish. Mary Alice was the daughter of James E. O’Donnell, who was of Irish descent, and of Bridget Leary, whose parents were also Irish.

Daniel’s maternal grandmother was Mary Irene O’Connor (the daughter of Charles J. O’Connor and Mary A. Foley). Daniel’s grandmother Mary was born in Johnville, New Brunswick, Canada, or in Maine. Daniel’s great-grandmother Mary A. was born in New York, to Irish parents, with her mother’s name being Nora.

Sources: Genealogy of Daniel Platzman –

Marriage record of Daniel’s paternal grandparents, Robert Leroy Platzman and Eva Maria/Marie Goldschmidt –

Information about Daniel’s paternal grandfather, Robert Leroy Platzman –

Daniel’s paternal grandfather, Robert Leroy Platzman, on the 1920 U.S. Census –
Robert Leroy Platzman on the 1930 U.S. Census –

Genealogy of Daniel’s paternal great-grandfather, Alfred Platzman –

Obituary of Daniel’s maternal grandfather, James M. Gratto –