Evgeny Vladimirovich Abeshaus was a Russian-Israeli Jewish painter whose colourful, expressive works explored Jewish identity, memory, and cultural heritage. Working first in the Soviet Union and later in Israel, he rejected the conventions of Socialist Realism in favour of a personal artistic style. As the founder of the Alef Group, he became a leading figure in Soviet Jewish nonconformist art.

Born in Leningrad in 1939, Abeshaus was raised in an intellectual family. He initially trained as an electrical engineer before studying at the Mukhina Higher School of Art and Design. While still a student, he became involved in the unofficial art movement, exhibiting outside the Soviet state system. His participation in the landmark 1975 exhibition at the Nevsky Palace of Culture led to his dismissal from work and increased pressure from the Soviet authorities.

Later that year, Abeshaus founded the Alef Group with several other Jewish artists. The group's first exhibition was held in his Leningrad apartment and marked an important moment in the revival of modern Jewish art in the Soviet Union. Through the Alef Group, he sought to reconnect Jewish artistic traditions with contemporary painting.

In 1976, several of Abeshaus's paintings were secretly taken out of the Soviet Union and exhibited at the Berkeley Art Museum in California. Later that year, he and his family emigrated to Israel, settling in the artists' village of Ein Hod near Haifa.

Abeshaus continued to exhibit widely in Israel, Europe, and the United States throughout his career. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, his work was exhibited again in Russia, including a major memorial exhibition at the Russian Museum in St Petersburg in 2009. Today, his paintings are held in museum and private collections in Israel, Russia, Europe, and the United States.