Isabella Tobias was born August 23, 1991 in New York City. She and her family are Jewish. She is the daughter of Stephen Tobias, president and co-founder of I.A. Englander & Co., one of the largest institutional equity derivatives brokers on the American stock exchange. After completing high school, she briefly attended Columbia University's School of General Studies. From 1999 to 2007 she attended the George BalanchineSchool of American Ballet and performed with the New York City Ballet. In October 2012, Tobias applied for Lithuanian citizenship. In December, she was interviewed by the Citizenship Commission and passed the Lithuanian language test, however, the application was denied by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on January 7, 2013. It was granted on December 5, 2013. Tobias married Samuel Lites in June 2017. In 2019, Lites decided to finish her degree at Southern Methodist University. She is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma there.
Early career
Isabella Tobias started skating in 1998 at the age of seven. She took up ice dancing at age 10 and competed with Kurt Lingenfelter on the intermediate level and with James Warren in novice. In 2003, she decided to leave skating to focus on ballet. Tobias returned to skating in September 2007 and teamed up with Otar Japaridze to compete for Georgia. They appeared together on the junior level during the 2007–08 season, placing 14th at the 2008 World Junior Championships.
In June 2012, Tobias/Stagniūnas moved from Canton, Michigan to Novi, Michigan, following coach Igor Shpilband. According to IOC rules, Olympic competitors must be citizens of the country they are representing. In order to allow the team to compete at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tobias submitted an application for Lithuanian citizenship in October 2012. It was denied on January 7, 2013. Tobias/Stagniūnas withdrew from the 2013 European Championships as a result of Stagniūnas' back problem. By finishing 15th at the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario, they qualified a spot for Lithuania in the Olympic ice dancing event.
Tobias and Russia's Ilia Tkachenko teamed up in the summer of 2014 to represent Israel. They had skated together for six months in 2008. On their decision regarding which country to represent, Tobias stated: "The U.S. would have granted him citizenship one year too late at best; Russia wanted me to give away my American passport, which I would never do; and the experts we consulted assured that Lithuania would never grant him citizenship. So we chose Israel, as I am of Jewish origin, and Ilia has also some Jewish roots via his mother, which makes it easier." The two sat out the 2014–2015 season in order to become eligible to compete for the following season.
Tobias/Tkachenko withdrew from both of their Grand Prix assignments – the 2017 NHK Trophy and 2017 Skate America. Due to Tkachenko's unsuccessful application for Israeli citizenship, they were not included in Israel's team to the 2018 Winter Olympics.
