33.8867° N, 35.5131° E

BEIRUT

Most Famous People Born in Beirut, Lebanon

Notable people
782
Peak decade
1960s
Median birth year
1960
Most distinctive
Designer 4.3×

Pre-war Beirut was the publishing and broadcasting capital of the Arab world, and the panel still carries that imprint — Singer, Journalist, Film and Diplomat benches all tracing back to the AUB-and-Hamra axis that made this the Paris of the Middle East before 1975. The Designer cluster and the diaspora the civil war scattered across Paris, Montreal and São Paulo explain why the headline names read more like an international directory than a Levantine one.

Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Beirut during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1960s with 127 notable births.

What Beirut Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Beirut's biggest profession — 12% of all notables (92).

Beirut over-indexes on designer4.3× the global rate.

Beirut under-produces football — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician92
  2. Football52
  3. Singer51
  4. Actor37
  5. Writer35
  6. Journalist34
  7. Painter24
  8. Basket23
  1. Designer84.3×
  2. Singer513.1×
  3. Diplomat143.1×
  4. Journalist342.8×
  5. Business192.4×
  6. Film232.4×
  7. Basket232.3×
  8. Photographer82.1×
  1. Football520.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Beirut's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

1700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Music
  • Film & TV
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All782
Sort By

Showing 118 of 782 notable people

0013 ARTIST

Mona Hatoum

Born 1952

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0023 COMPOSER

Rabih Abou-Khalil

Born 1957

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0026 POLITICIAN

Samir Geagea

Born 1952

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0033 FILM

Arsinée Khanjian

Born 1958

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0034 FILM

Mario Kassar

Born 1951

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0037 CINEMA

Peter Deming

Born 1957

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0053 POLITICAL

Walid Phares

Born 1957

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0058 PLAYER

Sam Farha

Born 1959

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0059 PIANIST

Abdel Rahman El Bacha

Born 1958

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0064 JOURNALIST

Gebran Tueni

1957 - 2005

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0066 FILM

Alain Berbérian

1953 - 2017

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0074 PHYSICIAN

Huda Zoghbi

Born 1954

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0078 ACADEMIC

Gilbert Achcar

Born 1951

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0079 ORGANIST

Naji Hakim

Born 1955

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0084 JOURNALIST

Gad Lerner

Born 1954

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0103 HIJACK

Souhaila Andrawes

Born 1953

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0111 DIPLOMAT

Nawaf Salam

Born 1953

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0112 PHYSICIST

Luca Turin

Born 1953

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0118 MINISTER

Charbel Nahas

Born 1954

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0120 THEATRE

Pierre Audi

Born 1957

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0121 MUSIC

Toufic Farroukh

Born 1958

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0123 ARCHITECT

Bertrand Lemoine

Born 1951

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0124 SPORT

Samir Bannout

Born 1955

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0126 PHILOSOPHER

Jad Hatem

Born 1952

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0137 COMPOSER

Bechara El Khoury (composer)

Born 1957

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0148 MODEL

Georgina Rizk

Born 1953

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0152 ACADEMIC

Fawaz Gerges

Born 1958

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0157 NUN

Agnes Mariam de la Croix

Born 1952

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0168 POLITICIAN

Élie Aboud

Born 1959

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0177 FILM

Anthony Waller

Born 1959

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0179 WRITER

Percy Kemp

Born 1952

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0190 PLAYER

Freddy Deeb

Born 1955

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0194 SURGEON

Nadey Hakim

Born 1958

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0204 SONGWRITER

Otis Grand

Born 1950

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0207 WRITER

Alawiya Sobh

Born 1955

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0219 PROFESSOR

Mona Nemer

Born 1957

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0221 PAINTER

Mohammad Rawas

Born 1951

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0231 WEIGHTLIFTER

Mohamed Tarabulsi

1950 - 2002

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0234 MILITANT

Dalal Mughrabi

1959 - 1978

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0249 LINGUIST

Joseph E. Aoun

Born 1953

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0260 BUSINESS

Fouad Makhzoumi

Born 1952

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0285 SINGER

Ahmad Kaabour

Born 1955

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0298 POLITICIAN

Michel Pharaon

Born 1959

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0301 POLITICIAN

Farès Boueiz

Born 1955

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0306 ACTOR

Madeleine Tabar

Born 1958

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0319 WRITER

Martin Peltier

Born 1951

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0321 COMPOSER

Violaine Prince

Born 1958

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0326 POLITICIAN

Mohammad Raad

Born 1955

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0337 POLITICIAN

Fadi Frem

Born 1953

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0342 FOOTBALL

Alberto Rujana

Born 1955

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0347 POLITICIAN

Muhammad Baydoun

Born 1952

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0353 PRIEST

Hovnan Derderian

Born 1957

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0359 NOVELIST

Dominique Eddé

Born 1953

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0362 JOURNALIST

Suzanne Khardalian

Born 1956

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0365 POLITICIAN

Arthur Nazarian

Born 1951

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0372 POLITICIAN

Sami Haddad

Born 1950

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0376 WRITER

Anissa Helou

Born 1952

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0378 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

Joseph A. Kéchichian

Born 1954

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0386 BUSINESS

Iskandar Safa

Born 1955

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0403 SOCIOLOGIST

Hassan Diab

Born 1953

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0404 DIPLOMAT

Jamal al-Jamal

1957 - 2014

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0405 WRITER

Suleman Taufiq

Born 1953

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0423 TERRORIST

Zohair Youssif Akache

1954 - 1977

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0442 POLITICAL SCIENTIST

Hilal Khashan

Born 1951

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0443 FOOTBALL

Emile Rustom

Born 1952

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0456 POLITICIAN

Hagop Pakradounian

Born 1956

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0461 ARCHBISHOP

Georges Nicholas Haddad

Born 1957

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0463 POET

Akl Awit

Born 1952

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0470 ACTOR

Dany Bustros

1959 - 1998

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0478 ARTIST

Christoph Rihs

Born 1957

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0480 JOURNALIST

Raghida Dergham

Born 1953

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0486 JOURNALIST

Georges Ghosn

Born 1954

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0489 POLITICIAN

Nabil de Freige

Born 1955

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0494 JOURNALIST

Bassam Tayara

Born 1953

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0501 ADVISOR

Vera El Khoury Lacoeuilhe

Born 1959

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0502 BUSINESS

Pierre El Daher

Born 1957

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0504 PRODUCER

Jean-Pierre Plunier

Born 1959

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0510 ACTIVIST

Imane Khalifeh

1955 - 1995

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0511 POLITICIAN

Antoine Andraos

Born 1950

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0516 POLITICIAN

Alexander Yenikomshian

Born 1955

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0521 POET

Shaunt Basmajian

1950 - 1990

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0522 COMPOSER

Jean Claude Séférian

Born 1956

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0527 PROFESSOR

Ramzi Baalbaki

Born 1951

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0557 ARTIST

Élie Klimos

Born 1955

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0565 SINGER

Mona Maraachli

1958 - 2016

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0567 KILLED

Khalil al-Jamal

1951 - 1968

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0582 FAQIH

Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan

Born 1953

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0585 ENGINEER

Hassan Diab (minister)

Born 1953

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0587 POLITICIAN

Henri Helou

Born 1953

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0588 POLITICIAN

Dia Nader de El-Andari

Born 1950

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0590 SCREENWRITER

Imad Karim

Born 1958

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0596 WRITER

Elias Jammal

Born 1954

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0598 ART CRITIC

Nelida Nassar

Born 1959

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0613 POLITICIAN

Jean Oghassabian

Born 1954

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0619 PAINTER

Emmanuel Guiragossian

Born 1954

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0626 PLAYER

Joe Awada

Born 1959

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0655 PAINTER

Helen Zughaib

Born 1959

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0662 POLITICIAN

Nazih Elasmar

Born 1953

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0674 CARDIOLOGIST

Bassem Chab

Born 1957

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0677 JOURNALIST

Johnny Karlitch

Born 1958

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0692 PAINTER

Lidya Tchakerian

Born 1959

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0693 BUSINESS

Salim Maroun

1953 - 2017

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0707 FOOTBALL

Amer Al Midani

1957 - 2012

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0718 DESIGNER

Dave Nalle

Born 1959

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0726 COMPOSER

Sylva Balassanian

Born 1955

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0727 POLITICIAN

Walid Khoury

Born 1955

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0728 MILITAR

Wafiq Jizzini

1951 - 2011

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0738 GEOGRAPHER

Paul Fattal

Born 1956

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0744 POLITICIAN

Ghazi Youssef

Born 1954

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0753 POLITICIAN

Atef Majdalani

Born 1950

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0755 POLITICIAN

Edmond Gharios

Born 1958

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0764 PHYSICIAN

Ammar Houri

Born 1954

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0765 FUTURIST

Jean-Pierre Fattal

Born 1953

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0766 PROFESSOR

Hussein M. Zbib

1958 - 2020

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0768 MILITAR

Antoine Pano

Born 1952

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0770 BIOLOGIST

Yvan Rahbé

Born 1959

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0776 MUSIC

Amine Cherri

Born 1957

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0778 PHYSICIAN

Yeghia Jerjian

Born 1957

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