30.0460° N, 31.2365° E

CAIRO

Most Famous People Born in Cairo, Egypt

Notable people
1,340
Peak decade
1940s
Median birth year
1948
Most distinctive
Sultan 94.0×

An Arab capital with a deep medieval memory. Cairo's most distinctive profession is sultan at nearly a hundred times the global rate — the Mamluk and Ayyubid courts left a long shadow — alongside the diplomats, journalists, and artists of a 20th-century pan-Arab capital. The modern half is footballers, actors, and the filmmakers of the golden age of Egyptian cinema, the Hollywood of the Arab world.

Through the Decades

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

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1940s with 167 notable births.

What Cairo Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Football is Cairo's biggest profession — 13% of all notables (178).

Cairo over-indexes on sultan94.0× the global rate.

Cairo under-produces politician — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Football178
  2. Actor115
  3. Politician90
  4. Player62
  5. Writer49
  6. Film48
  7. Singer42
  8. Journalist34
  1. Sultan2694.0×
  2. Swimmer213.2×
  3. Film482.9×
  4. Diplomat212.7×
  5. Player622.4×
  6. Artist241.7×
  7. Actor1151.6×
  8. Journalist341.6×
  1. Politician900.6×
  2. Painter220.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

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

1550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Film & TV
  • Writing
  • Politics & Law
  • Science
  • Art & Design
  • Other
All1,340
Sort By

Showing 13 of 1,340 notable people

0038 WRITER

Yakub Kadri Karaosmanoğlu

1889 - 1974

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0054 JOURNALIST

Salama Moussa

1887 - 1958

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0065 FEMINIST

Malak Hifni Nasif

1886 - 1918

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0087 WRITER

Ahmad Amin

1886 - 1954

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0093 ACTOR

Naguib el-Rihani

1889 - 1949

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0149 POLITICAL

Aly Maher Pasha

1882 - 1960

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0159 FENCER

Ahmed Hassanein

1889 - 1946

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0239 POLITICIAN

Ahmad Mahir Pasha

1888 - 1945

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0491 ARTIST

Hadji Ali

1888 - 1937

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0595 ACTOR

Henry Stuart (actor)

1885 - 1942

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0647 RADIO

Muhammad Rifat

1882 - 1950

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0855 ILLUSTRATOR

Ahmed Sabri

1889 - 1955

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1170 QĀRI

Mohamed Salamah

1888 - 1992

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