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 92 of 1,340 notable people

0001 NOVELIST

Naguib Mahfouz

1911 - 2006

Preview
0005 BIOLOGIST

Dorothy Hodgkin

1910 - 1994

Preview
0014 ACTOR

Marika Rökk

1913 - 2004

Preview
0035 SCREENWRITER

Albert Cossery

1913 - 2008

Preview
0041 ACTOR

Leila Mourad

1918 - 1995

Preview
0043 WRITER

Edmond Jabès

1912 - 1991

Preview
0053 WRITER

Ihsan Abdel Quddous

1919 - 1990

Preview
0070 SOLDIER

Sir Fitzroy Maclean, 1st Baronet

1911 - 1996

Preview
0097 FILM

Salah Abu Seif

1915 - 1996

Preview
0110 POLITICIAN

Henri Curiel

1914 - 1978

Preview
0128 FILM

Henry Barakat

1914 - 1997

Preview
0133 JOURNALIST

Mustafa Amin

1914 - 1997

Preview
0155 MILITAR

Ahmad Ismail Ali

1917 - 1974

Preview
0156 POLITICIAN

Suhayr al-Qalamawi

1911 - 1997

Preview
0199 ARCHITECT

Ramses Wissa Wassef

1911 - 1974

Preview
0211 SCREENWRITER

Abo El Seoud El Ebiary

1910 - 1969

Preview
0218 POET

Stratís Tsírkas

1911 - 1980

Preview
0219 FILM

Niazi Mostafa

1911 - 1986

Preview
0225 POLITICIAN

Yusuf Sibai

1917 - 1978

Preview
0228 ACTOR

Clément Harari

1919 - 2008

Preview
0248 PRIEST

Bruno Hussar

1911 - 1996

Preview
0273 POET

Georges Henein

1914 - 1973

Preview
0299 FILM

Ezzel Dine Zulficar

1919 - 1963

Preview
0305 NOVELIST

Jacqueline Kahanoff

1917 - 1979

Preview
0307 JOURNALIST

Amina el-Saeed

1914 - 1995

Preview
0310 POLITICIAN

Marie-Madeleine Dienesch

1914 - 1998

Preview
0321 PRIEST

Elias Zoghby

1912 - 2008

Preview
0331 ECONOMIST

Charles Issawi

1916 - 2000

Preview
0379 WEIGHTLIFTER

Khadr El-Touni

1915 - 1956

Preview
0388 PHILOSOPHER

Marc Soriano

1918 - 1994

Preview
0418 COMPOSER

Abu Bakr Khairat

1910 - 1963

Preview
0426 ACTOR

Ahmed Mazhar

1917 - 2002

Preview
0428 SCREENWRITER

Mahmoud el-Meliguy

1910 - 1983

Preview
0431 PAINTER

Gamal El-Sagini

1917 - 1977

Preview
0440 FOOTBALL

Mostafa Taha

Born 1910

Preview
0445 ACTOR

Yehia Chahine

1917 - 1994

Preview
0474 WEIGHTLIFTER

Attia Hamouda

1914 - 1992

Preview
0476 FOOTBALL

Hassan El-Far

1912 - 1972

Preview
0498 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Alexander Badawy

1913 - 1986

Preview
0518 ACTOR

Mimi Chakib

1913 - 1983

Preview
0541 POLITICIAN

Anthony Kershaw

1915 - 2008

Preview
0557 PAINTER

Isaac Fanous

1919 - 2007

Preview
0564 PHILOSOPHER

René Habachi

1915 - 2003

Preview
0565 ACTOR

Mahmoud Shokoko

1912 - 1985

Preview
0568 FILM

Gianni Vernuccio

1918 - 2007

Preview
0576 FILM

Johannes Kai

1912 - 1999

Preview
0577 PHOTOGRAPHER

Dimitri Papadimos

1918 - 1994

Preview
0580 VIOLIN

Denise Soriano-Boucherit

1916 - 2006

Preview
0585 POLITICIAN

Alexandre Sanguinetti

1913 - 1980

Preview
0601 WRESTLER

Mahmoud Hassan (wrestler)

1919 - 1998

Preview
0634 COMPOSER

Aziz El-Shawan

1916 - 1993

Preview
0645 BASKET

Abdel Moneim Wahby

1911 - 1988

Preview
0654 COMPOSER

Miguel Ablóniz

1917 - 2011

Preview
0680 POLITICIAN

Mohamed Sedki Sulayman

1919 - 1996

Preview
0697 ARCHITECT

Naoum Shebib

1915 - 1985

Preview
0701 ARTIST

Clea Badaro

1913 - 1968

Preview
0723 MILITAR

Antoine Sanguinetti

1917 - 2004

Preview
0750 ACTOR

Elias Moadab

1916 - 1952

Preview
0757 BASKET

Abdel Azim Ashry

1911 - 1997

Preview
0774 WRITER

Michel Fardoulis-Lagrange

1910 - 1994

Preview
0798 FOOTBALL

Abdel-Karim Sakr

1918 - 1994

Preview
0800 BOXER

Mahmoud Ezzat

Born 1913

Preview
0808 BASKET

Albert Tadros

1914 - 1993

Preview
0830 BASKET

Nello Paratore

1912 - 1991

Preview
0847 POLITICAL

Filip Bajković

1910 - 1985

Preview
0900 BASKET

Robert Makzoumi

1918 - 2006

Preview
0914 OFFICER

Terence Otway

1914 - 2006

Preview
0915 POLITICIAN

Ibrahim Shoukry

1916 - 2008

Preview
0922 ENTOMOLOGIST

Marcello La Greca

1914 - 2001

Preview
0959 WORLD WAR

Moisis Michail Bourlas

1918 - 2011

Preview
0983 PAINTER

Raymond Abner

1919 - 1999

Preview
1012 POLITICIAN

Haim Yehuda

1917 - 1985

Preview
1016 ACADEMIC

Hassan Abdulaziz al-Saaty

Born 1916

Preview
1035 FENCER

Jean Asfar

1917 - 2010

Preview
1051 PRESENTER

Kent Walton

1917 - 2003

Preview
1121 PAINTER

Constantin Macris

1917 - 1984

Preview
1125 ENGINEER

Mahmoud Younis

1911 - 1976

Preview
1131 ACTOR

George Khoury

1912 - 1983

Preview
1139 FOOTBALL

Egizio Rubino

1919 - 1990

Preview
1140 ROMANIST

Herbert Frenzel (Romanist)

1913 - 1968

Preview
1152 WRITER

Mourad El-Kodsi

1919 - 2007

Preview
1176 GOLF

Hassan Hassanein

1916 - 1957

Preview
1193 SULTAN

Prince Ismail Imaduddeen

1915 - 1972

Preview
1218 AIR FORCE

Adel Amin Hafez

1919 - 2010

Preview
1229 PHYSICIAN

Antonio Maglio

1912 - 1988

Preview
1259 SPORT

Ali El-Kashef

Born 1917

Preview
1260 FOOTBALL

Mourad Fahmy

1910 - 1983

Preview
1268 BASKET

Gamal el-Din Sabri

Born 1915

Preview
1280 SWIMMER

Higazi Said

Born 1916

Preview
1286 DIPLOMAT

Gordon Etherington-Smith

1914 - 2007

Preview
1301 FOOTBALL

Bob Bigg

1911 - 1981

Preview
1331 DIPLOMAT

André Parodi

1910 - 1990

Preview