List of people from İzmir

This is a list of famous people from İzmir, Turkey.

Rita Abatzi (1914–1969) – Greek rebetiko singer
Kayahan Açar (1949–2015), singer, composer and lyricist
Sezen Aksu – (born 1954), Turkish singer–songwriter, musician, record producer; born in Sarayköy, Denizli and raised in central İzmir
Ekrem Akurgal – (1911–2002), Turkish archaeologist born in Tulkarem, explorer of Old Smyrna, Pitane, Phocaea and Erythrai
Furkan Aldemir – Turkish basketball player
Bahadır Alkım (1915–1981), archaeologist
George K. Anderson – U.S. Air Force general
Necati Ateş – Turkish soccer player
Alexander Balas – ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom in 150–146 BC
Édouard Balladur – (born 1929), former French Prime Minister
Halil Berktay – (born 1947), Turkish historian
Haluk Bilginer (born 1954), theater and film actor
Can Bonomo – Turkish singer of Sephardic Jewish descent; represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
Mahir Çağrı – Turkish Internet phenomenon
Olcay Çakır – Turkish basketball player
Demetrios Capetanakis (1912–1944) – Greek poet, essayist and critic
Anton Christoforidis (1918–1985) – Greek light heavyweight boxer
Salvator Cicurel (1893–1975) – Egyptian Olympic fencer and Jewish community leader
Hüsamettin Cindoruk – (born 1933), Turkish politician, former party leader and Speaker of the Parliament
Mehmet Culum – Turkish novelist born in Çeşme who worked in İzmir as an IT specialist
Necati Cumalı – Turkish novelist born in Florina, raised in nearby Urla
Meltem Cumbul – (born 1969), actress
Cybele (1888–1978), Greek actress
Anestis Delias (1912–1941), Greek bouzouki player, rebetiko composer and singer
Michel Elefteriades – Greek-Lebanese composer, producer, politician, and Emperor of Nowheristan
Stéphan Elmas (1862–1937)- Armenian composer and pianist
Nehir Erdoğan – (born 1980), actress
Gül Gölge – (born 1981), TV show host, model and actress
Homer – Greek epic poet
Attilâ İlhan – Turkish poet, novelist, essayist, journalist, and reviewer
İsmet İnönü – (1884–1973), second President of Turkey
Irenaeus (2nd–3rd century) – theologian, bishop of Lugdunum
Sir Alec Issigonis – (1906–1988), Greek-British car designer whose most famous work is the Mini
Manolis Kalomiris (1883–1962) – Greek composer
Selâhattin Kantar – Turkish archaeologist who pioneered Smyrna excavations
Semih Kaplanoğlu (born 1963), film director, screenwriter and filmproducer
Semih Kaya – Turkish soccer player
Erkut Kızılırmak (born 1969), author
Vedat Kokona – Albanian writer and translator
Adamantios Korais (1748–1833) – Greek humanist scholar
Çağla Kubat – (born 1978), Turkish fashion model
Alex Manoogian – Armenian-American industrialist; philanthropist; founder and CEO of MASCO Corporation
Darío Moreno – Turkish-Jewish singer who made a career in France
James Justinian Morier – (1780–1849), British diplomat, traveler and writer
Magali Noël – (1931–2015), French actress and singer
Metin Oktay – Turkish soccer player
Aristotle Onassis (1906–1975) – Greek tycoon
Alpay Özalan – Turkish soccer player
Hüsnü Özyeğin (born 1944), banker
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos (1860–1936) – Greek military man and politician
Ambrosios Pleianthidis, (1872–1922), metropolitan bishop
Polycarp – overseer of a Christian congregation
Giacomo Pylarini – gave the first smallpox inoculation outside of Turkey
Ahmed Adnan Saygun – Turkish composer, musician and writer
Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971) – Greek poet; Nobel laureate; born in nearby Urla
Quintus Smyrnaeus – Greek epic poet
Yavuz Tatış – (born 1947), private collector
Yıldız Tilbe – (born 1966), musician and pop singer
Tryfon Tzanetis (1918–2001) – Greek footballer and coach
Bilge Umar – Turkish jurist and writer
Latife Uşşaki (1898–1976), wife of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Birsel Vardarlı – Turkish basketball player
Sabbatai Zevi – (1626–1676), self-proclaimed messiah and founder of the community of Sabbateans

References