List of people from İzmir

 

This is a list of famous people from İzmir

In alphabetical order

• Rita Abatzi (1914–1969) Greek rebetiko singer
• Burak Aksoylu – Applied mathematician at Louisiana State University.
• Sezen Aksu – Turkish singer–songwriter, musician, record producer; born in Sarayköy, Denizli and raised in central İzmir.
• Ekrem Akurgal – Turkish archaeologist born in Tulkarem, explorer of Old Smyrna, Pitane, Phocaea and Erythrai
• Necati Ateş – Turkish soccer player for Galatasaray
• Pınar Aylin – Turkish singer
• Azra Ebru Pehlivan – Turkish Architecture www.ox.ac.uk
• Édouard Balladur – Former French Prime Minister
• Halil Berktay – Turkish historian
• Can Bonomo - Turkish singer of Sephardic Jewish descent who will represent Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012
• Tarkan Bulut – Comedian
• Demetrios Capetanakis (1912–1944) Greek poet, essayist and critic
• Anton Christoforidis (1918–1985) Greek light heavyweight boxer
• Hüsamettin Cindoruk – 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 – Actress
• Mahir Çağrı – Turkish Internet phenomenon
• Cybele (1888–1978) Greek actress
• Michel Elefteriades – Greek-Lebanese composer/producer/politician/Emperor of Nowheristan
• Stéphan Elmas (1862–1937)- Armenian composer and pianist
• Nehir Erdoğan – Actress
• Gül Gölge – TV show host, model and actress
• Homer – Greek epic poet, see discussion above
• Attilâ İlhan – Turkish poet, novelist, essayist, journalist, and reviewer.
• İsmet İnönü – 2nd President of Turkey
• Irenaeus (2nd–3rd century), theologian, bishop of Lugdunum
• Azra Ebru Pehlivan – Turkish Architecture, art; born in Alexandria and raised in central İzmir.
• Sir Alec Issigonis – Greek-British car designer whose most famous work is the Mini
• Nevzat Güzelırmak - Turkish Soccer player of Göztepe, Technical Director and Football commentor for Yeni Asır
• Manolis Kalomiris (1883–1962) Greek composer
• Selâhattin Kantar – Turkish archaeologist who pioneered Smyrna excavations
• Ertan Kayıtken – Turkish Fashion Designer
• Vedat Kokona – Albanian writer and translator
• Adamantios Korais (1748–1833) Greek humanist scholar
• Çağla Kubat – Turkish fashion model
• Alex Manoogian – Armenian-American industrialist, philanthropist, and founder/CEO of MASCO Corporation.
• Udi Marko Melkon (1895–1963) – Armenian oud player and singer of Turkish, Greek, Armenian music; made his career in New York.
• Darío Moreno – Turkish-Jewish singer who made a career in France;
• James Justinian Morier – British diplomat, traveler and writer
• Magali Noël – French actress and singer
• Metin Oktay – Footballer
• Aristotle Onassis (1906–1975) Greek tycoon
• Alpay Özalan – footballer
• Ferdi Ozbegen – Singer
• Leonidas Paraskevopoulos (1860–1936) Greek military man and politician
• 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, a Nobel laureate, born in nearby Urla
• Quintus Smyrnaeus – Greek epic poet
• Yavuz Tatış – Private collector
• Yıldız Tilbe – Singer
• Tryfon Tzanetis (1918–2001) Greek footballer and coach
• Bilge Umar – Turkish jurist and writer
• Esin Uner – Miss Aegean 1968, famous fashion model
• Ece Uslu – Turkish actress
• Latife Uşşaki – Wife of Atatürk (founder of modern Turkey)
• Sabbatai Zevi – Self-proclaimed messiah and founder of the community of Sabbateans

Famous personalities with connections to İzmir include Greek diva Haris Alexiou, granddaughter of Anatolian Greeks from Bulgurca village near İzmir, whose discography deals with the city. A branch of the Forbes family lived in İzmir in mid-19th century, exporting Aydın figs to the United States and opium to China, and their mansion (Forbes köşkü) stands intact in Buca. David Josiah Brewer, Associate Justice US Supreme Court 1890–1910, born Izmir 20 June 1837.