Lebanon

Famous Lebanese People: Lebanese Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

The following famous Lebanese people have made their mark on both the local and international scenes. They are just some of many famous Lebanese who have lifted Lebanon’s name worldwide.

:: List of Famous People from Lebanon ::

Joseph Roland Barbera
Joseph Roland Barbera is a notable Lebanese American animator, cartoon artist, storyboard artist, director- He produced together with William Hanna the most popular cartoons in the entire world: Tom and Jerry, The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Flintstones and many other world renowned cartoons. Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century.

Elie Saab
Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab has became synonymous with luxury and modernism. A serious couturier with a powerful and unique vision, Saab takes luxury to its zenith. The fact that Beyonce, appeared at Golden Globes awards ceremony in a brilliant metallic dress, has proved once again, that Elie Saab is one of the most highly rated names among Hollywood celebrities. In 1982, Saab launched his own Beirut-based fashion label when he was 18 years old. Nowadays, his creations can be found all over the world.

Zakaria Chihab
Is a retired Lebanese wrestler, the first Lebanese Olympic medal winner, a silver in the Men’s Greco-Roman bantamweight during Helsinki 1952 Olympics.

Khalil Gibran
Khalil Gibran was one of the most beloved Lebanese artists, authors, philosophers, theologians. He is chiefly known for his 1923 book. The Prophet, a series of 26 poetic philosophical essays written in English prose and is “widely regarded as a man of the East who brought a much needed element of spirituality to the West”. As a writer, Gibran relished controversy, and his writings reflected this spirit. The Prophet and his other books of poetry are illustrated with his mystical drawings. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. The Lebanese poet Gibran Khalil Gibran is one of the Masters, just as the German Rilke. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world.

Michael Ellis DeBakey
Michael Ellis DeBakey, a pioneering cardiovascular surgeon and researcher, was a world-renowned American, innovator, medical educator, and international medical statesman. According to the Baylor Collegr of Medicine, at age 23, while still in medical school at Tulane University, DeBakey invented the roller pump, the significance of which was not realized until 20 years later, when it became an essential component of the heart-lung machine.

Rony Seikaly
Rony Seikaly is former professional NBA basketball player. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Seikaly played for the US national basketball team at the 1986 World Championship, and with the US team he won the gold medal. Here are some of his records and accolades:

1989 Set Heat record for blocks in a game (8)
1990 Set Heat record for free throw attempts in a game (26) and blocks in a season (124)
1990 NBA’s Most Improved Player
1992 Set Heat record for rebounds in a season (934)
1993 NBA Player of the Week for March 7th
1993 Set Heat record for defensive (26) and total rebounds (34) in a game
1994 Set Heat record for free throws made in a game (16)

Fairuz
“Quite simply, Fairuz is one of the world’s nonpareil musicians and outstanding Artists, an international treasure of the order of Rostropovich, Sills, Ravi Shankar, Miles Davis, Sutherland, Pavarotti and Dylan.” (Harvard University scholar Barry Hoberman)

Fairuz is one of the most critically acclaimed Arabic singers. Legendary Fairuz possesses a large repertoire of around 1500 songs out of which nearly just 800 have been released. She has also been offered prestigious awards and titles over the years.

Fairuz has performed in many venues such as the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1962, the New York Carnegie Hall in 1971, the London Palladium in 1978, L’Olympia de Paris in 1979, London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1986, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles (1971, 1981, and 2003), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. (1981 and 1987) among many others. Moreover. Fairuz acted also in theatrical works. The Rahbani Brothers produced 25 popular musical plays (20 with Fairuz) over a period of more than 30 years.

“To her fans, the diminutive Lebanese diva known simply as Fayrouz has become a living icon without equal. For Arabs at home and especially for the diaspora, no other vocalist evokes both the bygone rhythms of village life and the halcyon, prosperous years before wars traumatized their region, sending many into exile.” New York Times.

Hayfa Wehbe
Gorgeous Hayfa Wehbe is a Lebanese model, actress, and singer who rose to fame in the Arab world as runner up for Miss Lebanon and later the release of her debut album Huwa az-Zaman. She is famous in the Middle East as a model since the age of 16.

Elias J. Corey
Elias James Corey is a notable chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1990) “for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis”, specifically retrosynthetic analysis. He was born to Christian Lebanese immigrants in Methuen, Massachusetts. Professor Elias James Corey is regarded by many as the premier organic chemist of our time. Using theoretical principles, he has done pioneering work in stereochemistry and synthetic chemistry, particularly with prostaglandins, macrolide antibiotics, and insect hormones.

Peter Medawar
Worldwide famous Peter Medawar was born on 28 February 1915, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil of a British mother and a Lebanese father. He was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1960 for immune system. Medawar’s work on graft rejection and the discovery of acquired immune tolerance was fundamental to the practice of tissue and organ transplants.