List of people from Istanbul

This is a list of notable people hailing from the city of Istanbul.

List

Hrant Dink (1954-2007), editor of an Armenian newspaper
Halide Edib Adıvar, novelist, politician
Müjde Ar, actress
Oğuz Aral, cartoonist
Bülent Arel, music producer
Duygu Asena, women's rights activist
Hulusi Behçet, dermatologist
Semiha Berksoy, opera singer
Orhan Boran, radio and TV host
Aydın Boysan, architect, academic, author and essayist
Yaşar Büyükanıt, Chief of the Turkish General Staff
Eylül Cansın, transgender sex worker
Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek-French political philosopher
Hakan Celik, journalist, TV anchorman, radio producer
Hande Berktan, journalist, TV presenter
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, filmmaker
Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek academic, diplomat
Tansu Çiller, former prime minister
Volkan Diyaroğlu, artist
Bülent Ecevit, former prime minister
Neşe Erberk, Miss Europe 1984
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey
Halit Ergenç, actor
Sertab Erener, singer
Ahmet Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
Nesuhi Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
Yonca Evcimik, pop singer
Shlomo Gazit (1926–2020), Israeli head of IDF military intelligence, President of Ben-Gurion University
Leyla Gencer, opera singer
Fatma Girik, actress
Ali Ferit Gören (1913-1987), Austrian-Turkish Olympic sprinter
Gregory V, Greek Patriarch of Constantinople
Ara Güler, photographer
Tunç Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion 2004
Tunch Ilkin, former American football player, TV anchor
Ertuğrul Işınbark, stage magician
Nihat Kahveci, football player
İrem Karamete (born 1993), Olympic fencer
Adila Khanum, wife of Hussein bin Ali, King of Hejaz
Elia Kazan, director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, actor
Hülya Koçyiğit, actress
Bergüzar Korel, actress
Fahri Korutürk, former president of Turkey
Lefter Küçükandonyadis, football player
Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion
Nasuh Mahruki, first Turkish person to summit Mt. Everest
Barış Manço, musician
Andrew Mango, British author
Arif Mardin, music producer
Kleanthis Maropoulos, Greek footballer
Alexander Mavrocordatos, Greek dragoman to Sultan Mehmed IV
Iskouhi Minas (1884–1951), French poet and novelist of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
Leone Minassian (1905–1978), Italian painter of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer
Aziz Nesin, novelist
Marika Nezer, Greek singer
Altay Öktem, Turkish poet, writer, researcher and doctor
Irfan Orga, Turkish Air Force fighter pilot, diplomat, writer
Leon Walerian Ostroróg, jurist of Polish descent, adviser to the Ottoman government
Orhan Pamuk, novelist
Sadettin Pasha, Ottoman pasha
Pekinel sisters, twin pianists
Ajda Pekkan, singer
Veronica of the Passion, ottoman-born English Catholic nun who founded the Sisters of the Apostolic Carmel
Athinodoros Prousalis, Greek actor
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, opera singer
Michael Babington Smith, British banker, sportsman and soldier from the Babington family.
Alexandros Soutsos, Greek poet and partisan
Tariq bin Taimur, was a member of the Omani royal family
Haldun Taner, playwright
Hidayet Türkoğlu, basketball player
Fatih Tutak, chef
Antonietta Gambara Untersteiner, composer
Orhan Veli, poet
Stavros Xenidis, Greek actor
Hamza Yerlikaya, wrestler and Olympic gold medalist
Erol Yesilkaya, Turkish-German screenwriter
Cem Yılmaz, stand-up comedian, actor
Gönül Engin Yılmaz, artist
Alexander Ypsilantis (senior), Greek diplomat
Alexander Ypsilantis (junior), Greek military commander
Constantine Ypsilantis, Greek revolutionary

Related lists

List of people from Constantinople (between the 3rd century and 1453 CE)
Notable people from Byzantium (before the 3rd century CE)
List of museums and monuments in Istanbul
List of urban centers in Istanbul
List of universities in Istanbul
List of schools in Istanbul
List of architectural structures in Istanbul
List of columns and towers in Istanbul
List of libraries in Istanbul
List of mayors of Istanbul