List of people from İzmir

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

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

* 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
* John Olcay (1940-2014) – international financier
* 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

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