List of Famous people born in North Aegean Region, Greece

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through them, Western philosophy. Knowledge of his life is clouded by legend, but he appears to have been the son of Mnesarchus, a gem-engraver on the island of Samos. Modern scholars disagree regarding Pythagoras's education and influences, but they do agree that, around 530 BC, he travelled to Croton in southern Italy, where he founded a school in which initiates were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. This lifestyle entailed a number of dietary prohibitions, traditionally said to have included vegetarianism, although modern scholars doubt that he ever advocated for complete vegetarianism.

Oruç Reis was an Ottoman seaman, who became bey (governor) of Algiers, beylerbey of the West Mediterranean, and admiral of the Ottoman Empire. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli and died in battle against the Spanish at Tlemcen in the Ottoman Eyalet of Algeria.

Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis is a Greek composer and lyricist who has contributed to contemporary Greek music with over 1000 works.

Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced by Democritus, Aristippus, Pyrrho, and possibly the Cynics, he turned against the Platonism of his day and established his own school, known as "the Garden", in Athens. Epicurus and his followers were known for eating simple meals and discussing a wide range of philosophical subjects. He openly allowed women to join the school as a matter of policy. Epicurus is said to have originally written over 300 works on various subjects, but the vast majority of these writings have been lost. Only three letters written by him—the letters to Menoeceus, Pythocles, and Herodotus—and two collections of quotes—the Principal Doctrines and the Vatican Sayings—have survived intact, along with a few fragments of his other writings. Most knowledge of his teachings comes from later authors, particularly the biographer Diogenes Laërtius, the Epicurean Roman poet Lucretius and the Epicurean philosopher Philodemus, and with hostile but largely accurate accounts by the Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus, and the Academic Skeptic and statesman Cicero.

Diogo Alves (1810 – February 19, 1841) was a Spanish-born Portuguese serial killer. Between 1836 and 1840, he killed seventy people. The crimes he committed were all in the area of the Águas Livres Aqueduct, thus earning the title "Aqueduct Murderer". He was sentenced to death and hanged on February 19, 1841. The head of the killer was separated from the body and placed in a flask to preserve it for scientific purposes, where it is now a tourist attraction.

Ahmed Djemal Pasha, commonly known as Jamal Basha as-Saffah or Jamal Pasha the Bloodthirsty in the Arab world, was an Ottoman military leader and one-third of the military triumvirate known as the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I and carried out the Armenian Genocide. Djemal was Minister of the Navy.

Mustapha Khaznadar, was Prime Minister of the Beylik of Tunis from 1837 to 1873. He was one of the most influential people in modern Tunisian history.

Benedetto Giustiniani was an Italian clergyman who was made a cardinal in the consistory of 16 November 1586 by Pope Sixtus V.

Andreas Georgios Papandreou was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, which he led from 1974 to 1996. He served two terms as prime minister of Greece.

Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha was an Ottoman statesman and imperial administrator. He was twice the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire around the time of the Second Constitutional Era. He was also one-time president of the Turkish Red Crescent.