List of Famous people born in Pernambuco, Brazil

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, is a Brazilian politician and former union leader who served as the 35th President of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010. He was a founding member of the Workers' Party (PT) and ran unsuccessfully for president three times before achieving victory in the 2002 election. He was then re-elected in 2006.

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (1921–1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. He is best known for his influential work Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which is generally considered one of the foundational texts of the critical pedagogy movement.

"Captain" Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, better known as Lampião, was probably the twentieth century's most successful traditional bandit leader. The banditry endemic to the Brazilian Northeast was called Cangaço. Cangaço had origins in the late 19th century but was particularly prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s. Lampião led a band of up to 100 cangaceiros, who occasionally took over small towns and who fought a number of successful actions against paramilitary police when heavily outnumbered. Lampião's exploits and reputation turned him into a folk hero, the Brazilian equivalent of Jesse James or Pancho Villa.

Cléber Santana Loureiro was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Randolph Frederich Rodrigues Alves, commonly known as Randolfe Rodrigues, is a Brazilian journalist and politician. Since 2011, Rodrigues serves as a Senator for the state of Amapá.

Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira, known as Rivaldo, is a Brazilian former professional footballer. He played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker. Often considered one of the best players of his generation, Rivaldo is also regarded as one of the greatest of all time. Labelled a "bandy-legged genius" by The Guardian, although he was predominantly left footed he was capable of playing on either flank, and was on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a winger.

Luiz Gonzaga do Nascimento, Sr. was a Brazilian singer, songwriter, musician and poet and one of the most influential figures of Brazilian popular music in the twentieth century. He has been credited for having presented the rich universe of Northeastern musical genres to all of Brazil, having created the musical genre baião and has been called a "revolutionary" by Antônio Carlos Jobim. According to Caetano Veloso, he was the first significant cultural event with mass appeal in Brazil. Luiz Gonzaga received the Shell prize for Brazilian Popular Music in 1984 and was only the fourth artist to receive this prize after Pixinguinha, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Dorival Caymmi. The Luiz Gonzaga Dam was named in his honor.

Joelinton Cássio Apolinário de Lira is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Newcastle United. Starting his career with Sport Recife, Joelinton joined Hoffenheim in 2015, and was loaned to Rapid Wien for two years from 2016. He has also been capped for the Brazil under-17 national team.

Romero Britto is a Brazilian artist, painter, serigrapher, and sculptor. He combines elements of cubism, pop art, and graffiti painting in his work, using vibrant colors and bold patterns as a visual expression of hope, dreams, and happiness.

Antônio Augusto Ribeiro Reis Júnior, commonly known as Juninho or Juninho Pernambucano, is a Brazilian former footballer, who is currently the sporting director of Olympique Lyonnais. Noted for his bending free kicks, Juninho holds the record for the highest number of goals scored through free kicks (75) and many consider him to be the greatest free kick-taker of all time.