List of Famous people born in Syria

George Tarabishi was a Syrian writer, philosopher, and translator. He translated over 200 books into Arabic, including works by Hegel, Freud, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir.

Al-Walīd ibn Ubaidillah Al-Buḥturī was an Arab poet born at Manbij in Islamic Syria, between Aleppo and the Euphrates. Like Abū Tammām, he was of the tribe of Tayy, from the Buhturids.

General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub is a Syrian politician, senior Syrian Arab Army officer and current Minister of Defense. He was appointed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 1 January 2018.

Jamal Al Sharif. A football referee from Damascus, Syria. He is mostly known for supervising six matches in the FIFA World Cup. Two matches in 1986, one in 1990 and three in 1994, including the second round match between Bulgaria and Mexico. He also supervised a single game between Argentina and Ivory coast in 1992 King Fahd Cup, The first edition of FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia. He also officiated at the 1988 Olympics.

Abdel Hamid Sarraj was a Syrian Army officer and political figure in the mid-20th century.

Paul Zaim, known sometime also as Paul of Aleppo (1627–1669) was an Ottoman Syrian Orthodox clergyman and chronicler. Son of Patriarch Macarios III Zaim, Paul accompanied his father in his travels throughout Constantinople, Wallachia, Moldavia, Ukraine and Russia, as an attempt to raise funds and support for their Church.

Khaled ibn Hashimi ibn Hajj Abd al Qadir was the grandson of the military leader Abd al Qadir and was for a time a prominent opponent of the nature of French colonial rule in Algeria.

Moise Jacob Safra was a Lebanese Brazilian businessman and philanthropist. He co-founded Banco Safra with his brothers Edmond Safra and Joseph Safra.

Adib al-Shishakli was a Syrian military leader and President of Syria of Kurdish Origin (1953–54).

Abu Khalil Qabbani was a Syrian playwright and composer of Turkish origin. He is considered the founder of the short musical play in Arabic theatre. His play Abu al-Hassan al-Mughaffal caused a wave of protest as a result of his mockery of Caliph Harun al-Rashid, and ended with a decree by the Ottoman government to close his theatre and prevent theatrical performances in Syria. Qabbani left for Egypt and produced his plays there until 1900. He returned to Syria and died two years later in 1902. He is considered the "father of Syrian theatre", and has influenced later generations including the famous Duraid Lahham. His brother is the grandfather of Nizar Qabbani. He also performed in Turkey and America.