List of Famous people born in Syria

Mohammad Riad Hussain Ismat was a Syrian writer, critic and theatre director. He served as Minister of Culture of Syria from 3 October 2010 to 23 June 2012.

Omar Abu-Riche was an influential Syrian poet known for his pioneering works.

Michel Aflaq was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975).

Rana Kabbani is a British Syrian cultural historian, writer and broadcaster who lives in London. Most famous for her works Imperial Fictions: Europe's Myths of the Orient (1994) and Letter to Christendom (1989), she has also edited and translated works in Arabic and English. She has written for Spare Rib, the International Herald Tribune, The New Statesman, The Guardian, British Vogue, The Independent, Al Quds al Arabi, and Islamica. She has made and contributed to many television and radio programmes for the BBC, on subjects such as literature, music, minority rights, Islamic culture, food, feminism, women’s rights, painting, and British politics. She has spoken out against islamophobia, defining its historic roots in colonialism.

Imad al-Din Zengi, also romanized as Zangi, Zengui, Zenki, and Zanki, was an Oghuz Turkish atabeg who ruled Mosul, Aleppo, Hama, and, later, Edessa. He was the namesake of the Zengid dynasty.

Salim Idris is the former Chief of Staff of the Supreme Military Council (SMC) of the Free Syrian Army, which is the main Syrian armed opposition group. He has a PhD in "electronic radars" and speaks five languages, including English. An East German-trained electronics professor, he was a general in the Syrian Army when he defected in July 2012. Idris is widely considered to represent the moderate elements of Syria's armed opposition, as armed opposition leaders under his leadership have subscribed to the pro-democracy Proclamation of Principles.

Ighraa, also is known as Igraa, is a Syrian actress and belly dancer who reached her fame mostly in Syrian cinema of the 1970s.

Mustafa Naima was an Ottoman bureaucrat and historian who wrote the chronicle known as the Tārīḫ-i Na'īmā. He is often considered to be the first official historian of the Ottoman Empire, although this formal office was probably not created until the time of his successor, Rashid.

Jamil Mardam Bey, was a Syrian politician. He was born in Damascus to a prominent aristocratic Sunni Ottoman Muslim family. He is a descendant of the Ottoman general, statesman and Grand Vizier Lala Mustafa Pasha. He studied at the school of Political Science in Paris and was a founder of Al-Fatat, the leading opposition party in Ottoman Syria.