10 Most Famous People from Syria

Al-Maʿarri by Tajdeed Risalat Al-Ghofran from Wikimedia Commons

10 Most Famous People from Syria

Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, and Circassians are just a few of the many ethnic and religious groups that call Syria home, and their presence is reflected in the country’s rich and dynamic cultural traditions. The resilient Syrians have emerged to leave their mark on the globe despite the recent decades being marked by political instability, war, and devastation.

The country is renowned for its writing, and it has given the world writers like Adonis, Muhammad Maghout, Haidar Haidar, Ghada al-Samman, Nizar Qabbani, and Zakariyya Tamer, who are well-known on a global scale. An extremely well-known author in the Syrian folk narrative genre is Salim Barakat, a Syrian immigrant presently residing in Sweden.

Here are the 10 most famous people from Syria.

1. Bashar al-Assad

Bashar al-Assad by kremlin.ru from Wikimedia Commons

President of Syria, General Secretary of the Ba’ath Party, and Regional Secretary of the party’s branch in Syria are all titles held by Bashar Hafez al-Assad. He took over as President in 2000 after his father, Hafez al-Assad, had ruled Syria for 30 years prior to his passing. Al-Assad began his career as an army doctor in 1988 after receiving his medical degree from Damascus University. He pursued postgraduate studies in ophthalmology at the Western Eye Hospital in London four years later.

When he ordered a widespread crackdown and military sieges on pro-rebel protesters during a recent civil conflict, which some observers have referred to as part of the larger “Arab Spring” movement, expectations among the domestic and international world that he would be a reformer stopped.

Al-Assad’s resignation from the presidency has since been demanded by the Arab League, the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the opposition within Syria. His regime has been characterized as secular, and he is a member of the minority Alawite sect.

2. Michael Ansara

Michael Ansara by Law of the Plainsman from Wikimedia Commons

Michael George Ansara was a stage, screen, and voice actor who was born in Syria. He is best known for his roles as Cochise in the American television series Broken Arrow, Kane in the 1979–1981 series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Commander Kang on three different Star Trek television series, Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart on the NBC series Law of the Plainsman, and Mr. Freeze in Batman: The Animated Series and several of its spin-off

3. Nizar Qabbani

Nizar Qabbani by Wikimedia Commons

Syrian diplomat, poet, and publisher Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani was also a publisher. His poetry explores topics like love, sensuality, feminism, religion, and Arab nationalism in a straightforward yet elegant way. One of the most admired modern poets in the Arab world is Qabbani.

4. George Wassouf

A Syrian vocalist with almost 30 albums under his belt, George Wassouf. Younger singers like George El Rassi have modeled their vocal techniques after Wassouf’s. He was referred to as “the miraculous of his time” for his creative aptitude for singing. He was born in Kafroun, Tartous, Syria into a Christian family.

In his hometown of Kafroun, Wassouf began singing when he was ten years old. When he was 12 years old, Wassouf was playing at a wedding when his first manager and producer, George Yazbeck, saw him. With his iconic song “el-Hawa Sultan,” magazine director George Ibrahim El Khoury referred to him as Sultan El-Tarab when he was 16 years old.

5. Ali Ahmad Said

Adonis by Vogler from Wikimedia Commons

Syrian poet, writer, and translator Ali Ahmad Said Esber is also known by the pen names Adonis or Adunis.

In addition to translating various French classics, he has authored more than twenty books and volumes of poetry in Arabic.

Adunis left Syria and made much of his career in Lebanon and France after being imprisoned there in the middle of the 1950s for his convictions. He has been considered the best living poet in the Arab world and has been a consistent candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature since 1988.

6. Al-Maʿarri

Blind Syrian philosopher, poet, and author Abul “Ala Al-Maarri” was a controversial rationalist of his time who attacked religious dogmas and denied that Islam or any other religion had the truths they asserted.

He also thought that prophets’ speeches were lies and “impossible” to be genuine. He was equally mocking the faiths of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. He supported animal rights and was a vegan.

7. Sabah Fakhri

Famous Arabic traditional vocalist Sabah Fakhri comes from the Syrian city of Aleppo. Sabah Fakhri modernized and popularized the then-dying genres of Muwashahat and Koodood Halabiya over his 50 years of renown and success as a performer.

He is renowned for his incredibly powerful vocals, flawless Maqamat and harmony, as well as his engaging performances. He is a superb performer of genuine Arabic Tarab and has a large following worldwide.

8. Moustapha Akkad

The original Halloween film series was produced by Syrian American filmmaker Moustapha Akkad, who also directed Mohammad, Messenger of God, and Lion of the Desert. He and his daughter Rima Akkad Monla were both slain by a suicide bomber in Amman, Jordan, in 2005.

9. Asma al-Assad

Asma al-Assad by Ricardo Stuckert from Wikimedia Commons

Asma al-Assad, a Syrian-born British citizen, married Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and is currently the country’s first lady. Her suspected involvement in war crimes in Syria is the subject of an investigation that was started in 2021 and may result in the revocation of her British citizenship if it were to be confirmed.

10. Hafez al-Assad