List of people from Damascus

The following is a list of notable people from Damascus, Syria.

Ancient

• Abd ar-Rahman I - founder of Omayyad dynasty in Cordoba^[1]
• Ananias - one of the Seventy Disciples^[2]
• Apollodorus of Damascus - Syrian architect
• Damascius - Byzantine philosopher^[3]
• Israel ben Moses Najara - poet, Kaballist and rabbi^[4]
• John of Damascus - Christian monk^[5]
• Nicolaus of Damascus - historian and philosopher^[6][7]
• Shams al-Din al-Ansari al-Dimashqi - Medieval Arab geographer
• Sophronius - Patriarch of Jerusalem^[8]

Modern

• Avraham Abaas - Israeli politician, member of the Knesset
• Michel Aflaq - political thinker and co-founder of the Baath Party
• Khalid al-Azm - former prime minister of Syria ^[9]
• Salah al-Din al-Bitar - political thinker and co-founder of the Baath Party
• Shukri al-Quwatli - former Syrian president and co-founder of the United Arab Republic^[9]
• Ghada al-Samman - novelist
• Ikram Antaki - Mexican writer
• Eli Cohen - Israeli spy
• Hanin Elias - member of punk rock band Atari Teenage Riot
• Sam Hamad - Quebec politician
• Izzat Husrieh - journalist and founder of the Syrian labor union^[9]
• Abu Khalil Qabbani - Syrian playwright, considered the founder of Syrian theater
• Nizar Qabbani - poet^[10]
• Eliyahu Sasson - Israeli politician and minister
• Rafik Schami - Syrian-German author
• Yasser Seirawan - chess player^[11]
• Zakaria Tamer - writer^[12]
• Soraya Tarzi - Queen of Afghanistan
• Samuel Vital - Kabalist
• Muna Wassef - actress and United Nations Goodwill ambassador^[13]
• Constantin Zureiq - academic intellectual and Arab nationalist^[14]

Families

• Alzahabi
• Al-Azm

See also

• List of rulers of Damascus
• Al-Dimashqi

References

1. "Abd Ar-Rahman, I Biography". Encyclopedia of World Biography. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
2. "Saint Ananias Chapel". Arabicnews.com. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
3. "Damascius (C. 462–C. 538)". Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Copyright © 2001-2006 by Macmillan Reference USA, an imprint of the Gale Group. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
4. "Israel ben Moses Najara". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
5. M. Walsh, ed. Butler's Lives of the Saints(HarperCollins Publishers: New York, 1991), pp. 403.
6. Ross Burns, Damascus: A History - Page 59
7. K. Müller &c Fragmenta historicorum graecorum vol. 3 p.344.
8. Donald E. Wagner. Dying in the Land of Promise: Palestine and Palestinian Christianity from Pentecost to 2000
9. Moubayed, Sami. Steel and Silk: Men and Women Who Shaped Syria, 1900-2005. Seattle, WA: Cune Press, 2005. Print.
10. "Nizar Qabbani". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
11. "Yasser Seirawan". UEP Chess. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
12. "Zakaria Tamer". The Arab Writers Union. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
13. "Muna Wassef". Al-Aous Publishers. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
14. "Constantin Zureiq". The Arab Orient Center for Strategic and Civilization Studies - London. Retrieved 2009-12-01.