List of people from Istanbul

This is a list of notable people hailing from the city of Istanbul.


 * Hrant Dink (1954-2007), editor of an Armenian newspaper
 * Halide Edib Adıvar, novelist, politician
 * Müjde Ar, actress
 * Oğuz Aral, cartoonist
 * Bülent Arel, music producer
 * Duygu Asena, women's rights activist
 * Hulusi Behçet, dermatologist
 * Semiha Berksoy, opera singer
 * Orhan Boran, radio and TV host
 * Aydın Boysan, architect, academic, author and essayist
 * Yaşar Büyükanıt, Chief of the Turkish General Staff
 * Eylül Cansın, transgender sex worker
 * Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek-French political philosopher
 * Hakan Celik, journalist, TV anchorman, radio producer
 * Hande Berktan, journalist, TV presenter
 * Nuri Bilge Ceylan, filmmaker
 * Manuel Chrysoloras, Greek academic, diplomat
 * Tansu Çiller, former prime minister
 * Volkan Diyaroğlu, artist
 * Bülent Ecevit, former prime minister
 * Neşe Erberk, Miss Europe 1984
 * Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey
 * Sertab Erener, singer
 * Ahmet Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
 * Nesuhi Ertegün, co-founder and executive of Atlantic Records and the New York Cosmos
 * Yonca Evcimik, pop singer
 * Shlomo Gazit (1926–2020), Israeli head of IDF military intelligence, President of Ben-Gurion University
 * Leyla Gencer, opera singer
 * Fatma Girik, actress
 * Münir Göle, writer and photographer
 * Ali Ferit Gören (1913-1987), Austrian-Turkish Olympic sprinter
 * Gregory V, Greek Patriarch of Constantinople
 * Ara Güler, photographer
 * Tunç Hamarat, correspondence chess world champion 2004
 * Tunch Ilkin, former American football player, TV anchor
 * Ertuğrul Işınbark, stage magician
 * Nihat Kahveci, football player
 * İrem Karamete (born 1993), Olympic fencer
 * Elia Kazan, director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, actor
 * Hülya Koçyiğit, actress
 * Fahri Korutürk, former president of Turkey
 * Lefter Küçükandonyadis, football player
 * Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion
 * Nasuh Mahruki, first Turkish person to summit Mt. Everest
 * Barış Manço, musician
 * Andrew Mango, British author
 * Arif Mardin, music producer
 * Kleanthis Maropoulos, Greek footballer
 * Alexander Mavrocordatos, Greek dragoman to Sultan Mehmed IV
 * Iskouhi Minas (1884–1951), French poet and novelist of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
 * Leone Minassian (1905–1978), Italian painter of Armenian descent, born in Istanbul
 * Kostas Negrepontis, Greek footballer
 * Aziz Nesin, novelist
 * Marika Nezer, Greek singer
 * Altay Öktem, Turkish poet, writer, researcher and doctor
 * Irfan Orga, Turkish Air Force fighter pilot, diplomat, writer
 * Leon Walerian Ostroróg, jurist of Polish descent, adviser to the Ottoman government
 * Orhan Pamuk, novelist
 * Sadettin Pasha, Ottoman pasha
 * Pekinel sisters, twin pianists
 * Ajda Pekkan, singer
 * Athinodoros Prousalis, Greek actor
 * Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, opera singer
 * Alexandros Soutsos, Greek poet and partisan
 * Haldun Taner, playwright
 * Hidayet Türkoğlu, basketball player
 * Antonietta Gambara Untersteiner, composer
 * Orhan Veli, poet
 * Stavros Xenidis, Greek actor
 * Hamza Yerlikaya, wrestler and Olympic gold medalist
 * Erol Yesilkaya, Turkish-German screenwriter
 * Cem Yılmaz, stand-up comedian, actor
 * Gönül Engin Yılmaz, artist
 * Alexander Ypsilantis (senior), Greek diplomat
 * Alexander Ypsilantis (junior), Greek military commander
 * Constantine Ypsilantis, Greek revolutionary

Related lists

 * List of people from Constantinople (between the 3rd century and 1453 CE)
 * Notable people from Byzantium (before the 3rd century CE)
 * List of museums and monuments in Istanbul
 * List of urban centers in Istanbul
 * List of universities in Istanbul
 * List of schools in Istanbul
 * List of architectural structures in Istanbul
 * List of columns and towers in Istanbul
 * List of libraries in Istanbul
 * List of mayors of Istanbul