10 Most Famous Lebanese People

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10 MOST FAMOUS LEBANESE PEOPLE

Lebanese republic is located in Western Asia It is part of the Levant region of the Middle East. The official language of the state is Arabic and French. The country is not only known for its amazing dishes that range from the world-famous hummus and falafel but also for talented sports personalities, fashionistas, business moguls, musicians, writers, diplomats, and politicians.

1. Amal Clooney

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Amal Clooney, born on 3 February 1978 in Beirut, is a renowned Lebanese-British barrister at Doughty Street Chamber with international law and human rights being her area of expertise. She is married to the famous American actor and filmmaker, George Clooney and the co-founder of the Clooney Foundation of Justice.

Her family left Lebanon in the wake of the civil war and she returned in 1991. She studied at St Hugh’s College, Oxford where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in jurisprudence in 2000. She enrolled for a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree at the New York University School of Law. She has received numerous honors and awards in her career including the United Nations Correspondents Association Global Citizen of the Year (2008) Award and she was featured in the 2022 Time magazine as the Woman of the Year.

2. Najwa Karam

Najwa Karam. Image by Diana Farroukh-Wikimedia

Najwa is a Lebanese singer, producer, songwriter and fashion icon who was born on 26 February 1966, her unique style of blending the traditional style of music with contemporary Arabic music saw her sell more than 60 million records, making her the best-selling recording artist in the middle east.

She became a star in the 90s and received various awards. Her album, Nedmaneh sold millions of copies earning Karam a Murex d’Or award for Best Arabic Artist and Rotana Records awards including, the Artist of the Year award. In 2017, Forbes Middle East ranked Karam number 5 on the list of “The Top 100 Arab Celebrities”. She was listed in Cosmopolitan as “The 15 Most Inspiring Women in The Middle East”, and Forbes listed her in their list of the “Top 10 of Arab Stars on The Global Stage. She was a judge on the competition reality tv series Arabs Got Talent.

3. Rima Fakih

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Rima Fakih Slaiby born on 22 September 1985 is a Lebanese-American model cum beauty pageant and a former professional wrestler. She began competing in pageantry at the age of 19 and she emerged the fourth at Miss Wayne County, qualifying for Miss Michigan within the Miss America system. She has crowned Miss Michigan USA in 2010, making her the first Arab American woman and the third woman from Michigan to win the title.

4. Nadine Labaki

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Nadin is a Lebanese actress, director, and activist who has achieved a lot in filmmaking, considering she was not educated or trained abroad. Born in Baabdat on 18 February 1974, she attributes her career to her uncle from whom she learned the art of storytelling. Her uncle was the family storyteller and her grandfather owned a small theatre in Lebanon where she found her love for film. She started her acting career at a Lebanese talent show, Studio El Fan in 1990. At the show, she won a prize for directing various music video productions. Her film-making career began in 2007 after the release of Caramel, her debut film, which premiered at the Cannes 2007 Film Festival. One of her films won the Best Short Film Award at the Biennale of Arab Cinema at the Arab World Institute in Paris

She is the first female Arab director to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film for Capernaum (2018) category.

5. Nancy Ajram

Nancy Nabil Ajram is a Lebanese pop-folksinger. Born on 19 May 1963 in Lebanon, she developed an interest in music at a tender age. When she was eight, she appeared on national television during a singing contest she won a gold medal in a reality television contest dubbed ‘Noujoum Al-Moustakbal, (“Stars of the Future”). She released her first album while still a teenager and her music have gained much popularity in the Arab World. She was once described on the Oprah Winfrey Show as “the Britney Spears of the Middle East” on 28 September 2009, making her the first and only Middle-Eastern artist ever mentioned on the show then.

Ajram was a judge on MBC’s reality talent show Arab Idol between 2013 and 2017. She has received various honors and awards in her music career. In 2012, she won her second World Music Award as the World’s Best-Selling Middle Eastern Artist. In 2020, she was the most-streamed Arab female artist on Spotify and in 2022, she won the Best Female Singer award at the ET Bil Arabi Awards.

6. Najib Azmi

Image by World Economic Forum from Cologny, Switzerland-Wikimedia

Born on 24 November 1955, Najib Azmi Mikati is a businessman and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon. He has served in various capacities in Lebanon including ministerial and cabinet positions. He is remembered for heading an interim government that supervised the general election following the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005. He operates several telecom projects in Syria and Lebanon and is a major shareholder in the South African telecommunications operator MTN.

In 2021, he was listed in Forbes magazine as the richest man in Lebanon, with a net worth of $2.5 billion.

7. Ragheb Alama

Ragheb Alama is a Lebanese singer, dancer, composer, and television personality born on 7 June 1962. He began his career in 1980 after contesting on the talent show Studio El Fan where he received the Platinum Award. His song, “Alby Asheq’ha” (My Heart Adores Her) was the first Arabic song in history to be made into a music video. His album, Ba’asha’ak (2008), earned him the Platinum certification from Virgin Megastores for its record sales. He was also the first Arab artist to sell his album Seneen Rayha (2010) at all Starbucks Coffee branches.

Through his music, he advocated for environmental change and was named the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) Ambassador of Climate Change. Alama has won two Murex d’Or Awards and several others. He has been the face of marketing for various companies that endorsed him and has been featured in their promotions including, Samsung, Starbucks, Mercedes-Benz, Hublot, and Persol among others.

8. Elie Saab

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Elie was born on 4 July 1964. He is a fashion designer specializing in bridal couture. He started his career in 1982 at the age of 18 with only 15 employees. His main workshop is in Lebanon and has branches in Milan and Paris. He is the first Arab to be admitted to Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the fashion industry’s governing body. Eli appeared on Project Runway Middle East in 2016 as a judge. One of his collections was won by the Dutchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton in 2019 while attending the Royal Ascot.

9. Khalil Beschir

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Khalil Beschir is a former Formula 1 racing driver and a motorsport entrepreneur born on 18 June 1983. His interest in racing was born from watching Formula 1 on television.  His passion for the sport drove him to save and enroll in a racing school in Magny Cours, France in 2001. He then got sponsorship to undertake a test in Formula Renault 1.6

His entry into the A1 Grand Prix series made him the first Arab driver to ever contest a round of an international single-seater world championship. Khalil won an award in 2006 for “Most Extensive Product Testing”. He is the COO of the new eSkootr Championship, a new electric micro-mobility race series.

10. Serj Tankian

Serj Tankian was born on August 21, 1967. He is an activist and the lead vocalist, primary lyricist, keyboardist, and occasional rhythm guitarist of the heavy metal band System of a Down, formed in 1994. At the age of seven, his family moved to the U.S. His music career began at the California State University, Northridge where he began playing the keyboard and writing songs. His activism started in his college years, by striving for the recognition of the Armenian genocide when he was the president of the university’s Armenian Students Association.

He was awarded a Commemorative Medal of Armenia for his contribution to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the advancement of music. He played at a concert to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, for free on April 24, 2015, for over two hours in Yerevan’s Republic Square