Sidon - Notable People

Notable People

In Antiquity:

• Dorotheus (1st century BC) Greek astrologer associate with Sidon.
• Zeno of Sidon, an Epicurean philosopher of the 1st century BC (c. 150 – c. 75 BC), who was born in the city of Sidon in Phoenicia.
• Antipater of Sidon (2nd century BC): Poet
• Boethus of Sidon (c. 75-c. 10 BC): Peripatetic philosopher

(Late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and up till the modern era seem to have been periods of intellectual demise, with no notable figures to mention. The 20th cent. seems to be only dominated by local politicians and very rarely by intellectuals, artists or literary figures):

In the Modern Era (from the start of the 20th century):

• Fouad Siniora, former Prime Minister of Lebanon and member of parliament.
• Adel Osseiran, co-founder of modern Lebanon a leading figure in Lebanon's 20th cent. history.
• Ali Osseiran, Member of Parliament and former Minister
• Rafic Hariri, former Prime Minister, philanthropist, and late leader of the Future Movement.
• Sheikh Mohamad Osseiran, Jaafari Mufti of Sidon.
• Riad Solh, former Prime Minister of Lebanon who also participated in securing Lebanon's independence from the French mandate.
• Takkie El Dine Solh, former Prime Minister, died in Paris.
• Sami Solh, former Prime Minister of Lebanon.
• Rashid Solh, former Prime Minister of Lebanon.
• Emile Bustani, one of Lebanon's entrepreneurial and philanthropist stars in the first half of the 20th century. Founder of an intentional petroleum company and of CAT. Raised as orphan by American missionaries at the Gerard Institute in Sidon at the beginnings of the 20th cent.
• Nazih El-Bizri, former Minister of Health who held several other ministry posts in successive Lebanese governments, and a longstanding Member of the National Parliament, and highly active and visible for over 50 years in Lebanese and Levantine politics
• Afif al-Bizri, former Chief of Staff of the Syrian armed forces with a high-standing military rank and political profile during the Syria-Egypt republican union of the Nasser era
• Fuad El-Bizri, former Minister of Public Works who also served in several Lebanese governments
• Amin El-Bizri, head of the Lebanese Union of Engineers and Architects, President of the Arab Federation of Engineers, former minister of housing in several Lebanese governments, and a major architect who was also an apprentice of Le Corbusier
• Abdel Rahman El-Bizri, former mayor of Sidon, son of Nazih El-Bizri; an active local politician, and also a faculty member at the American University of Beirut medical school
• Nader El-Bizri, Philosopher, Architect, and prolific Scholar with a leading international academic and intellectual profile
• Bahaa Bsat, former President of the Order of Engineers and Architects in Lebanon and former president of the "Maqasid" famous old school in Sidon
• Raymond Audi, international banker and former Minister of Refugees in the government of Lebanon.
• Bahia Hariri, former Minister of Education in the governments of Lebanon and philanthropist. Bahia Hariri is the only sister of the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Presently, Bahia Hariri is a member of the Lebanese Parliament as she was re-elected in June 2009.
• Saad Hariri, youngest former Prime Minister of Lebanon; an international businessman, and son of Rafik Hariri
• Bahaa Hariri, international businessman and billionaire, son of Rafik Hariri
• Ahmad Hariri, young leader in the Hariri Future Movement and son of Bahia Hariri
• Maarouf Saad, former deputy representing Sidon in the national parliament and founder of the Popular Nasserite Party. Influential local leader, assassinated in 1975 at the eve of the Lebanese civil war.
• Moustapha Saad, son of Maarouf Saad, popular Nasserite politician, and former deputy representing Sidon in the national parliament.
• Ousama Saad, son of Maarouf Saad, Nasserite politician, and former deputy representing Sidon in the national parliament.
• Sulayman Al-Zein, former Minister of Education.
• Sheikh Ahmad 'Arif Al-Zein, an early 20th century jurist-scholar, an educator and journalist who founded the learned "'Irfan" magazine.
• Hiba Al-Qawwas, Lebanon's leading soprano.
• Fayza Ahmad (Al-Rawwass), well-known Arab singer formerly based in Egypt.
• Ghassan Hammoud, MD, Founder of Hammoud Hospital University Medical Center, the main medical institution in modern Sidon.