List of people from Jerusalem

Ancient

• Melchizedek, Jebusite King of Salem and priest who blesses Abram, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament^[1]
• Abdi-Heba (c. 1350 BC), Canaanite ruler of Jerusalem under Egyptian patronage, one of the authors of the Amarna letters^[2]
• Adonizedek (c. 12th century BC), Amorite King of Jerusalem who resisted Israelite invasion, according to the Book of Joshua^[3]
• King David (c. 1040 BCE – c. 970 BCE), first King of the united Kingdom of Israel who conquered Jerusalem, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament^[4][5]
• Zadok, Levitical High Priest of Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon, according to the Hebrew Bible.^[6]
• Araunah, Jebusite landowner who sold a plot at Mount Moriah to David who constructed an altar to God, according to the Hebrew Bible^[7]
• Solomon the Great (c. 1011 BCE – c. 931 BCE), son of David, who inherited his throne and ruled Jerusalem, according to the Hebrew Bible^[8]
• Hezekiah (c. 739 - c. 687 BC), king of Judah, the first Israelite/Judaean king whose rule is attested extrabiblically^[9]
• Isaiah, a major prophet of ancient Israel living around the time of 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah
• Joel, prophet of ancient Israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets

Antiquity

• Ben Sira (c. 2nd century BC), Hellenistic Jewish scribe, author of the Book of Sirach^[10]
• Judas Maccabeus (d. 160 BCE), leader of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire
• Herod the Great, (d. 4 BCE), Roman client king of Judea who expanded the Second Temple in Jerusalem and built the fortress at Masada
• Hillel the Elder (110 BCE – 10 CE), famous Jewish religious leader and one of the most important figures in Jewish history, associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud
• Jesus (c. 6-4 BC - 30-33 AD), crucified in Jerusalem, making it a holy city to Christians
• Josephus (37–100), Jewish-Roman historian
• James the Just (d. 69), Jewish-Christian Bishop of Jerusalem
• Zacchaeus of Jerusalem, one of the Early bishops of Jerusalem, venerated as a saint by both Western and Eastern Churches
• Matthias of Jerusalem (d. 120), early Bishop of Jerusalem and Catholic saint
• Simon bar Kokhba (d. 135), leader of the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE
• Alexander of Jerusalem (d. 252), considered the earliest verifiable Bishop of Jerusalem
• Procopius of Scythopolis (c. 270), Palestinian Christian martyr^[11]
• Helena, mother of Constantine I (d. 330), buried in the Mausoleum of Helena
• Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), theologian and bishop of Jerusalem, exiled more than once, buried in the city
• Juvenal of Jerusalem (d. 458), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (422-458)
• Elias I of Jerusalem (d. 518), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (494-516)
• Modestus of Jerusalem (d. 638), saint and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
• Sophronius of Jerusalem (d. 638), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (632-634)
• Umar (d. 644), Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate who conquered the city in 637 and cleared the ground for the Dome of the Rock^[12]
• Ubadah ibn al-Samit (583-655), one of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammed who was buried in Bab al-Rahma Cemetery
• Shaddad ibn Aws (d. 677/8), another of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammed buried in Bab al-Rahma Cemetery^[13]
• Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (d. 705), Caliph who oversaw the building of the Dome of the Rock, the earliest archaeologically attested religious monument built by a Muslim ruler^[14]
• Anastasius II of Jerusalem (d. 706), Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem
• John V of Jerusalem, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem (706-735)

Medieval

• Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid (882-946), Ikhshidid dynasty governor over Jerusalem and other parts of the Levant on behalf of the Abbasid Caliphate who was buried in Jerusalem^[15]
• Al-Tamimi (physician) (d. 990), author of several medical works, pharmacist and personal physician to the governor of Ramla^[16]
• al-Muqaddasi (946–1000), Arab geographer
• Aaron of Jerusalem, (c. 11th century) Karaite scholar and Judeo-Arabic author
• Ibn al-Qaisarani (1056–1113), Arab historian
• Ibn Tahir (1057-1113), Islamic scholar and historian^[17]

• Baldwin I of Jerusalem (d. 1118), Crusader King who banned Jews from Jerusalem
• Judah Halevi (1075–1141), Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher
• Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (1161–1185), King of the Crusader State in Jerusalem
• Abu Sulayman Da'ud (c. 12th century), Arab Christian physician and astrologer^[18]
• Aymar the Monk (d. 1202), Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
• Angelus of Jerusalem (1185-1220), Catholic convert from Judaism, a priest with the Carmelites, beatified as a saint
• Nahmanides (1194–1270), prominent medieval Jewish rabbi and physician
• Tanhum of Jerusalem (d. 1291), Judeo-Arabic author and Hebrew lexicographer^[19]
• Tankiz (d. 1340), Mamluk viceroy of Syria who commissioned the building of the Tankiziyya, Cotton Merchants' Gate, and several other projects in the Old City
• Nikon of Jerusalem (d. 15th century), Serbian writer of a travelogue to Jerusalem and the Holy Land
• Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi, (d. 1519), Palestinian historian and author of al-Uns al-Jalil bi-tarikh al-Quds wal-Khalil ("The glorious history of Jerusalem and Hebron") (c. 1495) ^[20]

Ottoman era

• Mehmed Pasha Kurd Bayram, Ottoman statesman who served as district governor of the Jerusalem Sanjak (1701-1703)
• Procopius I of Jerusalem (d. 1788), Greek Orthodox Patriach of Jerusalem
• Ahmad Agha Duzdar, mayor and governor of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (1838-1863)
• Procopius II of Jerusalem (d. 1880), Greek Orthodox Patriach of Jerusalem
• Abdelrahman al-Dajani, mayor of Jerusalem (1863-1882)
• Faidi al-Alami (d. 1924), mayor of Jerusalem (1906-1909)
• Hussein al-Husayni (d. 1918), mayor of Jerusalem (1907-1917), the last years of Ottoman Palestine rule

Modern

born 1820–1849

• William Holman Hunt (1827–1910), English painter, cofounder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
• Conrad Schick (1822–1901), German architect, archaeologist and Protestant missionary
• Mohammed Tahir al-Husayni (1842-1908), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (1865-1908)^[21]
• Yousef Al-Khalidi (1842–1906), Mayor of Jerusalem and only Palestinian elected Member of the Ottoman Parliament^[22]
• Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (1843–1927), Palestinian nun beatified as a saint^[23]
• Haim Aharon Valero (1845–1923), banker, entrepreneur and a prominent figure in the Jewish community of 19th century Jerusalem
• Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922), Litvak lexicographer and newspaper editor credited for the revival of the Hebrew language in the modern era

born 1850–1879

• Shlomo Moussaieff (1852–1922), a founder of the Bukharim neighborhood
• Musa al-Husayni (1853-1934), mayor of Jerusalem (1918-1920), head of Palestine Arab Congress
• Herbert Plumer (1857–1932), senior British Army officer of the First World War
• Yosef Navon (1858-1934), Sephardic Jewish businessman who financed the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway
• Menachem Ussishkin (1863–1941), Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund
• Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935), first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine
• Kamil al-Husayni (1867-1921), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Joseph Klausner (1874–1958), Israeli historian and professor of Hebrew literature^[24]
• Khalil al-Sakakini (1878–1953), Palestinian Christian scholar and Arab nationalist

born 1880–1909

• Mahmoud al-'Askari al-Falaki, Sufi sheikh, professional astrologer and amulet-maker^[25]
• Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1880-1953), Chief Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine and Israel
• Raghib al-Nashashibi (1881-1951), Palestinian notable who served as the Mayor of Jerusalem (1920-1935
• Kamel al-Budeiri (1882-1923), Palestinian Arab nationalist, founded of Jerusalem-based Al Sabah newspaper^[26]
• Tawfiq Canaan (1882-1964), Palestinian physician, medical researcher and ethnographer^[27]
• Boulos Shehadeh (1882-1943), Palestinian journalist. and politician
• Hussam ad-Din Jarallah (1884-1954), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888–1970), Israeli Nobel Prize in Literature laureate writer and was one of the central figures of modern Hebrew fiction^[24]
• Helena Kagan (1889–1978), physician, Israeli pioneer in pediatrics
• Rachel Bluwstein (1890–1931), Hebrew poet
• Aref al-Aref (born 1891) Palestinian historian, journalist, and politician^[28]
• Nathan Michael Gelber (1891–1966), Austrian-Israeli historian
• Ludwig Blum (1891–1975), Czechoslovakia-born Israeli painter, known as "the painter of Jerusalem"
• Daniel Auster (1893–1963), three time Mayor of Jerusalem
• Jamal al-Husayni (1894-1984), Palestinian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Hussein Khalidi (1895-1962), mayor of Jerusalem (1935-1937), Palestinian minister of Health (1948), Jordanian Minister and PM, briefly in 1956 and 1957
• Musa Alami (born 1897), Palestinian nationalist politician
• Wasif Jawhariyyeh (born 1897), Palestinian oud artist and composer
• Haj Amin al-Husayni (1897–1974), Palestinian Arab nationalist and influential Muslim leader in Mandatory Palestine
• Yaakov Ades (1898–1963), Sephardi Hakham, Rosh Yeshiva, and Rabbinical High Court judge
• Najib Albina (1901-1983), Palestinian master photographer for the Palestine Archaeological Museum
• Anastas Hanania (1903-1995), Palestinian-Jordanian lawyer, judge, minister and diplomat
• Sami Hadawi (1904-2004), Palestinian scholar and author
• Henry Cattan (1906-1992), Palestinian jurist and author
• Abdul Qadir al-Husayni (1907-1948), Palestinian revolutionary and guerilla leader
• Dimitri Baramki (1909-1984), Palestinian archaeologist, chief archaeologist for the Department of Antiquities (Mandatory Palestine)^[29]

born 1910s

• Saad al-Alami (1911-1993), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Teddy Kollek (1911–2007), mayor of Jerusalem and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation
• Yousef Beidas (1912-1968), Palestinian founder of Intra Bank
• Sulaiman Ja'abari (1912-1994), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Ruhi al-Khatib (1914–1994), Palestinian nationalist and politician, last mayor of East Jerusalem
• Ruchoma Shain (1914–2013), teacher and author
• Mufid Nashashibi (1915-1999), founder of the National Liberation League in Palestine
• Ephraim Katzir (1916–2009), biophysicist and fourth President of Israel
• Ismail Khalidi (1916-1968), Palestinian writer and diplomat
• Yigael Yadin (1917–1984), Israeli archeologist, politician, and second Chief of Staff of the IDF
• Menachem Lewin (1918–2011), Israeli chemist working in polymer, fiber and nanotechnology research
• Nahil Bishara (1919-1997), Palestinian artist and designer

born 1920s

• Serene Husseini Shahid (1920-2008), teacher, author and scholar on Palestinian embroidery
• Haim Corfu (1921-2015), Israeli politician, Irgun commander and assassin
• Yitzhak Navon (1921–2015), politician (fifth President of Israel), diplomat, and author
• Yitzhak Rabin (1922–1995), general, the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, and Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Trude Dothan (1922–2016), Austrian Jewish archaeologist in Israel
• Yitzchok Scheiner (1922–2021), rabbi
• Fatima al-Budeiri (1923-2009), Palestinian radio broadcaster who began their career at Jerusalem Calling
• William A. Smalley (1923–1997), American linguist who developed the Romanized Popular Alphabet for the Hmong language
• Shlomo Hillel (1923–2021), Israeli diplomat, Speaker of the Knesset, Minister of Police and Minister of Internal Affairs
• Zundel Kroizer (1924–2014), rabbi
• Walid Khalidi (1925-2026, Palestinian historian and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies
• Mohammad Zuhdi Nashashibi (1925-2020), Minister of Finance of the Palestinian National Authority
• Uzi Narkiss (1925–1997), Israeli general and commander of the Israel Defense Forces units in the Central Region during the Six-Day War
• Georgette Rizek (1925-2018), Palestinian philanthropist and activist
• Meir Nakar (1926-1947), Irgun militant executed at Acre Prison by British military court
• Rehavam Ze'evi (1926–2001), assassinated Israeli general, historian, founder of the Moledet party, and Minister of Tourism
• Issa J. Boullata (1929-2019), Palestinian scholar and translator of Arabic literature
• Yaakov Blau (1929–2013), rabbi
• Mordechai Eliyahu (1929-2010), Chief Rabbi of Israel

born 1930s

• Reuven Adiv (1930–2004), Israeli and international actor, director and drama teacher
• Robert Aumann (born 1930), Israeli-American mathematician and game-theorist, received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2005 for his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis
• Abraham J. Twerski, (1930–2021), psychiatrist and rabbi^[30]
• Ram Karmi (1931-2013), Israeli architect of the Brutalist style
• Naseer Aruri (1934–2015), Palestinian scholar and activist
• Edward Said (1935–2003), Palestinian author and political theorist
• Mahmoud Bakr Hijazi (1936–2021), Palestinian militant
• Ahmed Qurei (1937-2023), Palestinian politician and second Prime Minister of Palestinian National Authority
• A.B. Yehoshua (1936–2022), Israeli novelist, essayist, and playwright
• Shlomo Aronson (1936–2018), Israeli landscape architect
• Hanna Siniora (born 1937), Palestinian Christian publisher and politician, member of the Palestine National Council
• Ekrima Sa'id Sabri (born 1939), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Yehoram Gaon (born 1939), Israeli singer, actor, director, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure
• Waled Muhammed Sadi (1939–2019), Palestinian ambassador to Jordan
• Amos Oz (1939–2018), Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist
• Faris Glubb (1939-2004), British writer and Palestinian activist
• Ghada Karmi (born 1939), Palestinian academic, physician and author
• Reuven Rivlin (born 1939), former Minister of Communications and Speaker of the Knesset, former President of Israel
• Ada Yonath (1939–2026), Israeli crystallographer best known for her pioneering work on the structure of the ribosome, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009

born 1940s

• Khairat Al-Saleh (born 1940), Hurufiyya movement painter, ceramicist, glassmaker and printmaker
• Hatem Ishaq Husseini (1941–1994), Palestinian academic and first president of Al-Quds University
• Lamis al-Alami (born 1943), Palestinian educator and politician, served as Minister of Education for Palestine
• Uri Davis (born 1943), Israeli citizen who identifies as a "Palestinian Hebrew" and was twice elected to the Fatah Revolutionary Council
• Matan Vilnai (born 1944), Minister of Science, Culture & Sport, Minister of Science and Technology, Minister for Home Front Defense, Ambassador to China, IDF Major General
• Makram Khoury (born 1945), Israeli Arab actor and winner of the Israel Prize
• Ehud Olmert (born 1945), former mayor of Jerusalem and Prime Minister of Israel
• Princess Firyal (born 1945), Jordanian princess and humanitarian
• Mahmoud al-Zahar (born 1945), co-founder of Hamas
• Yoni Netanyahu (1946–1976), commander of Sayeret Matkal; killed in action during Operation Entebbe
• Esther Farbstein (born 1946), Holocaust scholar
• Nahman Shai (born 1946), Israeli journalist, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, IDF spokesman
• Dan Meridor (born 1947), Israeli Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Prime Minister

born 1950s

• Albert Aghazarian (1950-2020), Palestinian historian, university administrator and political spokesperson
• Afif Safieh (born 1950), Palestinian ambassador to the Russian Federation
• Munib Younan (born 1950), president of the Lutheran World Federation
• Mustafa Barghouti (born 1954), Palestinian physician, activist, and PLO politician
• Anat Hoffman (born 1954), Israeli activist and director of Women of the Wall
• Francis Martin O'Donnell (born 1954), former United Nations diplomat, Ambassador of Sovereign Military Order of Malta, author
• Saeb Erekat (1955–2020), Palestinian negotiator of the Oslo Accords with Israel
• Mai al-Kaila (born 1955), Palestinian physician and diplomat who also served as the Minister of Health
• Sallai Meridor (born 1955), Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization
• Amira Hass (born 1956), award-winning Israeli journalist
• Jamal Dajani (born 1957), Palestinian-American journalist and producer, co-founder of Arab Talk Radio
• Uri Malmilian (born 1957), Israeli soccer player with most appearances for Beitar Jerusalem F.C.
• Eli Ohana (born 1957), all-time top-scorer for Israel's Beitar Jerusalem F.C.

born since 1960

• Suha Arafat (born 1963, née Suha Daoud Tawil), widow of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
• Ziad Khaddash (born 1964), Palestinian short-story writer
• Muhammad Ahmad Hussein (born 1966), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
• Elisha Abas (born 1971), Israeli pianist, composer, and former professional soccer player
• Guevara al-Budayri (born 1976), Palestinian journalist/correspondent
• Samah Jabr (born 1976), Palestinian psychiatrist, psychotherapist and author
• Rami Kashou (born 1976), Palestinian fashion designer
• Zvi Kogan (1996–2024), Israeli-Moldovan rabbi killed in the United Arab Emirates
• Jonah Lotan (born 1973), actor
• Timna Nelson-Levy (born 1994), Olympic judoka
• Dor Guez, Jerusalemite artist
• Natalie Portman (born 1981), Israeli-American actress, lived in Jerusalem until she was three years old
• Rucka Rucka Ali (born 1987), Israeli-American parody rapper and musical artist
• Shahar Pe'er (born 1987), Israeli tennis player, highest world singles ranking # 11, highest world doubles ranking # 14
• Or Sasson (born 1990), Olympic medalist judoka
• Guy Starik (born 1965), Olympian shooter with world record in 50 m rifle prone
• Asaf Yasur (born 2002), Paralympic champion and world champion taekwondo athlete

unknown date of birth

• Meche Marchand, Puerto Rican actress and writer