List of Libyans

Last updated September 15, 2025

Artists

Writers (including poets)

Callimachus, ancient poet and librarian
Philostephanus, Hellenistic writer
Eugammon of Cyrene, flourished 567/6 BC.
Sextus Julius Africanus
Ahmed Rafiq Almhadoui (1898–1961), poet
Khadījah Jahamī
Saddeka Arebi (died 2007), author and anthropologist
Ibrahim Al-Koni (born 1948)
Hisham Matar (born 1970)
Heba Shibani
Ahmed Fouad Shennib (died 2007), poet and Minister of Culture and Education

Actors

Directors and filmmakers

Vittorio De Sisti
Don Coscarelli
Robert Haggiag
Maysoon Shaladi, British actress, model, TV presenter, Big Brother UK contestant
Fadwa El Gallal

Leaders and politicians

Ancient Libya

Shoshenq I, founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt.
Shoshenq II, pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt.
Osorkon the Elder, fifth king of the twenty-first dynasty of Ancient Egypt and was the first Pharaoh of Libyan origin^[1]
Tefnakht, founder of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt.
Siamun the sixth pharaoh of Egypt
Septimius Severus (146–211), 21st Roman Emperor (193–211), born in Libya
Geta, shared his brother Caracalla the throne of Rome before he was murdered in 211
Caracalla 23rd Caesar of Rome, son of Septimius Severus
Meryey, king of Ancient Libya
Ankhhor, great chief of the Libu
Battus II 583–560 BC
Arcesilaus II 560–550 BC
Learchus 550 BC (disputed)
Battus III 550–530 BC
Arcesilaus III 530–515 BC
Battus IV 515–465 BC
Arcesilaus IV 465–440 BC
Berenice II (Queen) 258–246 BC, alongside a series of her co-rulers: Magas, Demetrius and a republican government
Demetrius the Fair 250–249 BC
Ptolemy Apion 116–96 BC
Cabaon, berber chief of Tripolitania, against the Byzantine Empire
Ierna, leader of the Laguatan
Carcasan, berber rebel and leader of the Laguatan
Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi, governor of Sicily
Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi
Ahmed Karamanli (1686–1745), pasha (ruler) of Tripolitania (1711–1745)
Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi (1776–1837), ruler of the Sayfawa dynasty (1809–1837)
Umar of Borno, successor of his father and ruler of the Sayfawa dynasty (1837–1881)
Yusuf Karamanli (died 1838), pasha of Tripolitania (1795–1832)

Modern Libya

Idris I of Libya (1890–1983), King of Libya (1951–1969).
Umar Mihayshi (died 1984), Libyan army officer
Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011), Libyan leader (1969–2011).
Mustafa Abdul Jalil (born 1952), former Minister of Justice, and President of the National Transitional Council (5 March 2011 – 8 August 2012)
Zentani Muhammad az-Zentani

Muammar Gaddafi, (died 2011)
Wahbi al-Bouri, foreign minister
Abdul Salam al-Buseiri, foreign minister
Mohieddin Fikini, foreign minister
Abdul Majid Kubar, foreign minister
Hussein Maziq, foreign minister
Mahmud al-Muntasir, foreign minister
Umar Mustafa al-Muntasir, foreign minister
Muhammad Sakizli, foreign minister
Abdel Rahman Shalgham, foreign minister
Jadallah Azzuz at-Talhi, foreign minister
Dr. Ali Abdulsalam Treki
Abdulrahman Sewehli

Defence ministers

Omar Faiek Shennib, Minister of Defence, 1951–1953 (death)

Secretaries general

Kamel Maghur (1935–2002)

Schools and academics

Educators and teachers

Arete of Cyrene
Carneades, Hellenistic academic skeptic philosopher
Aristippus, Ancient Greek philosopher, founder of Cyrenaicism
Lacydes of Cyrene, Academic Skeptic philosopher, was head of the Platonic Academy at Athens
Zuhra Ramdan Agha Al-Awji
Mohammed Shegewi (died 2007)

Linguists

Kalifa Tillisi (1930–2010), historian, translator, and linguist
Ibn al-Ajdābī (died after c. 1077), scholar and linguist
Ibn Manzur

Science and mathematics

Ehtuish Ehtuish
Alaa Murabit
Eratosthenes (276 BC–194 BC), Hellenistic mathematician, geographer and astronomer, born in Libya
Theodorus of Cyrene (c. 5th century BC), mathematician
Ahmed K. Elmagarmid (born 1954), computer scientist
Sadiq Abdulkarim Abdulrahman
Laila Bugaighis
Ghazi Gheblawi
Amal Bayou
Sema Sgaier

Philosophy

Healthcare

Media figures

Halla Diyab, British Libyan-born screenwriter, author, producer, broadcaster and TV commentator
Hajer Sharief

Musicians and singers

Ptolemais of Cyrene, music theorist
Nadia Ali (born 3 August 1980), singer-songwriter
Ahmed Fakroun, singer, composer and producer
Hamid Al Shaeri
Nasser el-Mizdawi (born 1950), singer, guitarist and composer
Franco Califano
Herbert Pagani

Religious figures

Resistance fighters

Sulaiman al-Barouni (1872–1940), resistance leader against Italian colonization
Omar al-Mukhtar (1862–1931), Libyan hero and resistance leader under against Italian colonization
Sayyid Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, Libyan resistance leader and chief of the Senussi order
Ramadan Sewehli (1879–1920), Libyan resistance leader and the founder of Tripolitanian Republic
Omar Shegewi (unknown–1928), Libyan resistance fighter who was later sentenced to death
Muhammad Tariq Abd al-Qadir al-Afriqi (1886–1963), Libyan hero who fought against colonialism in many countries

Royalty

Idris I of Libya, King of Libya (1951–1969) and the Chief of the Senussi Muslim order
Queen Fatima (1918–2009), former queen of Libya
Sayyid Hassan as-Rida
Sayyid Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, Chief of the Senussi Muslim order
Mohammed El Senussi, Crown Prince

Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States

Omar Khalifa Mohammed Abu Bakr
Omar Deghayes
Muhammad Abd Allah Mansur Al Futuri
Abdel Hamid Ibn Abdussalem Ibn Mifta Al Ghazzawi
Salem Abdul Salem Ghereby
Abu Yahia al-Libi
Abdul Rauf Omar Mohammed Abu Al Qusin
Ashraf Salim Abd Al Salam Sultan
Ibrahim Mahdy Achmed Zeidan

References

↑ Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.

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[1] Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis (2012-02-02). Dictionary of African Biography. OUP USA. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.

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