The title of Honorary Citizen of Bucharest is the highest civic distinction, which rewards the talent and the special contributions of a person, Romanian or foreign, granted by the General Council of Bucharest. [1] The title is granted, as the case may be, at the initiative of the Mayor General or the members of the General Council of Bucharest. The first person rewarded with this distinction was soprano Mariana Nicolesco in 1991.
| Year | Name | Portrait | Comments | Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Mariana Nicolesco (born 1948) |  | Soprano and honorary member of the Romanian Academy, named UNESCO Artist for Peace and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador |  Romania | [2] |
| 1992 | George Emil Palade (1912–2008) |  | Physician and scientist, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 | Romania/ United States | |
| Viorica Cortez (born 1935) |  | Mezzo-soprano | Romania/ France | ||
| Ileana Cotrubaș (born 1939) | Soprano | Romania | |||
| Marina Krilovici (born 1942) |  | Soprano | Romania | ||
| Ionel Pantea | Opera singer and stage director, distinguished with the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg | Romania | |||
| 1994 | National football team, coaches, doctor and president of the Romanian Football Federation | Quarterfinalist in the 1994 FIFA World Cup | Romania | ||
| Nadia Comăneci (born 1961) |  | Gymnast, first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic event and first Romanian sportswoman included in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame | Romania/ United States | ||
| 1995 | Ion Irimescu (1903–2005) |  | Sculptor, professor and honorary member of the Romanian Academy | Romania | |
| Knights of the Order of Michael the Brave | Romania | ||||
| 1996 | Paul Călinescu (1902–2000) | Director and screenwriter | Romania | ||
| Marin Sorescu (1936–1996) |  | Writer and Minister of Culture (1993–1995), member of the Romanian Academy and laureate of the Herder Prize | Romania | ||
| 1997 | Pierre Mauroy (1928–2013) |  | Mayor of Lille (1973–2001) and Prime Minister of France (1981–1984) | France | |
| Ion Voicu (1923–1997) |  | Violinist and director of George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra | Romania | ||
| Dumitrașcu Lăcătușu (1891–1999) | Last Romanian veteran of the First World War | Romania | |||
| Livia S. Sylva | Holocaust survivor, cosmetic designer and commissioner of New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol | Romania/ United States | |||
| Bill Clinton (born 1946) |  | President of the United States (1993–2001) | United States | ||
| Jacques Chirac (1932 - 2019) |  | President of France (1995–2007) | France | ||
| Gabriela Szabo (born 1975) |  | Olympic athlete and Minister of Youth and Sports (2014–2015), named in 1999 the world's best athlete | Romania | ||
| Nicolae Herlea (1927–2014) | Baritone | Romania | |||
| 1998 | Liviu Ciulei (1923–2011) |  | Director, actor, scenographer, architect, professor and corresponding member of the Romanian Academy | Romania | |
| Nursultan Nazarbayev (born 1940) |  | President of Kazakhstan (1991–present) |  Kazakhstan | ||
| 2000 | Gold, silver and bronze medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics | Romania | |||
| 2001 | Migry Avram Nicolau | Stage director | Romania | ||
| Tiberiu Simionescu | Founding member of the Ion Dacian National Theater of Operetta and Musical | Romania | |||
| Nicolae Ionescu-Dodo | Founding member of the Ion Dacian National Theater of Operetta and Musical | Romania | |||
| George Zaharescu (1927–2007) | Opera director, director of the Ion Dacian National Theater of Operetta and Musical | Romania | |||
| Iolanda Balaș (1936–2016) |  | Olympic athlete, president of the Romanian Athletics Federation (1988–2005) | Romania | ||
| Radu Beligan (1918–2016) |  | Actor and honorary member of the Romanian Academy | Romania | ||
| Gheorghe Dinică (1934–2009) |  | Actor | Romania | ||
| Marin Moraru (1937–2016) |  | Actor | Romania | ||
| Tamara Buciuceanu (1929–2019) |  | Actress |  Moldova/ Romania | ||
| Carmen Stănescu (1925–2018) |  | Actress | Romania | ||
| Damian Crâșmaru (1931–2019) | Actor | Romania | |||
| Mircea Albulescu (1934–2016) |  | Actor, professor, publicist, poet and writer | Romania | ||
| Olga Tudorache (1929–2017) |  | Actress and professor | Romania | ||
| Marcela Rusu (1926–2002) | Actress | Romania | |||
| Ion Zamfirescu (1907–2001) | Theater historian and professor | Romania | |||
| Ileana Berlogea (1931–2002) | Theater historian, professor and critic | Romania | |||
| Ion Toboșaru (1930–2016) |  | Film critic, esthetician and theatrologist | Romania | ||
| Horea Popescu (1925–2010) | Director | Romania | |||
| Margareta Niculescu (1926–2018) | Puppetteer, professor, director and theater director | Romania | |||
| Dinu Săraru (born 1932) | Theater director, playwright, essayist, publicist, novelist and writer | Romania | |||
| Ștefan Iordache (1941–2008) | Actor | Romania | |||
| Dan Iordăchescu (1930–2015) | Baritone | Romania | |||
| Adela Mărculescu (born 1938) |  | Actress | Romania | ||
| Draga Olteanu Matei (1933–2020) |  | Actress | Romania | ||
| Ludovic Spiess (1938–2006) | Tenor, Minister of Culture (1991–1992) and director of the Romanian National Opera (2001–2005) | Romania | |||
| Florin Piersic (born 1936) |  | Actor | Romania | ||
| Gheorghe Zamfir (born 1941) |  | Musician and composer, self-described "master of the pan flute" | Romania | ||
| Veta Biriș (born 1949) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Achim Nica (1930–2012) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Maria Butaciu (1940–2018) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Sava Negrean Brudașcu (born 1947) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Floarea Calotă (born 1956) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Matilda Pascal Cojocărița (born 1958) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Liviu Dafinescu (1954–2004) | Director of Doina Gorjului Folklore Ensemble (1994–2004) | Romania | |||
| Valeria Peter Predescu (1947–2009) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Dumitru Fărcaș (1938–2018) | Tárogató player | Romania | |||
| Benone Sinulescu (1937–2021) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Viorica Flintașu (born 1939) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Elise Stan | TV producer | Romania | |||
| Nicolae Furdui Iancu (born 1955) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Floarea Tănăsescu | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Laura Lavric (born 1946) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Gheorghe Turda (born 1948) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Grigore Leșe (born 1954) |  | Folk music singer and bassoon player | Romania | ||
| Liviu Vasilică (1950–2004) |  | Folk music singer and pediatrician | Romania | ||
| Ion Luican (1907–1992) | Folk music singer | Romania | |||
| Sofia Vicoveanca (born 1941) | Folk music singer, poet and actress |  Ukraine/ Romania | |||
| 2005 | Stela Popescu (1935–2017) |  | Actress | Moldova/ Romania | |
| 2006 | Cristian Gațu (born 1945) |  | Olympic handball player and president of the Romanian Handball Federation (1996–2014) | Romania | |
| Marcel Guguianu (1922–2012) | Sculptor | Romania | |||
| David Esrig (born 1935) | Professor and theater director |  Israel/ Romania | |||
| 2007 | Lucian Giurchescu (born 1930) | Director | Romania | ||
| Tudor Petrov-Popa (born 1963) | Politician, fighter for the territorial integrity of Moldova during the Transnistria War | Moldova | |||
| Andrei Ivanțoc (born 1961) | Politician, fighter for the territorial integrity of Moldova during the Transnistria War and political prisoner of the separatist regime in Tiraspol | Moldova | |||
| Alexandru Leșco (born 1955) | Politician, fighter for the territorial integrity of Moldova during the Transnistria War | Moldova | |||
| 2008 | Rică Răducanu (born 1946) |  | Footballer, played in Romania national football team at the 1970 FIFA World Cup | Romania | |
| 2009 | Horia Damian (1922–2012) |  | Painter and honorary member of the Romanian Academy | Romania/ France | |
| 2014 | Larisa Iordache (born 1996) |  | Olympic gymnast | Romania | |
| 2016 | Maria Popa | Professor | Romania | ||
| Neagu Djuvara (1916–2018) |  | Historian, diplomat, philosopher, journalist and novelist | Romania | ||
| Members of the women's handball team – CSM București | Winner of the 2015–16 Women's EHF Champions League | Romania | |||
| Members of the women's volleyball team – CSM București | Winner of the 2015–16 CEV Women's Challenge Cup | Romania | |||
| Members of Romania's sword team | Gold medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics | Romania | |||
| 2017 | Cristian Țopescu (1937–2018) |  | Sports commentator, journalist and politician | Romania | |
| Dinu C. Giurescu (1927–2018) |  | Historian, politician and member of the Romanian Academy | Romania | ||
| Herman Berkovits (born 1947) | Benjamin Netanyahu's personal physician and Viorica Dăncilă's honorary counselor | Romania/ Israel | |||
| Cătălin Badiu | Cardiovascular surgeon | Romania | |||
| Cătălina Ponor (born 1987) |  | Olympic gymnast | Romania | ||
| Marian Drăgulescu (born 1980) |  | Olympic gymnast | Romania | ||
| Ileana Vulpescu (1932–2021) | Philologist, lexicographer, writer, novelist and translator | Romania | |||
| Alexandru Arșinel (born 1939) |  | Actor and director of Constantin Tănase Revue Theater | Romania | ||
| Ilie Ilașcu (born 1952) |  | Politician and political prisoner of the separatist regime in Tiraspol | Moldova/ Romania | ||
| Mircea Lucescu (born 1945) |  | Footballer and selector of Romania and Turkey national football teams | Romania | ||
| Cristina Neagu (born 1988) |  | Professional handball player, the only handball player in history to win three IHF World Player of the Year awards | Romania | ||
| Angela Gheorghiu (born 1965) |  | Soprano, one of the most famous opera singers in the world | Romania | ||
| Alexandra Nechita (born 1985) |  | Painter and muralist, dubbed "little Picasso" | Romania/ United States | ||
| Simona Halep (born 1991) |  | Professional tennis player, first Romanian tenniswoman to become world No. 1 on the WTA Tour | Romania | ||
| Ion Caramitru (born 1942) |  | Actor, Minister of Culture (1996–2000), president of UNITER (1990–present) and director of Ion Luca Caragiale National Theater (2005–present) | Romania | ||
| Helmuth Duckadam (born 1959) |  | Footballer and president of FC Steaua București | Romania | ||
| Dorin Petruț |  | Lieutenant colonel injured in Camp Victory in 2007 and professional archer | Romania | ||
| Daniel Porumb (born 1980) | Sergeant injured in Iraq in April 2007 | Romania | |||
| Eugen Valentin Pătru | Corporal injured in Afghanistan in March 2014 | Romania |
