List of Maronites

This list of Maronites includes prominent Maronite figures who are notable in their areas of expertise.

Arts, culture, and entertainment

Actors and Hollywood

• Norman Issa, Israeli actor, director in cinema, theatre, and television
• Mario Kassar, Lebanese-American Hollywood producer, behind such movies as Rambo, Terminator II and Stargate
• Nadine Labaki, actress and director
• Kathy Najimy, actress
• Elie Samaha, filmmaker
• Tom Shadyac, Hollywood producer and director
• Tony Shalhoub, three-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe-winning American television and film actor
• Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz), actor and founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Musicians

• Najwa Karam, singer
• Elissa Khoury, singer
• Marwan Khoury, singer
• Mika, singer
• Baba Saad, German rapper of Lebanese descent
• Nicole Saba, singer
• Gabriel Yared, Oscar-winning musician for the soundtrack of The English Patient
• Nawal Al Zoghbi, singer and actress
• Tiny Tim (born Herbert Khaury), American musician

Writers

• Amin al-Rihani, Lebanese-American poet
• Gibran Khalil Gibran, Lebanese-American artist and writer
• Callie Khouri, American screenwriter
• Michael Sallah, American Pulitzer Prize reporter

Other

• Joseph Abboud, American fashion designer
• Youssef Howayek, sculptor
• Joseph Philippe Karam, architect
• Octavia Nasr, Lebanese-American CNN editor
• Elie Saab, International fashion designer

Business

• Gilbert Chagoury, Nigerian businessman and philanthropist
• Carlos Ghosn, Lebanese-French-Brazilian industrialist, CEO of Nissan and Renault
• Marie Henein, Canadian lawyer
• George J. Maloof, Jr., American entrepreneur
• Carlos Slim, Lebanese-Mexican, CEO of Teléfonos de México (Telmex) and many other companies in Mexico, and from 2010 to 2013, he was considered as the richest man in the world by Forbes.^[1]

Government and politics

Argentina

• Juan Luis Manzur, Argentinian Minister of Health and Environment

Australia

• Alexander Alam, political leader, member of the Australian Labor Party^[2]
• Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales, Australia
• Steve Bracks, former Premier of Victoria, Australia
• George Joseph, former Lord Mayor of Adelaide^[2]
• Bob Katter, Australian politician

Brazil

• Paulo Maluf, former governor of São Paulo state
• Michel Temer, former president of Brazil

Canada

• Patricia Arab, member of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, Canada
• Mark Assad, Canadian politician
• Michael Basha, former member of the Senate of Canada
• Pierre de Bané, Canadian Senator
• Lena Diab, Attorney General, Minister of Justice and Minister of Immigration for the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada
• Fonse Faour, former leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party and judge in the trial division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Eddie Francis, mayor of Windsor, Ontario
• Joe Ghiz, premier of Prince Edward Island, Canada
• Robert Ghiz, premier of Prince Edward Island, Canada
• Mac Harb, Canadian politician
• Lorraine Michael, Canadian politician
• Maria Mourani, member of Canadian Parliament
• Frank Zakem, mayor of Charlottetown
• Paul Zed, Lebanese-Canadian politician

Ecuador

• Abdalá Bucaram, former President of Ecuador
• Alberto Dahik, former Vice President of Ecuador
• Jamil Mahuad, former President of Ecuador (1998–2000)
• Jaime Nebot, Ecuadorian politician
• Julio Teodoro Salem, former President of Ecuador

Guatemala

• Jorge Serrano Elías, former president of Guatemala

Israel

• Salim Joubran, judge in the Supreme Court of Israel

Jamaica

• Edward Seaga, former Prime Minister of Jamaica
• Ziadie family, prominent Jamaican merchant family

Lebanon

• Pierre-Georges Arlabosse, President of the French Mandate of Lebanon (4–9 April 1941)
• Camille Chamoun, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 September 1952 – 22 September 1958), founder of the Ahrar Party, one of the fathers of the Lebanese Independence
• Fuad Chehab, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 September 1958 – 22 September 1964)
• Émile Eddé, President of the French Mandate of Lebanon (20 January 1936 – 4 April 1941) and President of the French Mandate of Lebanon (11 November 1943 – 22 November 1943)
• Bashir Gemayel, Lebanese military commander, politician, and president-elect. Founder of the Lebanese Forces
• Pierre Gemayel, politician, founder of Al-Kataeb party in Lebanon
• Youssef Bey Karam,^[3] Lebanese Nationalist Leader
• Bechara El Khoury, President of the Lebanese Republic (22 November 1943–18 September 1952)
• Amine Gemayel, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 September 1982–22 September 1988)
• Bachir Gemayel, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 August 1982–14 September 1982)
• Charles Helou, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 September 1964–22 September 1970)
• Elias Hrawi, President of the Lebanese Republic (24 November 1989–24 November 1998)
• Alfred Naccache, acting President of the French Mandate of Lebanon (9 April 1941–18 March 1943)
• Antoine Lahad (1927–2015), Lebanese Army Major General, and subsequently leader of the South Lebanon Army
• Émile Lahoud, President of the Lebanese Republic (24 November 1998–23 November 2007)
• René Moawad, President of the Lebanese Republic (5 November 1989–22 November 1989)
• Etienne Saqr ("Abu Arz"), Lebanese military commander and politician, leader of Guardians of the Cedars
• Elias Sarkis, President of the Lebanese Republic (23 September 1976–22 September 1982)
• Bashir Shihab II, emir who ruled Lebanon in the first half of the 19th century
• Youssef Salim Karam, former MP and leader from Zgharta (10 April 1910–4 February 1972)
• Salim Bey Karam, MP and former minister from Zgharta

Sierra Leone

• Edward J. Akar, former Sierra Leone Minister of Finance
• Joe Blell, former Sierra Leone Minister of Defence
• John Saad, former Sierra Leone Minister of Housing and Infrastructural Development

United States

• John Abizaid, former Commander in Chief of the US Central Command
• Spencer Abraham, former United States Senator and Secretary of Energy
• Ray LaHood, U.S. Secretary of Transportation
• George Mitchell, 17th United States Senate Majority Leader
• Donna Shalala, former US Secretary of Health
• Francis G. Slay, mayor of St. Louis, Missouri
• George Joulwan, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR) from 1993 to 1997

Uruguay

• Alberto Abdala, politician, painter and former Vice-President of Uruguay

Religion

• Nimattullah Kassab Al-Hardini, Lebanese monk and priest, Catholic saint.
• Peter Ambarach, pioneer of printing in oriental languages and Bible linguist under Pope Clement XI.
• Giuseppe Luigi Assemani, Vatican orientalist.
• Giuseppe Simone Assemani, titular archbishop of Tyre, librarian of the Vatican and an authority on oriental manuscripts.
• Simone Assemani, professor of Oriental languages in Padua.
• Stefano Evodio Assemani, titular Archbishop of Apamaea in Syria and Vatican orientalist.
• Tobia Aun, archbishop, played role in 1860 Lebanon conflict.
• Domnina of Syria, disciple of Saint Maron, Catholic Saint.
• Abraham Ecchellensis, theologian famous for his translations of biblical texts into Arabic and Syriac.
• Theodore Khoury, prominent Catholic theologian.
• Marina, Lebanese female monk and "desert father", Catholic saint.
• John Maron, first Maronite Patriarch in history, Catholic saint.
• Maroun, Syriac Christian monk, founder of the Maronite religious movement, Catholic saint.
• Mitch Pacwa, S.J., American Maronite priest and television personality on EWTN.
• Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, saint, canonized by Pope John Paul II.
• Victor Scialac, theologian and linguist, is thought to have given his name to Shylock, the main character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
• Gabriel Sionita, theologian famous for his role in the publication of the 1645 Parisian polyglot of the Bible.

Science

• Charles Elachi, Lebanese-American Director of NASA Jet Propulsion Labs
• Christa McAuliffe, secondary school teacher and first American civilian selected to be an astronaut; perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Great-niece of historian Philip Khuri Hitti.
• Peter Medawar, British 1960 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine.^[4]

Sports

• George Daniel, American Commissioner of the National Lacrosse League
• George Diba, Israeli footballer
• Matt Freije, Lebanese former NBA player drafted by the Miami Heat; also played for the New Orleans Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-06
• Tony Kanaan, Brazilian race car driver
• Joe Lahoud, Lebanese-American baseball player
• Miguel Layún, Lebanese-Mexican footballer
• Eduard Meron, Israeli Olympic weightlifter
• Rony Seikaly, Lebanese-American basketball player at Syracuse University, 1st round draft pick of the NBA's Miami Heat in 1988
• Mario Zagallo (Zakhour), Brazilian national football team, player and coach