List of Berber people

This is a list of famous Amazigh people. The Imazighen are a transnational North African ethnic group who speak the Amazigh languages.

Royalty and nobility

Juba II

Ancient period

Macrinus

• Osorkon the Elder, fifth king of the twenty-first dynasty of Ancient Egypt and was the first Pharaoh of Libyan origin
• Shoshenq I, Egyptian Pharaoh of Libyan origin, founder of the Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt
• Masinissa, King of Numidia, North Africa, present day Algeria and Tunisia
• Jugurtha, King of Numidia
• Syphax, King of Numidia
• Baga (also Bagas), king of Mauretania about 225 BC.
• Bocchus, king of Mauretania about 110 BC.
• Bocchus II, king of Mauretania. Son of Bocchus.
• Juba II, king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania.
• Macrinus, Roman emperor for 14 months in 217 and 218
• Aemilianus, Roman emperor
• Lusius Quietus, governor of Judaea and one of Trajan's chief generals
• Quintus Lollius Urbicus, governor of Britannia from 138 to 144
• Gildo, Roman general who turned against the Romans and fought them in 398

Kahina

Medieval period

• Dihya
• Aksel
• Muhammad ibn Wasul, Midrarid emir of Sijilmasa.
• Safiyy al-Dawla, Fatimid governor of Aleppo between October 1022 and April 1023
• Thu'ban ibn Muhammad, Fatimid governor of Aleppo between 27 July 1024 and 30 June 1025
• Ziri ibn Manad, founder of the Zirid dynasty
• Yusuf ibn Tashfin, founder of the Almoravid dynasty
• Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, Berber woman of influence in the early days of the Almoravid Berber empire
• Fannu (died April 1147), Almoravid princess, in the guise of a man, she participated in the defense of Almoravid Marrakech.
• 'Abdallah ibn Ghaniya, Amir of Majorca from c. 1187 to 1203
• Abd al-Mu'min (c. 1094–1163), first Caliph of the Almohad Empire
• Abu Yaqub Yusuf, had the Giralda in Seville built
• Yusuf II, Almohad caliph, had the Torre del Oro in Seville built
• Abu Said Uthman III, Marinid ruler of Morocco from 19 March 1398 to 1420

Military

Medieval period

• Tacfarinas, fought the Romans in the Aures Mountains
• Firmus, fought the Romans Between 372 and 375
• Cutzinas (died January 563), Berber tribal leader who played a major role in the wars of the Byzantine Empire against the Berber tribes in Africa
• Antalas (born c. 500), tribal leader who played a major role in the wars of the Byzantine Empire against the Berber tribes in Africa.
• Ierna, tribal leader of the Laguatan and also high priest of the god Gurzil
• Tariq ibn Ziyad (670–720), led the Islamic Umayyad conquest of Visigothic Hispania (711–718)
• Ja'far ibn Fallah (died August 971), Berber general of the Kutama tribe in the service of the Fatimid Caliphate.
• Mazdali ibn Tilankan, Almoravid military commander and diplomat
• Syr ibn Abi Bakr, Almoravid military commander
• Ibn Masal, military commander and official of the Fatimid Caliphate
• Hammu ibn Abd al-Haqq, Marinid prince Commander (shaykh al-ghuzat) of the Volunteers of the Faith of Granada
• Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, Marinid prince Commander (shaykh al-ghuzat) of the Volunteers of the Faith of Granada

Lalla Fatma N'Soumer

Modern period

• Abd el-Krim, leader of the Rif guerrillas against the Spanish and French colonizers
• Larbi Ben M'Hidi
• Abdelhafid Boussouf, founder of the Algerian Military intelligence
• Mustapha Benboulaïd
• Abane Ramdane, Algerian revolutionary fighter, assassinated in 1957 in an internal purge.
• Krim Belkacem, Algerian revolutionary fighter, assassinated in 1970, allegedly by Algerian secret services.
• Colonel Amirouche, Algerian revolutionary fighter, killed by French troops in 1959.
• Lalla Fatma n Soumer, woman who led western Kabylie in battle against French troops.
• Belkacem Radjef, early leading figure of the movement for independence.

Larbi Ben M'Hidi

Art

Terence

Kateb Yacine

Loreen

Ibn Battuta

Ahmed Ouyahia

Mouloud Mammeri

Souad Massi

Tinariwen

Writers and poets

Ancient period

• Terence, (Publius Terentius Afer), Roman writer
• Apuleius, (125–170), born in Madaurus (M'Daourouch), Philosopher and Rhetorician.

Medieval period

• Ibn Darraj al-Qastalli (958–1030), andalusi poet of Berber origin.

• Hafsa bint al-Hajj al-Rukuniyya (born c. 1135, died AH 1190–91), one of the most celebrated Andalusian female poets of medieval Arabic literature.
• Ibn Muti al-Zawawi (1168-69—1231 AD), grammarian, philologian, and poet

• Al-Busiri (1211–1294), sufi poet

• Mohammed Awzal (ca. 1680–1749), prolific Sous Berber poet

Modern period

• Fadhma Aït Mansour, Algerian poet and folksinger. Mother of Jean Amrouche and Taos Amrouche
• Taos Amrouche (4 March 1913 – 2 April 1976), Algerian writer and singer.
• Jean Amrouche (7 February 1906 – 16 April 1962), Algerian writer and Taos Amrouche's brother.
• Nadia Chafik (born 1962), Moroccan novelist.
• Mohamed Chafik (born 17 September 1926), Moroccan writer and the dean of the IRCAM.
• Mohamed Choukri, Moroccan writer
• Mouloud Kacem Naît Belkacem writer and defender of the Arab language in Algeria
• Mouloud Feraoun, writer assassinated by the OAS.
• Assia Djebar, Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker.
• Tahar Djaout, writer and journalisbet assassinated by the GIA in 1993.
• Hawad (born 1950), Tuareg poet and author
• Kateb Yacine, Algerian writer
• Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine, Moroccan poet and novelist
• Ali Lmrabet, Moroccan journalist
• Ahmed Sefrioui, Moroccan novelist and pioneer of Moroccan literature in the French language.
• Tahar Ouettar
• Si Mohand, Kabyle folk poet

Music

Singers

• Loreen, singer

• Ammouri Mbarek, Moroccan singer and songwriter
• Fatima Tabaamrant, Moroccan singer
• Najat Aatabou, Moroccan singer
• Hindi Zahra, Moroccan singer
• Chérifa, Algerian singer
• Mohamed Rouicha, Moroccan singer
• Lounès Matoub, Algerian Berberist and secularist singer assassinated in 1998
• Takfarinas, Algerian singer
• Idir, Algerian singer
• Katchou, Algerian singer
• Lounis Aït Menguellet, Algerian singer
• Slimane Azem, Algerian singer
• Souad Massi, Algerian singer
• El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka Algerian chaabi singer
• Rim'K, rapper
• Taos Amrouche, Algerian writer and singer
• Aïssa Djermouni, Chaoui folk poet
• Cheikh El Hasnaoui, Algerian singer
• Lhaj Belaid, Moroccan singer and poet

Composers

• Cheb i Sabbah, DJ and composer in Algeria

Bands

• Oudaden, Moroccan band
• Tinariwen, Tuareg band

Performing Arts

Actors

• Erika Sawajiri, Japanese actress, Japanese, Algerian mix
• Isabelle Adjani, french actress of kabyle descent
• Saïd Taghmaoui, French-American actor and screenwriter of Moroccan descent.

Film directors

• Bachir Bensaddek, Canadian director

Dancers

• Kamel Ouali, choreographer, dance teacher, teacher on the French reality TV show Star Academy France

Academic sciences

Linguistics and philology

Medieval times

• Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, commentator on the Quran and foremost Arabic grammarian of his era
• Abu Musa al-Jazuli, philologian and grammarian
• Ibn Adjurrum, famous grammarian of Arabic

Modern times

• Saïd Cid Kaoui, Algerian berberologist and lexicographer
• Boulifa, Algerian Berberologist and teacher
• Salem Chaker, Algerian Berberologist and director of Berber at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris. He is recognized as the "dean" of modern Berber studies
• Mouloud Mammeri, writer, anthropologist and linguist.
• Abdellah Bounfour, Moroccan linguist and philologist

History

Medieval period

• Mohammed al-Baydhaq, chronicler of the Almohads
• Ibn Amira, historian, poet, and scholar of law from al-Andalus
• Ibn Ghazi al-Miknasi, Moroccan historian, poet, and scholar of law from al-Andalus
• Ibn Hammad, medieval Berber qadi and historian
• Abd al-Aziz ibn Shaddad, Zirid chronicler
• Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Jaznai

Modern period

• Mohammed Akensus (1797–1877)
• Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi (December 18, 1552 – December 6, 1616)
• Mohammed al-Ifrani (1670–1747)
• Abu al-Qasim al-Zayyani (1734/35–1833), Moroccan historian, geographer, poet and statesman
• Ali Azayku (1942–2004)
• Abdelaziz al-Malzuzi
• Mohammed al-Mokhtar Soussi
• Mohamed Salah Mzali
• Mohammed Arkoun, Algerian historian of Islamic thought

Science

• Abbas ibn Firnas, polymath
• Ibn al-Yasamin, Berber mathematician

Tertullian

Religion

Christians

Arius

St. Augustine

• Tertullian, early Christian author
• Pope Victor I, pope of the Roman Catholic Church (reigned 189–199)
• Pope Miltiades, pope of the Roman Catholic Church (reigned 311–314)
• Pope Gelasius I, pope of the Roman Catholic Church (reigned 492–496)
• Saint Monica of Hippo (Thagaste/Souk Ahras), (322–387), Saint Augustine's mother
• Saint Alypius, (360–430) from Thagaste, bishop of Thagaste (394)
• Faustus of Mileve, from Milevis, bishop of Milevis (Mila) late 4th century
• Saint Augustine of Hippo, (354–430), from Thagaste (Souk Ahras), bishop of Hippo Regius (Annaba) (395)
• Arius, proposed the doctrine of Arianism
• Donatus Magnus, leader of the Donatist schism
• Adrian of Canterbury, Abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury

Muslims

• Ibn Tumart, founder of the Almohad dynasty
• Muhammad al-Jazuli, author of the Dala'il al-Khairat, Sufi
• Muhammad al-Maghili, Berber 'alim from Tlemcen

Other

• Salih ibn Tarif of the Berghouata

Law

• Ahmad ibn Abi Jum'ah, Maliki scholar of Islamic law

• Mundhir ibn Sa'īd al-Ballūṭī, judge for the Caliph of Cordoba
• Ahmad al-Wansharisi, Muslim theologian and jurist of the Maliki school
• Ibn Arafa
• Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Mohammed al-Zarwili, qadi of Taza and later qadi of Fez.

Travel

• Ibn Battuta (1304–1377), Moroccan traveller and explorer
• Leo Africanus (c. 1494 – c. 1554), Berber Andalusi diplomat and Travel writer

Politics

Hocine Aït Ahmed

Politicians

• Thami El Glaoui, Pasha of Marrakesh from 1912 to 1956
• Mohand Arav Bessaoud, Algerian writer and activist. He was described as the spiritual father of Berberism.
• Saïd Sadi, secularist politician
• Hocine Aït Ahmed, Algerian revolutionary fighter and secularist politician
• Sidi Said, leader of the Algerian syndicat of workers : UGTA
• Khalida Toumi, Algerian feminist and secularist, currently spokesperson for the Algerian government
• Ahmed Ouyahia, Prime Minister of Algeria
• Belaïd Abrika, one of the spokesmen of the Arouch
• Saadeddine Othmani, deputy of Inezgane, an outer suburb of Agadir, is the leader of the Justice and Development Party (Islamist) and head of the Moroccan government.
• Liamine Zeroual and Houari Boumedienne former Presidents of Algeria
• Nouri Abusahmain, President of the Libyan General National Congress
• Mohamed Seghir Boushaki
• Liamine Zéroual, President of Algeria between 1994–1999

Zinedine Zidane

Sport

• Rabah Madjer, Algerian footballer, winner of the 1986–87 European Cup with FC Porto
• Zinedine Zidane, French footballer and manager of Real Madrid
• Karim Benzema, French-Algerian footballer
• Mustapha Hadji, Moroccan footballer nominated as the best African player of the year 1998
• Youssouf Hadji, Moroccan footballer
• Khalid Boulahrouz, Dutch footballer of Moroccan descent
• Ibrahim Afellay, Dutch footballer of Moroccan origin
• Riyad Mahrez, Algerian footballer won the English Premier League with Leicester City
• Islam Slimani, Algerian footballer
• Adel Taarabt, Moroccan footballer
• Hakim Ziyech, Moroccan footballer
• Oussama Assaidi, Moroccan footballer
• Zakaria Labyad, Moroccan footballer
• Abdeslam Ouaddou, Moroccan footballer
• Youssef Mokhtari, Moroccan footballer
• Samir Nasri, French-Algerian footballer
• Nordin Amrabat, Moroccan footballer
• Sofyan Amrabat, Moroccan footballer