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Blue aesthetic of the Bahrain Twin Tower- Photo by Ajmal Shams on

10 Most famous people from Bahrain

Bahrain, officially known as the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf.

What makes Bahrain a unique land is its ancient and storied culture that spans over a period of so many centuries.

Despite modernization and a cosmopolitan outlook, Bahrain is today essentially an Arabic culture.

Relatively new pastimes like soccer share time with traditional arts like falconry, horse riding, hunting, and horse and camel racing. Here is a list of some of the famous people in the world who are from Bahrain.

1. Nabeel Rajab

Nabeel Rajab during a protest in Bani Jamra- Author; Mohamed CJ-

Organization founder Nabeel Ahmed Abdulrasool Rajab is a Bahraini human rights activist and opposition leader. He is president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights and a prominent international human rights activist.

He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East Division, Deputy Secretary General for the International Federation for Human Rights, former chairman of CARAM Asia, member of the Advisory Board of the Bahrain Rehabilitation and Anti-Violence Organization, and president of Gulf Center for Human Rights.

Nabeel Rajab started his human rights activity during the 1990s uprising before going on to become involved in campaigning on behalf of migrant workers in GCC countries.

He subsequently became a leading campaigner against civil and human rights abuses in Bahrain including torture and deaths in official custody.

He is well known for his pioneering use of social networking as an important element in human rights campaigning which has brought him into conflict with the authorities.

Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have described him as being targeted by Bahraini authorities for his human rights activities.

He is quite passionate about human rights issues that he has actually clashed heads with a few police officers way too many times over the course of his initiatives.

2. Ahmed ibn Muhammad ibn Khalifa

A kingdom- Photo by Kitera Dent on

Commonly known as Ahmed al-Fateh (which translates to Ahmed the Conqueror), he became the first monarch of the incumbent royal family of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Al Khalifa dynasty.

This was after defeating the Persians who had invaded the island of Zubara, home of the Al Khalifa tribe, in the late 18th century.

3. Frank Turner

Frank Turner-Author; ManxStef-

Frank Turner is an English folk and punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He was born in Manama, Bahrain in December 1981. He was the vocalist for the band Million Dead before going solo.

Initially, the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, Turner embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band’s split in 2005.

Both in the studio and during live performances, Turner is always accompanied by his backing band, The Sleeping Souls, which consists of Ben Lloyd, Tarrant Anderson, Matt Nasir and Nigel Powell.

To date, Turner has released five solo albums, two rarities compilation albums, One split album and five EPs. Turner’s fifth studio album, Tape Deck Heart was released on 22 April 2013.

4. Hussain Ali Baba

Hussain Ali Baba in 2011- Author; Doha Stadium Plus Qatar-

Hussain Ali Baba Mohamed is a Bahraini footballer currently playing for Kuwait SC in Kuwaiti Premier League and the Bahrain national football team.

His national team number is number 17. He has managed to make his country proud due to his great football talent.

5. Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa

Shalikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa- Author; ThomasMiller84-

Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa is a member of the Bahraini royal family and the commander of Bahrain’s Royal Guard. He is also the president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.

Among other achievements, he is also the deputy chairman of the Higher Committee for Energy and Natural Resources and the head of the government’s Supreme Council for Youth and Sports.

6. Fatima Abdul Raheem

Fatima Abdul Raheem in 2008- Author; Ahmed Zayer-

Fatima Abdul Raheem is a Bahraini actress who  began her career through youth theatre in 1989

She is still going on in the Representation field where she has made serials, plays and several movies.

7. Khaled El Sheikh

Khaled El Sheikh- Author; Abdulla ali90-

Khaled El Sheikh, or Khalid Al-Shaikh, born in Bahrain on 23 September 1958 is a Bahraini singer. 

He was honoured at the 12th Bahrain International Musical Festival on 14th October 2003.

He was again honoured by Culture & Arts Directorate, Ministry of Information for best music and sound effects for Akhbar AlMajnoon play on 6th July 2005.

8. Ayat al-Ghermezi

Ayat al-Ghermezi reading her poem in 2014- Author; alwefaqsociety-

Ayat Hassan Mohammed Al-Qurmezi is a poet and student at the University of Bahrain Teaching Institute in Bahrain.

Al-Qurmezi became famous in Bahrain and internationally after reading out a poem criticising Bahraini government policies at the Pearl Roundabout gathering of pro-democracy protesters.

After the poem was widely circulated via social media, she and her family were subjected to harassment and death threats.

She was then arrested and detained in conditions of secrecy, and rumours of her death in custody led to protests by Iranian activists.

She was subjected to torture while in custody but was eventually tried on charges of inciting hatred of the Bahraini regime and insulting members of the royal family.

International human rights organisations described her detention and trial as illustrating the brutality of the Bahraini authorities. She was later sentenced to a term of imprisonment, which she was allowed to serve under house arrest.

Her bravery is however quite celebrated and respected.

9. Mansoor al-Jamri

Mansoor al-Jamri- Author; Mohamed CJ-

Mansoor al-Jamri is a Bahraini columnist, author, human rights activist and former opposition leader.

He is the editor-in-chief of Al-Wasat, an Arabic language independent daily newspaper. 

In 1979, he moved to the United Kingdom to continue his higher education. Between 1987 and 2001, al-Jamri lived in self-imposed exile in UK where he became the spokesman of the opposition group, Bahrain Freedom Movement.

Following a series of reforms of which he was initially sceptical, al-Jamri returned to Bahrain in December 2001.

He co-founded Al-Wasat in September 2002 and became its editor-in-chief. The newspaper said to be the only one offering independent and non-sectarian coverage in Bahrain was a success thus becoming the country’s most popular and profitable.

Al-Jamri still writes daily columns which are described to be moderate and non-sectarian.

10. Talal Yousef

Afootball match- Photo by Waldemar Brandt on

Talal Yousif Mohammed, known mainly as Talal Yousif, is a Bahraini footballer who is currently playing for Al-Riffa.

Yousif plays mainly as a midfielder and sometimes as a striker. He is currently retired from playing with the Bahrain national football team, where he made 21 appearances in FIFA World Cup qualifying matches.