A list of notable Guatemalans.

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A

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  • Abularach, Rodolfo, painter
  • Álvarez, José Luis (1917–2012), painter
  • Jackie Amezquita (born 1985), performance artist
  • Andrade, Sergio, musician (bassist founder of Lifehouse)
  • Acuña, Angelina writer of prose and poetry
  • Argueta, Luis, film director
  • Arbenz Vilanova, Arabella, actress, model, socialite
  • Arbenz, Jacobo (1913–1971), military officer, former president
  • Manuel José Leonardo Arce Leal (1935-1985), poet and dramatist
  • Arenales Catalán, Emilio (1922–1969), diplomat. Foreign minister of Guatemala from 1966 to 1969 and the president of the United Nations Twenty-Third General Assembly from 1968 to 1969.
  • Arévalo, Juan José, first democratically elected president
  • Arjona, Ricardo, international singer
  • Asturias, Miguel Ángel, writer, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1967)
  • Asturias, Rodrigo, guerrilla leader of ORPA, a.k.a. Comandante Gaspar Ilom, son of writer Miguel Ángel Asturias
  • Ayala Acevedo, Allan, track athlete, national record holder in 400, 400 hurdles, and 1600 relay
  • Aycinena y Piñol, Juan José, ecclesiastical and intellectual conservative in Central America

B

  • Barrios, Justo Rufino, General, leader of the Liberal movement, dictator
  • Barrondo, Erick, Olympic Silver medalist racewalker
  • Batres Montúfar, José, writer
  • Berganza, Eddie, writer, Executive Editor of DC Comics
  • Bressani Castignoli, Ricardo, nutrition expert and biochemist
  • Bosch Gutierrez, Felipe A., businessman
  • Bosch Gutierrez, Juan Luis, businessman

C

  • Cardoza y Aragón, Luis, writer, essayist, poet, art critic, and diplomat
  • Carnage, DJ and music producer
  • Carrera, Rafael, general, conservative politician, and President of Guatemala
  • Castillo Armas, Carlos, colonel, politician
  • Rafael Castillo Valdez, politician and diplomat
  • Castillo, Otto René, poet, guerrilla member of FAR
  • Chacón González, Lázaro Army General, former President
  • Chinchilla Recinos, María (1909–1944), schoolteacher
  • Cordón, Kevin, national badminton player
  • Coroy, María Mercedes, Mayan actress
  • Cumez, Paula Nicho, artist
  • Rosa Elena Curruchich (1958-2005), painter
  • Curruchich, Sara, singer-songwriter
  • del Águila, Cynthia (born 1959), Minister of Education 2012–2015

E

  • Estrada Cabrera, Manuel, lawyer. Secretary of Foreign during Jose Maria Reina Barrios government. President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920.
  • Espada, Rafael, Vice President of Guatemala and former cardio-thoracic surgeon

F

  • Flaquer Azurdia, Irma, journalist
  • Flores, Alejandra, soprano
  • Flores, Mateo, athlete

G

  • Franz Galich (1951–2007), writer
  • Galeotti Torres, Rodolfo, sculptor
  • García Granados y Saborío, María (1860–1878), socialite
  • García Granandos y Zavala, María Josefa (1796–1848), intellectual, writer, journalist and poet
  • García Laguardia, Jorge Mario, jurist, magistrate of the Constitutional Court, and Ombudsman for Human Rights
  • Gerardi Conedera, Juan José, Roman Catholic bishop
  • Goldman, Francisco, writer
  • Gomez Carrillo, Enrique (1873–1927), writer
  • González Palma, Luis, photographer
  • Gutierrez, Juan José, businessman
  • Dionisio Gutierrez Mayorga, businessman

H

  • Hendricks, Ted, retired American Football linebacker

I

  • Isaac, Oscar, Guatemalan-American actor

J

  • Jensen, Alfred Julio, artist

L

  • La Rue, Frank William, human rights activist
  • Lehnhoff, Dieter, composer, conductor, musicologist
  • Lopez, Antonio, Guatemalan-Mexican soccer player
  • Lubitch Domecq, Alcina, writer
  • Lucas García, Fernando Romeo, general, former President

M

  • Mack, Myrna, anthropologist
  • Marroquin, Manny, Grammy Award-winning mixer/engineer
  • Martinez, Benito, American actor of Guatemalan descent
  • Menchú, Rigoberta, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (1992), indigenous woman, activist, author
  • Menkos, Jonathan, politician, economist and writer
  • Mérida, Carlos, painter
  • Mendez, Francisco, (1907–1962) writer
  • Milla y Vidaurre, José (Salome Jil) (1822–1882), writer
  • Monteforte Toledo, Mario, writer
  • Monterroso, Augusto, writer, winner of the Prince of Asturias Award of literature (2000)
  • Monterroso, Sandra, visual artist and designer
  • Montúfar y Rivera, Lorenzo (1823–1898), politician and lawyer.
  • Morales, Jimmy, President of Guatemala
  • Moreno, Gaby, singer and songwriter
  • Mulet, Edmond, diplomat
  • Mussack, William Joseph, Jr., engineer
  • Óscar Murúa, artist

P

  • Palencia, Karl M., Record Producer (Pina Records), aka Myztiko
  • Palma, Gustavo Adolfo (1920–2010), singer, lyric tenor
  • Paniagua España, Carlos Eduardo (1915-1988), diplomat
  • Pappa, Marco, Guatemalan national team and Seattle Sounders FC footballer
  • Peña Aldana, Carlos Enrique, winner of Latin American Idol 2nd season
  • Pezzarossi, Dwight, retired Guatemalan National Team and CSD Comunicaciones footballer
  • Plata, Juan Carlos, retired Guatemalan National Team and CSD Municipal footballer

Q

  • Quevedo, Fernando, Professor of theoretical physics, Cambridge, England
  • Quezada Toruño, Rodolfo, Cardinal, Archbishop of Guatemala City

R

  • Ramírez, Guillermo, retired Guatemalan national team footballer
  • Ramirez de León, Arnoldo, guerrilla leader of EGP a.k.a. Comandante Rolando Morán
  • Raudales, Henry, violinist
  • Recinos, Adrián, lawyer, historian, Mayanist scholar, essayist, and diplomat
  • Recinos, Efraín, engineer, architect, painter, sculptor, muralist, scenographer, inventor
  • Robles, Rodolfo, physician, discovered onchocercosis (Robles disease)
  • Robles, Stheven, professional footballer
  • Rodriguez Macal, Virgilio, writer
  • Ríos Montt, Efraín, general, dictator, stands accused of genocide
  • Rodríguez Beteta, Virgilio (1885–1967), lawyer, historian, diplomat and writer
  • Rosenthal, Gert, economist and diplomat
  • Ruiz, Carlos, Guatemalan national team and CSD Municipal footballer

S

  • Sandarti, Héctor, television personality
  • Sandoval, Kevin, soccer player, 1988 Summer Olympics
  • Saravia, Rodrigo, Guatemala national team footballer
  • Shery, singer, songwriter and producer
  • Soluna Samay, singer, songwriter

T

  • Tecún Umán, sixteenth century leader of the K'iche' Maya people
  • Tobar, Hector, writer/journalist
  • Turcios Lima, Luis Augusto, Guatemalan army officer, guerrilla leader (FAR)

U

  • Ubico, Jorge, military dictator
  • Urruela Federico, diplomat

V

  • de la Vega, Jazmín, architect and politician
  • Villatoro, Anton, professional cyclist
  • Villatoro, Alan, International Christian singer, music producer
  • Viñals, Jaime, mountaineer (scaled seven highest peaks in the world)
  • von Ahn, Luis, computer scientist, creator of CAPTCHA technology, professor of Carnegie Mellon University
  • Luis H. Velasquez, (30 December 1919 – 9 February 1997) was a Guatemalan long-distance runner who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was third in the 1951 Pan American Games marathon and third in the 1955 Pan American Games marathon.

W

  • Wurmser, Juan Mauricio, advertising firm founder, president and CEO
  • Whitbeck, Harris, CNN's International Correspondent based in Mexico City

Y

  • Yela Günther, Rafael, sculptor
  • Yon Sosa, Marco Antonio, Guatemalan army officer, guerrilla leader MR-NOV13

Z

  • Zamora, José Rubén, journalist
  • Zelaya, Raquel, economist and politician
  • Zuniga, Daphne, Guatemalan-American actress

References