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

References

  1. ^ "REGULAMENT pentru acordarea titlului de Cetățean de Onoare al Municipiului București" (PDF). Primăria Municipiului București (in Romanian).
  2. ^ "Cetățeni de onoare" (PDF). Primăria Municipiului București (in Romanian).
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