Politics · born 1959Jennifer Granholmlawyer, governor of Michigan, U.S. energy secretaryCanadian-born lawyer who launched her career in Detroit as a clerk for Judge Damon Keith and Wayne County's top lawyer, then became Michigan's first woman attorney general and governor (2003–2011).DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 9 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
9 people
Clear filtersPolitics · born 1959Jennifer Granholmlawyer, governor of Michigan, U.S. energy secretaryCanadian-born lawyer who launched her career in Detroit as a clerk for Judge Damon Keith and Wayne County's top lawyer, then became Michigan's first woman attorney general and governor (2003–2011).
Music · born 1958Anita Bakersinger, songwriterEight-time Grammy winner of “Sweet Love,” raised in Detroit, who started out singing in the city's nightclubs and still lives in metro Detroit.
Literature · born 1958Mitch Albomauthor, newspaper columnist, radio host, philanthropistDetroit Free Press columnist since 1985 and author of Tuesdays with Morrie, whose charities have funded shelters, clinics and homes across Detroit.
Science & invention · born 1950Alexa Canadypediatric neurosurgeonThe first African American woman board-certified in neurosurgery in the United States, chief of neurosurgery at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit from 1987 to 2001.
Sports · born 1955Ken Hollandhockey executive, former goaltenderRed Wings general manager from 1997 to 2019, architect of the Cup teams of 1998, 2002 and 2008 and one of the most successful executives in NHL history.
Civil rights & activism · born 1952Helen Ziajournalist, author, activistChinese American journalist who worked in Detroit's auto plants and, after Vincent Chin's killing in 1982, co-founded American Citizens for Justice and helped build the Asian American civil rights movement.
Politics · born 1955Shri Thanedarchemist, entrepreneur, politicianIndian-born chemist and entrepreneur who moved to Michigan in 2010, won the city of Detroit in the 2018 governor's primary and represented Detroit in Congress from 2023.
Civil rights & activism · 1955–1982Vincent Chindraftsman, hate-crime victimChinese American draftsman from Highland Park whose 1982 beating death by two autoworkers, and the killers' lenient sentences, sparked the Asian American civil rights movement.
Sports · born 1955Hilmer Kentyboxer, WBA lightweight championThe Kronk Gym's first world champion, who won the WBA lightweight title at Joe Louis Arena in 1980, Detroit's first world champion since Joe Louis.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own.