List of people from Penza

Aleksey Khovansky (1814–1899), publisher of the first Russian scientific linguistic journal Filologicheskie Zapiski
Nikolay Ilminsky (1822–1891), Russian turkologist
Pavel Maksutov (1825–1882), Imperial Russian Navy rear-admiral, prince, hero of Crimean War
Ilya Salov (1834–1902), Russian writer, playwright and translator
Peter Hermann Stillmark, scientist, founder of lectinology
Vsevolod Meyerhold (1874–1940), Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer
Nikolai Avksentiev (1878–1943), leading member of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Peter Arshinov (1886–1939), acclaimed Russian Anarcho-Communist
Ivan Mosjoukine (1889–1963), Russian silent film actor
Vsevolod Pudovkin (1893–1953), Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor
Aleksandr Medvedkin (1900–1989), Soviet Russian film director
Vladimir Stavsky (1900–1943), Soviet Russian writer, editor and literary administrator

Konstantin Badygin (1910–1984), Soviet naval officer, explorer, author and scientist
Anna Andreyeva (1915–1997), Soviet track and field athlete
Pyotr Dolgov (1920–1962), colonel in the Soviet Air Force, Hero of the Soviet Union
Victor Karpov (1928–1997), Russian diplomat
Vladimir Grebennikov (1932–1992), Soviet ice hockey player
Yuri Moiseev (1940–2005), Soviet ice hockey player
Tatiana Dorofeeva (1948–2012), Russian linguist, orientalist and translator

Aleksandr Golikov (born 1952), Russian former ice hockey player
Boris Sokolovsky (born 1953), Russian basketball coach and former player
Vladimir Golikov (born 1954), Soviet ice hockey player
Alexander Melentyev (1954–2015), Soviet competitive sport shooter who won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics
Vasili Pervukhin (born 1956), Russian ice hockey player
Alexander Kozhevnikov (born 1958), Soviet ice hockey player
Aleksandr Geramisov (born 1959), Soviet ice hockey player
Irina Kalinina (born 1959), Soviet diver and olympic champion
Marat Kulakhmetov (born 1959), Major General of the Russian Army
Sergei Svetlov (born 1961), Soviet ice hockey player
Sergei Yashin (born 1962), Soviet ice hockey player
Aleksey Vdovin (born 1963), Russian water polo player who competed in the 1992 Summer Olympics
Aleksandr Samokutyayev (born 1970), Russian cosmonaut

Yan Kaminsky (born 1971), Soviet ice hockey player
Vladislav Bulin (born 1972), Russian ice hockey defenceman
Yuliya Pakhalina (born 1977), Russian diver; won the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics
Yuri Babenko (born 1978), Russian professional ice hockey player
Vitaly Atyushov (born 1979), Russian ice hockey defenceman
Yuri Dobryshkin (born 1979), Russian ice hockey player
Alexei Kosourov (born 1979), Russian professional ice hockey player
Igor Lukashin (born 1979), Russian diver; won the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Timur Rodriguez (born 1979), Russian showman, singer, TV and radio personality
Pavel Volya (born 1979), Russian TV host, actor and singer
Dimitri Altaryov (born 1980), Russian professional ice hockey winger
Yevgeniya Bochkaryova (born 1980), Russian gymnast
Natalya Sutyagina (born 1980), Russian butterfly swimmer

Lived in Penza

Alexandr Aksakov (1832–1903), Russian writer, translator, journalist, editor, state official and psychic researcher
Nikolai Ishutin (1840–1879), Russian utopian socialist; was raised in Penza
Aristarkh Lentulov (1882–1943), Russian avant-garde artist of Cubist orientation; studied art in the Penza art school
Alexandr and Mariya Dmitriev, the couple who owns a pet cougar named Messi