This is a list of notable alumni and students, from the University of Coimbra.

• Egas Moniz (1874–1955), physician and neurologist; 1949 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology

• José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva (1763–1838), Brazilian statesman and naturalist
• Félix Avelar Brotero (1744–1828), botanist and professor
• George Buchanan (1506–1582), a Scottish historian and humanist scholar, professor at the Colegio de la Artes
• Luís Wittnich Carrisso (1886-1937), botanist, professor
• António Castanheira Neves (1929), legal philosopher and professor emeritus at the law faculty
• Fernão Lopes de Castanheda (1500–1559), historian, bedel and archivist
• André de Gouveia (1497–1548), head teacher, humanist and pedagogue
• Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira (1756–1815), naturalist
• Eduardo Lourenço (born 1923), professor, essayist, critic, philosopher, and writer
• Pedro Nunes (1502–1578), mathematician
• Sidónio Pais (1872–1918), politician; President in 1918; military; professor of mathematics
• Carlos Mota Pinto (1936–1985), Prime Minister
• António de Oliveira Salazar (1889–1970), politician; Prime Minister; Dictator of Portugal, 1932-1968
• Boaventura de Sousa Santos (born 1940), sociologist, professor and researcher
• Fernando Távora (1923–2004), architect and professor
• Domenico Vandelli (1735–1816), Italian naturalist

Noted persons who graduated from or otherwise attended the university include:

• Zeca Afonso (1929–1987), singer, songwriter and poet; left-winger whose music is considered a symbol of the Carnation Revolution
• Manuel Alegre (1936), poet; politician; member of the Socialist Party (did not graduate)
• António José de Almeida (1866–1929), politician, President, founder of Lisbon and Porto universities
• Nicolau Tolentino de Almeida (1740–1811), foremost Portuguese satirical poet of the 18th century
• José de Anchieta (1534–1597), jesuit missionary, apostle of Brazil, writer and poet
• José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta (1832–1897), 19th century explorer and naturalist (did not graduate)
• Leão Ramos Ascensão (1903–1980), integralist politician and writer
• Manuela Azevedo (1970), singer
• João Botelho (1949), film director (did not graduate)
• Luís de Almeida Braga, (1890–1970), integralist politician and writer
• Teófilo Braga (1843–1924), politician, President, writer and playwright
• Luís Vaz de Camões, (c. 1524–1580), considered Portugal's greatest poet (did not graduate)
• Jorge Chaminé (b, 1956), baritone; Human Rights Medal from the UN; Goodwill Ambassador of Music in ME (Music in the Middle East)
• José Cid (1942), singer and composer (did not graduate)
• Christopher Clavius (1538–1612), German mathematician and astronomer; main architect of the modern Gregorian calendar
• Narana Coissoró (1933), lawyer and politician
• Fausto Correia (1951–2007), politician; member of the Portuguese Parliament and the Government of Portugal; member of the Parliament of the European Union
• João de Deus (1830–1896), poet (did not graduate)
• Bishop James Warren Doyle (1786–1834), Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin in Ireland, studied for his doctorate in Coimbra
• Vergílio Ferreira (1916–1996), writer and teacher
• Armindo Freitas-Magalhães (1966), psychologist and researcher, working on the psychology of the human smile
• Almeida Garrett (1799–1854), romanticist and writer
• Manuel Teixeira Gomes (1860–1941), political figure (did not graduate)
• Ruy Luís Gomes (1905–1984), mathematician
• João Mário Grilo (1958), film director (did not graduate)
• José A.F.O. Correia (1984), Portuguese researcher, professor and engineer
• Miguel Guedes (1972), musician, songwriter and singer
• Gregório de Matos e Guerra (1636-1696), poet and lawyer
• Bartolomeu de Gusmão (1685–1724), naturalist, recalled for his early work on lighter-than-air ship design
• Alfredo Augusto das Neves Holtreman, 1st Viscount of Alvalade, lawyer and businessman who was the first president of Sporting Clube de Portugal
• Artur Jorge (1946), football coach and former football player (did not graduate at this university but at the University of Lisbon)
• Guerra Junqueiro (1850–1923), lawyer, politician, member of the Portuguese House of Representatives, journalist, author and poet
• Valentim Loureiro (1938), military major, politician, mayor, former football club chairman (did not graduate)
• Fábio Lucindo (1985-), Brazilian voice actor, best-known for his work in anime.^[1]
• Bernardino Machado (1851–1944), politician, President
• Marquês de Pombal (1699–1782), Prime Minister to King Joseph I of Portugal throughout his reign
• Aristides Sousa Mendes (1885–1954), diplomat, known for protecting European Jews as a consul in France during World War II against government orders
• Luís Marques Mendes, (1957), politician; former leader of the Social Democratic Party
• Manoel da Nóbrega, (1517–1570), jesuit priest; first Provincial of the Society of Jesus in colonial Brazil; influential in the early history of Brazil; participated in the founding of several cities
• António Nobre (1867–1900), poet (did not graduate)
• Adriano Correia de Oliveira (1942–1982), musician, famous singer and composer of politically engaged folk music in the 1960s-70s (did not graduate)
• Carlos de Oliveira (1921–1981), poet and novelist
• Álvaro Santos Pereira (1972), economist and professor
• Eça de Queiroz (1845–1900), novelist, one of the leading intellectuals of the Generation of 1870
• Antero de Quental (1842–1891), poet, philosopher, political activist
• José Hipólito Raposo (1885–1953), integralist politician and writer
• José Adriano Pequito Rebelo (1892–1983), integralist politician and writer
• Maria de Belém Roseira (1949), politician (member of the Socialist Party, former minister)
• António de Almeida Santos (1926), politician and minister
• Fernando Machado Soares (1930), fado singer, author, judge
• António Tavares (born 1960), author and journalist
• Miguel Torga, pseudonym of Adolfo Correia da Rocha (1907–1995), writer, poet and physician
• Maria de Jesus Trovoada (1961), politician and geneticist.
• João Maria Tudela (1929), singer, musician and entertainer (did not graduate)
• Salgado Zenha (1923–1993), left-wing politician and lawyer
• Luís Simões da Silva (1962), Portuguese researcher, professor and engineer
• Sam Hou Fai (1962), Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China