Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political revolutionary and Shia cleric who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the main leader of the Iranian Revolution, which overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, disestablished Pahlavi Iran, and transformed the country into an Islamic republic.

Born in the city of Khomeyn, in what is now Iran's Markazi province, Khomeini's father was murdered when he was two years old. He began studying the Quran and Arabic from a young age assisted by his relatives. Khomeini became a high ranking cleric in Twelver Shi'ism, an ayatollah, a marja' ("source of emulation"), a mujtahid, faqīha and a hafiz (an expert in fiqh), and author of more than 40 books. His opposition to the White Revolution resulted in his state-sponsored expulsion to Bursa in 1964. Nearly a year later, he moved to Najaf, where speeches he gave outlining his religiopolitical theory of Guardianship of the Jurist were compiled into the book Islamic Government.

After the success of the Iranian Revolution, Khomeini served as the country's de facto head of state from February 1979 until his appointment as supreme leader in December of that same year. Khomeini was Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1979 for his international influence and in the next decade was described as the "virtual face of Shia Islam in Western popular culture". He was known for his support of the hostage takers during the Iran hostage crisis; his fatwa calling for the murder of Indian-born British novelist Salman Rushdie for Rushdie's description of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in his novel The Satanic Verses, which Khomeini considered blasphemous; pursuing the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the Iran–Iraq War; and for referring to the United States as the "Great Satan" and Israel as the "Little Satan".

The subject of a pervasive cult of personality, Khomeini held the title Ayatollah and is officially known as Imam Khomeini inside Iran and by his supporters internationally. His state funeral was attended by up to 10 million people, one fifth of Iran's population at the time, and is considered the second-largest funeral in history.

Khomeini's legacy is controversial. In Iran, he is legally considered "inviolable"—insulting him is punishable with imprisonment; his gold-domed tomb in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery has become a shrine for his adherents. While some view him as a champion of Islamic revival, independence, anti-imperialism, and resistance to foreign influence in Iran, Khomeini has been criticized for anti-Western and antisemitic rhetoric, anti-democratic actions, human rights violations including the 1988 execution of thousands of Iranian political prisoners, and for using child soldiers extensively during the Iran–Iraq War for human wave attacks. There were many protests during his rule, including in 1979 and 1981.