Ruhollah Khomeini

Ruhollah Khomeini (1900 to 1989) was an Iranian Shia cleric and politician who led the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and served as the first supreme leader of Iran until his death. Born in the town of Khomeyn in what is now Markazi province, he became a high-ranking Twelver Shia cleric, an ayatollah and a marja, and wrote more than forty books. His opposition to the White Revolution led to his expulsion in 1964, and in exile in Najaf he developed the theory of the Guardianship of the Jurist, set out in Islamic Government. The revolution overthrew Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and made Iran an Islamic republic. In office he supported the hostage takers in the Iran hostage crisis, issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie, and pursued the Iran-Iraq War. His funeral drew millions, and his legacy remains sharply contested.