Ayatollah+Khomeini

=Ayatollah Khomeini (1902-1989)=

C hildhood

 * son/grandson of mullahs (Shi'ite religious leaders)
 * after father's death (Khomeini was 5 months old at the time), he was raised by his mother and aunt, and later brother
 * attended several Islamic schools–this provided the basis for his fundamentalist stance

Life as Scholar, Teacher, and Revolutionary Leader

 * wrote primarily: on Islamic law, philosophy, and ethics; in opposition to the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, western influences; to promote Islamic purity
 * 1962-1963 Khomeini protested Shah's land reform and expansion of women's rights → Khomeini arrested and imprisoned for a year → forced exile in Iraq in 1964
 * 1978 Khomeini forced out of Iraq by Saddam Hussein → resides in Paris, relaying tape-recorded messages that further excite disgruntled Iranians against the Shah
 * growing dissatisfaction with Shah's policies in 1970s → increased rioting/greater support for Khomeini in Iran → Shah forced to leave Iran in Jan. 1979 → Return of Khomeini in Feb. 1979 → Khomeini deemed religious leader of Iranian (Islamic) Revolution
 * Dec. 1979 Khomeini appointed a government and declared (in a constitutional referendum) Iran an Islamic Republic
 * Remained theocratic leader, despite the detrimental effects of his policies on the whole, until his death in 1989

****Khomeini**, Ruhollah**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 1 Nov. 2009 .