Grand Ayatollah. Sayyid Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (, , 24 September 1902 – 3 June 1989) known in the
Western world as
Ayatollah Khomeini, was an
Iranian Shia Muslim religious leader, revolutionary, politician, the founder of the
Islamic Republic of Iran and the leader of the 1979
Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of the
Pahlavi monarchy and
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the
Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's
Supreme Leader, a position created in the
constitution of the Islamic Republic as the highest-ranking political and religious authority of the nation, which he held until his death. He was succeeded by
Ali Khamenei.