Muammar Gaddafi | |
|---|---|
معمر القذافي | |
.jpg) Gaddafi in 1970 | |
| Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution | |
| In office 2 March 1979 – 20 October 2011[a] | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Chairman of the RCC) |
| Succeeded by | Mustafa Abdul Jalil (as Chairman of the NTC) |
| Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya | |
| In office 1 September 1969 – 2 March 1977 | |
| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Idris I (as King of Libya) |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution) |
| Secretary General of the General People's Congress | |
| In office 2 March 1977 – 2 March 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Abdul Ati al-Obeidi |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Ati al-Obeidi |
| Head of Government of Libya | |
| In office 16 January 1970 – 16 July 1972 | |
| Preceded by | Mahmud Suleiman Maghribi |
| Succeeded by | Abdessalam Jalloud |
| 7th Chairperson of the African Union | |
| In office 2 February 2009 – 31 January 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Jakaya Kikwete |
| Succeeded by | Bingu wa Mutharika |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi c. 1942 Qasr Abu Hadi, Italian Libya |
| Died | 20 October 2011 (aged 68–69) Sirte, Libya |
| Manner of death | Assassination |
| Resting place | In an unknown location in the Libyan Desert |
| Political party |
|
| Spouses | |
| Children | 10
Sons (8)
|
| Residence | Bab al-Azizia |
| Alma mater | |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
|
| Branch/service | Libyan Army |
| Years of service | 1961–2011 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | Libyan Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars | |
| ||
|---|---|---|
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Affiliations Military (Armed Forces) Leadership (History)
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Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi[pron 1] (c. 1942 – 20 October 2011) was a Libyan revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by rebel forces in 2011. He came to power through a military coup, first becoming Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the 'Brotherly Leader' of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Nasserism, Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.
Born near Sirte, Italian Libya, to a poor Bedouin Arab family, Gaddafi became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. Within the military, he founded a revolutionary group known as the Free Officers movement which deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris in a 1969 coup. After taking power, Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council. Ruling by decree, he deported Libya's Italian population and ejected its Western military bases. He strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments—particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt—and unsuccessfully advocated pan-Arab political union. An Islamic modernist, he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted Islamic socialism. He nationalized the oil industry and used the increasing state revenues to bolster the military, fund foreign revolutionaries, and implement social programs emphasizing housebuilding, healthcare and education projects. In 1973, he initiated a "Popular Revolution" with the formation of Basic People's Congresses, presented as a system of direct democracy, but retained personal control over major decisions. He outlined his Third International Theory that year in The Green Book.
In 1977 Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called a Jamahiriya ("state of the masses"). He officially adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent. During the 1970s and 1980s, Libya's unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad, support for foreign militants, and alleged responsibility for bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 left it increasingly isolated on the world stage. A particularly hostile relationship developed with Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations–imposed economic sanctions. From 1999, Gaddafi shunned pan-Arabism, and encouraged pan-Africanism and rapprochement with Western nations; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 to 2010. Amid the 2011 Arab Spring, protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya. The situation descended into civil war, in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council (NTC). Gaddafi's government was overthrown; he retreated to Sirte only to be captured, tortured and killed by NTC militants.
A highly divisive figure, Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. He was decorated with various awards and praised for his anti-imperialist stance, support for Arab—and then African—unity, as well as for significant development to the country following the discovery of oil reserves. Conversely, many Libyans strongly opposed Gaddafi's social and economic reforms; he was accused of various human rights violations. He was condemned by many as a dictator whose authoritarian administration systematically violated human rights and financed global terrorism in the region and abroad.
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- ^ Cite error: The named reference
INDtncofficialgovwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Staff (23 August 2011). "Tuesday, 23 August 2011 – 16:19". Libya Live Blog. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
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taipeitimmes20110826was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "After Much Wrangling, General Assembly Seats National Transitional Council of Libya as Country's Representative for Sixty-Sixth Session". United Nations. 16 September 2011. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
- ^ Pereira, Christophe (2008). "Libya". Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Vol. 3. Brill. pp. 52–58.
- ^ "How are you supposed to spell Muammar Gaddafi/Khadafy/Qadhafi?". The Straight Dope. 1986. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2006.
- ^ Gibson, Charles (22 September 2009). "How Many Different Ways Can You Spell 'Gaddafi'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- ^ "Saif Gaddafi on How to Spell His Last Name". The Daily Beast. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
- ^ Fisher, Max (24 August 2011). "Rebel Discovers Qaddafi Passport, Real Spelling of Leader's Name". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Anil Kandangath (25 February 2011). "How Do You Spell Gaddafi's Name?". Doublespeak Blog. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011.
- ^ "Google Books Ngram Viewer". books.google.com.
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