Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah 
1900 - 1989. 
Iranian Shi'ite Muslim leader. 

Exiled for opposition to Shah Pahlavi from 1964, he returned when the shah left the country 1979, and established a fundamentalist Islamic republic. His rule was marked by a protracted war with Iraq, and suppression of opposition within Iran, executing thousands of opponents. He was born in Khomein, central Iran.