Very few people can boast of having an influential personality that takes a nation by storm and reforms it completely to follow their line of belief and actions – Ayatollah Khomeini is one amongst them. A prominent political and religious leader of Iran, he lead the Iranian Revolution, successfully overthrowing the last Shah leader, bringing upon a new Islamic Constitution in the country and declaring himself as the Supreme Leader, a position which accorded him the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation. Though born as Ruhollah Khomeini, it was through his persistent perseverance and hard work that he attained the status of Ayatollah, which is given only to Shi'ite scholars of the highest knowledge. Internationally, he held the title of Grand Ayatollah while in Iran, he was popularly referred to as Imam Khomeini. In addition to his political pursuits, he is known to have authored more than forty books in his lifetime. American newspaper TIME awarded Ayatollah Khomeini with the Man of the Year title in 1979 for his international influence. Additionally, he was also described to be the ‘virtual face of Islam in Western popular culture’. While his tactics earned him popularity among the orthodox people, many criticized him for violating human rights.