Ruhollah Khomeini

About Ruhollah Khomeini

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989) was the Iranian revolutionary and cleric who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution, overthrowing the Pahlavi dynasty and establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran. As the country's first Supreme Leader until his death, his political and religious influence fundamentally reshaped the Middle East and modern Islamic political thought, securing his place as a globally influential figure, ranked #679 by MIT's Pantheon project.

Despite his profound historical importance, Khomeini's modern internet presence reveals a significant attention imbalance. In 2025, his Wikipedia page registered 2.4 million views. This level of traffic means he is experiencing a +7x overattention relative to his historical ranking, suggesting his legacy remains highly salient in the digital sphere. This intense focus contrasts sharply with figures like Martin Heidegger (#432 importance), who garnered only 590K views in the same year, showing a clear divergence between historical rank and contemporary search interest.

Furthermore, the data indicates that interest in Khomeini is not stagnant; his pageviews saw a notable +11.0% year-over-year increase and demonstrated strong Q1 to Q3 momentum of +19% in 2025, signaling a resurgence or sustained high engagement with his legacy.