Supreme leader  

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The title or description "supreme leader" typically refers to the person among a number of leaders of a state, organization or other such group who has been given or is able to exercise the most - or complete - authority over it. In a religion, this role is usually satisfied by a person deemed to be the representative or manifestation of a god or gods on Earth. In politics, a supreme leader usually has a cult of personality associated with them, such as Adolf Hitler (the Führer) in Germany; Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) in Italy; Joseph Stalin (Vozhd) in the Soviet Union; and the Supreme Leader of Iran or Supreme Leader of North Korea.

There have been many dictators and political party leaders who have assumed such personal and/or political titles to evoke their supreme authority. World War II, for example, saw many fascist and other far right figures model their rule on Hitler's Führer or Mussolini's Duce personae. On the far left, several socialist and so-called communist leaders adopted "Supreme"-styled titles and/or followed Stalin's Vozhd example.

Contents

List of titles

Listed by date of establishment.

1930s and earlier

World War II

Cold War era

  • Mao Zedong, the first head of communist China, officially named 伟大领袖毛主席 (translit. Wěidà Lǐngxiù Zhǔxí - "Great Leader Chairman").
  • Kim Il Sung, the first head of state of North Korea, is officially referred to by the North Korean government as 위대한 수령 (translit. widaehan suryŏng - "Great Leader").
  • Liaquat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of independent Pakistan was named as Quaid-i-Millat ("Father of the Nation") and Shaheed-i-Millat ("Martyr of Nation").
  • Sukarno, the president of post-revolution Indonesia was known as the Pemimpin Besar Revolusi (Great Leader of the Revolution) and Bung Karno ("Comrade Karno").
  • François Duvalier, the president-dictator of Haiti, obtained from pocket parliament "Supreme Leader of Revolution" amongst other titules.
  • Ferdinand Marcos, the president-dictator of the Philippines, sometimes named as "Leader of Nation".
  • Fidel Castro, the communist ex-president of Cuba was known as the Máximo Líder ("Greatest Leader").
  • Enver Hoxha, the communist president of Albania was named as "The Leader", "Supreme Comrade", "Sole Force", "Great Teacher".
  • Nicolae Ceaușescu, the communist leader of Romania from 1965 to 1989, also adopted the title Conducător.
  • Mobutu Sese Seko, the president-dictator of Zaire, sometimes named as "Father of People" and "Saver of Nation".
  • Alfredo Stroessner, the dictatorial president of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989, was eulogized as Gran Líder and Único Líder.
  • Abd al-Karim Qasim, Prime Minister of Iraq from 1958 to 1963, named as al-za‘īm ("The Leader").
  • Saddam Hussein, the president-dictator of Iraq from 1979 to 2003, named as "The Leader".
  • Muammar al-Gaddafi, former dictator of Libya, styled himself as "Brother Leader" and "Guide of the Revolution".
  • Omar Torrijos, de facto dictator of Panama from 1968 to 1981, assumed the title Líder Máximo de la Revolución Panameña ("Supreme Leader of the Panamanian Revolution").
  • Nur Muhammad Taraki, the first president of pro-Soviet Afghanistan from 1978 to 1979 named as "The Great Leader", "The Star of the East" or "The Great Thinker"".
  • Supreme Leader of Iran, the highest-ranking political and religious authority in the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The first person to hold this title was the Ayatollah Khomeini
  • The President of the United States is sometimes referred to colloquially as "Leader of the Free World". Note that this was never adopted as an official title.

Post-Cold War

  • Nursultan Nazarbayev, since 1991 the President of Kazakhstan, was granted the title Ұлт Лидері (translit. Ult Lideri - "Leader of the Nation") by a parliamentary decision in 2010.
  • Saparmurat Niyazov, president-for-life and dictator of Turkmenistan, gave himself the title Türkmenbaşy ("Leader of all Turkmens") and Serdar ("The Leader").
  • Kim Jong-Il is officially referred to by the North Korean government as 친애하는 지도자 (translit. ch'inaehanŭn chidoja - "Dear Guide") and "The Leader" (his father Kim Il Sung after death staid as "Great Leader").
  • Kim Jong-Un had a "Supreme Guide" after his father Kim Jong-Il died in 2011.
  • Hugo Chavez was called "Supreme Leader" and "Galactic Commander", the second title was coined after his death.

In fiction

  • In the Star Wars universe, "Supreme Leader" is a title for the character Asajj Ventress.
  • In the 2012 film The Dictator film, Haffaz Aladeen is the "President Prime Minister Supreme Leader Admiral General" of the Republic of Wadiya.





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Supreme leader" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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