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Muammar al-Gaddafi was born in 1941. His family belonged to a small tribe of Arabized Berbers known as the Qaddadfa who are stock herders. He attended a Muslim elementary school and finished his secondary school studies under a private tutor Misurata.
He enrolled with the Libyan military academy at Benghanzi in 1961 along with most of his colleagues from the Revolutionary Command Council and graduated in 1966. After receiving his commission, he was selected for several months for further training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, England.
He received further military training in the Hellenic military academy in Athens Greece and in the United Kingdom.
He joined the Libyan Army in 1965. He staged a bloodless coup d'état against King Indris while he was away in Turkey for Medical treatment. The Revolutionary Command Council was formed to rule the country, with Gaddafi as chairman. In 1970 he became the Minister of Defence and prime minister in 1970-72.
Gaddafi relinquished the title of prime minister and became the head of state. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders and he is one of the longest serving rulers in history. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya.
In February 2011, major political protests inspired by recent similar events in Tunisia, Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, which quickly turned into a general uprising, broke out in Libya against Gaddafi's government. As of 26 February 2011, Gaddafi is reported as having lost control of much of the country.
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