The Most Famous
SOCIAL ACTIVISTS from Iraq
This page contains a list of the greatest Iraqi Social Activists. The pantheon dataset contains 840 Social Activists, 5 of which were born in Iraq. This makes Iraq the birth place of the 26th most number of Social Activists behind Ireland, and Canada.
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Iraqi Social Activists of all time. This list of famous Iraqi Social Activists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Mustafa Barzani (1903 - 1979)
With an HPI of 66.64, Mustafa Barzani is the most famous Iraqi Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages on wikipedia.
Mustafa Barzani (Kurdish: مستهفا بارزانی, romanized: Mistefa Barzanî; 14 March 1903 – 1 March 1979), also known as Mullah Mustafa (مەلا مستەفا; Mela Mistefa), was a Kurdish nationalist leader and one of the most prominent political figures in modern Kurdish politics. In 1946, he was chosen as the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) to lead the Kurdish revolt against the Kingdom of Iraq. Barzani was the primary political and military leader of the Kurdish separatist movement until his death in March 1979. He led campaigns of armed insurgency against both the Iraqi and Iranian governments.
2. Rashid ad-Din Sinan (1130 - 1192)
With an HPI of 64.94, Rashid ad-Din Sinan is the 2nd most famous Iraqi Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Rashid al-Din Sinan (Arabic: راشد الدين سنان Rāshid ad-Dīn Sinān; 1131/1135 – 1193) also known as the Old Man of the Mountain (Arabic: شيخ الجبل Sheikh al-Jabal; Latin: Vetulus de Montanis), was an Arab Muslim missionary (dāʿī) who served as the leader of the Nizari Ismaili state and the Order of Assassins from 1162 until his death in 1193. An adherent of Nizari Ismailism, a branch of Shia Islam, he was a prominent figure during the Crusades.
3. Al-Mu'tazz (847 - 869)
With an HPI of 61.76, Al-Mu'tazz is the 3rd most famous Iraqi Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾLlāh (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن جعفر; 847 – 16 July 869), better known by his regnal title al-Muʿtazz bi-ʾLlāh (المعتز بالله, "He who is strengthened by God") was the Abbasid caliph from 866 to 869, during a period of extreme internal instability within the Abbasid Caliphate, known as the "Anarchy at Samarra". Originally named as the second in line of three heirs of his father al-Mutawakkil, al-Mu'tazz was forced to renounce his rights after the accession of his brother al-Muntasir, and was thrown in prison as a dangerous rival during the reign of his cousin al-Musta'in. He was released and raised to the caliphate in January 866, during the civil war between al-Musta'in and the Turkish military of Samarra. Al-Mu'tazz was determined to reassert the authority of the caliph over the Turkish army but had only limited success. Aided by the vizier Ahmad ibn Isra'il, he managed to remove and kill the leading Turkish generals, Wasif al-Turki and Bugha al-Saghir, but the decline of the Tahirids in Baghdad deprived him of their role as a counterweight to the Turks. Faced with the assertive Turkish commander Salih ibn Wasif, and unable to find money to satisfy the demands of his troops, he was deposed and died of ill-treatment a few days later, on 16 July 869. His reign marks the apogee of the decline of the Caliphate's central authority, and the climax of centrifugal tendencies, expressed through the emergence of the autonomous dynasties of the Tulunids in Egypt and the Saffarids in the East, Alid uprisings in Hejaz and Tabaristan, and the first stirrings of the great Zanj Rebellion in lower Iraq.
4. Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid (948 - 1022)
With an HPI of 59.66, Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid is the 4th most famous Iraqi Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Abu 'Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu'man al-'Ukbari al-Baghdadi, known as al-Shaykh al-Mufid (Arabic: الشیخ المفید) and Ibn al-Mu'allim (c. 948–1022 CE), was a prominent Iraqi Twelver Shia theologian. His father was a teacher (mu'allim), hence the name Ibn al-Mu'allim. The title "al-Mufid" was given to him either by Muhammad al-Mahdi, the twelfth Shia Imam, or by al-Rummani, a Sunni scholar, after a conversation with him. The leader of the Shia community, he was a mutakallim, theologian, and Shia jurist. He was taught by Al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Ibn Qulawayh, Abu Abdallah al-Basri and al-Rummani, and Sharif al-Murtaza and Shaykh Tusi were among his students. Only 10 of his 200 works have survived, among which are Amali, Al-Irshad, Al-Muqni'ah, and Tashih al-Itiqadat.
5. Naziha al-Dulaimi (1923 - 2007)
With an HPI of 53.04, Naziha al-Dulaimi is the 5th most famous Iraqi Social Activist. Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Naziha Jawdet Ashgah al-Dulaimi (1923 – 9 October 2007) was an early pioneer of the Iraqi feminist movement. She was a co-founder and the first president of the Iraqi Women's League, the first woman minister in modern Iraq history, and the first woman cabinet minister in the Arab world.
6. David Sassoon (1792 - 1864)
With an HPI of 48.03, David Sassoon is the 6th most famous Iraqi Social Activist. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
David Sassoon (October 1792 – 7 November 1864) was the treasurer of Baghdad between 1817 and 1829. He became the leader of the Jewish community in Mumbai after Baghdadi Jews emigrated there.
7. Zainab Salbi (b. 1969)
With an HPI of 33.04, Zainab Salbi is the 7th most famous Iraqi Social Activist. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.
Zainab Salbi (Arabic: زينب سلبي; born 1969) is an Iraqi American women's rights activist, writer, television show host, and podcaster. She is the co-founder of Daughters for Earth, a fund and a movement of Daughters rising up worldwide with climate solutions to protect and restore Mother Earth. She is also the co-founder of Women for Women International, a non-profit organization that helps women affected by sexual violence and conflict. She hosted Through Her Eyes and #MeToo, Now What? television shows, about issues affecting women. From 2022 she hosted the Redefined podcast. In her 2005 memoir Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam, Salbi recounted her early life: Born in Baghdad to a father who later became Saddam Hussein's personal pilot, her family arranged her marriage and emigration to the United States, in order to remove her from the proximity of Hussein, who had started showing unwanted attention to her. After an abusive marriage in the U.S., she divorced her husband and started her humanitarian career. She is also the author of the nonfiction book The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival & Hope which documents the stories of women survivors of war. In September 2023, Zainab Salbi was honored with the Time100 Impact Award.
People
Pantheon has 7 people classified as Iraqi social activists born between 847 and 1969. Of these 7, 1 (14.29%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Iraqi social activists include Zainab Salbi. The most famous deceased Iraqi social activists include Mustafa Barzani, Rashid ad-Din Sinan, and Al-Mu'tazz. As of April 2024, 2 new Iraqi social activists have been added to Pantheon including David Sassoon, and Zainab Salbi.
Living Iraqi Social Activists
Go to all RankingsDeceased Iraqi Social Activists
Go to all Rankings
Mustafa Barzani
1903 - 1979
HPI: 66.64
Rashid ad-Din Sinan
1130 - 1192
HPI: 64.94
Al-Mu'tazz
847 - 869
HPI: 61.76
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid
948 - 1022
HPI: 59.66
Naziha al-Dulaimi
1923 - 2007
HPI: 53.04
David Sassoon
1792 - 1864
HPI: 48.03
Newly Added Iraqi Social Activists (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Social Activists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 3 most globally memorable Social Activists since 1700.
