•Libyan leader who seized power in a military coup d'etat in 1969; deposed the Libyan monarchy and imposed socialism and Islamic orthodoxy on the country (born in 1940)
From Libyan Arabic قدافي (gaddāfi, gaḏḏāfi), from Arabic قَذَّافِيّ (qaḏḏāfiyy), an occupational term from قَذَّاف (qaḏḏāf, “hurler, flinger; catapult, mangonel, ballista”).