Claim: Muammar Gaddafi gave Libya the new name Jamahiriya.

Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi -LRB- -LSB- ˈmoʊ.əmɑr _ ɡəˈdɑːfi -RSB- ; 20 October 2011 -RRB- , commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi , was a Libyan revolutionary , politician , and political theorist . He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the `` Brotherly Leader '' of the Great Socialist People 's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011 . He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism , but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory .    Gaddafi was born near Sirte to an impoverished Bedouin family . He became an Arab nationalist while at school in Sabha , later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy , Benghazi . Within the military he founded a revolutionary cell which , in a 1969 coup , deposed the Western-backed Senussi monarchy of Idris . Having taken power , Gaddafi converted Libya into a republic governed by his Revolutionary Command Council . Ruling by decree , he ejected both Italian colonists and Western military bases from Libya while strengthening ties to Arab nationalist governments -- particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser 's Egypt -- and unsuccessfully advocating Pan-Arab political union . An Islamic modernist , he introduced sharia as the basis for the legal system and promoted `` Islamic socialism '' . The oil industry was nationalised , with the increasing state revenues used to bolster the military , fund foreign revolutionaries , and implement social programs emphasising house-building , healthcare , and education projects . In 1973 , he initiated a `` Popular Revolution '' with the formation of General People 's Committees , purported to be a system of direct democracy , but retained personal control over major decisions . He outlined his Third International Theory that year , publishing these ideas in The Green Book .   In 1977 , Gaddafi transformed Libya into a new socialist state called the Jamahiriya -LRB- `` state of the masses '' -RRB- . Officially he adopted a symbolic role in governance but remained head of both the military and the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing dissent . During the 1970s and 1980s , Libya 's unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad , support for foreign militants , and alleged responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing left it increasingly isolated on the international stage . A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States , United Kingdom , and Israel , resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations-imposed economic sanctions . From 1999 , Gaddafi rejected Arab socialism and encouraged economic privatisation , rapprochement with Western nations , and Pan-Africanism ; he was Chairperson of the African Union from 2009 -- 10 . Amid the 2011 Arab Spring , protests against widespread corruption and unemployment broke out in eastern Libya . The situation descended into civil war , in which NATO intervened militarily on the side of the anti-Gaddafist National Transitional Council -LRB- NTC -RRB- . The government was overthrown and Gaddafi , who had retreated to Sirte , was captured and killed by NTC militants .   A highly divisive figure , Gaddafi dominated Libya 's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality . He was decorated with various awards and lauded for his anti-imperialist stance , his support for Arab and then African unity , and for significant improvements that his government brought to the Libyan people 's quality of life . Conversely , domestically his social and economic reforms were strongly opposed by Islamic fundamentalists and he was internationally condemned as a dictator whose authoritarian administration violated the human rights of Libyan citizens and financed global terrorism .