Idris I


Idris I,

1890–1983, king of Libya (1951–69). A grandson of the founder of the SanusiSanusi
or Senussi
, Arabic Sanusiyya, a political-religious organization in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi (1791–1859), known as the Grand Sanusi.
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 Muslim sect, he became leader of the group in 1917. He was acknowledged (1920) by the Italians as emir of Cyrenaica but had to flee to Egypt in 1922 after quarreling with the Italian Fascists. He was restored to power by the British (1943) and became Libya's first king when independence was granted (1951). Deposed in a military coup (1969) by Colonel Muammar al-QaddafiQaddafi, Muammar al-
, 1942–2011, Libyan army officer and dictator. He graduated from the Univ. of Libya in 1963 and became an army officer in 1965. In 1969 he formed, along with a group of fellow officers, a secret revolutionary committee and led (1969) a successful coup
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, he went into exile in Egypt.