Mohamed Bouazizi

Tarek El-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi (Arabic: طارق الطيب محمد البوعزيزي, romanized: Ṭāriq aṭ-Ṭayib Muḥammad al-Būʿazīzī; 29 March 1984 – 4 January 2011) was a Tunisian street vendor who, in response to the confiscation of his wares as well as the harassment and humiliation inflicted by municipal officials and their aides, set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. His act of self-immolation was the most immediate cause of the Tunisian Revolution, which was the first revolution in the wider Arab Spring against autocratic regimes. Simmering public anger and sporadic violence intensified following Bouazizi's death, leading the then-president of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to step down on 14 January 2011, after 23 years in power.