Mahathir Mohamad

Mahathir married his college sweetheart Siti Hasmah, in 1956. The couple had their first child, Marina, the following year.

They have six more children, three of which are biological and three that were adopted. Their names are Mirzan, Melinda, Mokhzani, Mukhriz, Maizura, and Mazhar.

Mahathir Mohamad was born on July 10, 1925 in Malaysia. He was raised in a poor neighborhood in Alor Setar region of the state of Kedah.

His father's name was Mohamad bin Iskandar. He was a principal with low socioeconomic standing. His mother was only a distant relative to Kedah royalty.

Mahathir excelled throughout school. He won a scholarship to an English secondary school.

He completed secondary school once the war ended. He enrolled in medical school at the ‘King Edward VII College of Medicine’ in Singapore.

After graduating medical school Mahathir got his first job in the medical industry. He worked as a government service doctor until 1956. In the same year, he returned to his home region of Alor Setar and opened up a private practice. He was the only Malay doctor in the area at that time.

Mahathir's second love was politics. He was active in protests as a student, where he advocated for Malaysian independence.

He was a strict supporter of the ‘United Malays National Organisation’ during his time in Alor Setar. He quickly became a prominent member through charismatic advocacy of his positions.

In 1959, he came close to running for office but ended up withholding himself from the election in protest due to conflict with the Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

In 1964, he ran for his first political office and won. He was elected to the seat representing Kota Setar Seletan in the federal parliament.

Mahathir's most significant work was his 1970 book ‘The Malay Dilemma’. Many scholars agree that this book played a large part in Rahman's downfall the same year.

His biggest achievement during his time as prime minister was his recovery strategy during the Asian financial crisis of 1998. He went against his advisers and tied the currency to the U.S dollar. This bold move let Malaysia recover quicker than other countries.