Ayman al-Zawahiri, also spelled Ayman al-Ẓawāhirī, also called ʿAbd al-Muʿizz, (born June 19, 1951, Egypt—died July 31, 2022, Kabul, Afghanistan), Egyptian physician and militant who became one of the major ideologues of al-Qaeda. Zawahiri led al-Qaeda from 2011 until his death in 2022. Zawahiri was raised in Maʿādī, Egypt, several miles south of Cairo. Although his parents were …