Joseph Smith

Full Name: Joseph Smith Jr.
Profession: Religious Leader

Nationality:

Biography: Joseph Smith was an American religious leader known as the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. He published the Book of Mormon at age 24, which would serve as the foundational text for a religion that number in the tens of thousands by the time of his death and in the millions today.

Smith's religious movement began with a series of visions, one of which led him to a set of buried golden plates from which he transcribed an English translation the contents as the Book of Mormon. He understood his movement as a return to the early Christian Church.

While Smith and his followers sought their own community, this was hampered at first by resistance from locals and violent skirmishes with the government. He would subsequently die after a mob stormed the Illinois jailhouse in which he was awaiting trial.

Born: December 23, 1805
Birthplace: Sharon, Vermont, USA
Star Sign: Capricorn

Died: June 27, 1844 (aged 38)
Cause of Death: Shot by a mob which stormed the jailhouse in which he was being held