Martin Luther King, Jr., original name Michael King, Jr.  (born January 15, 1929, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.- died April 4, 1968, Memphis, Tenn.), Baptist minister and social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968.

His leadership was fundamental to that movement’s success in ending the legal segregation of African Americans in the South and other parts of the United States.

King rose to national prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which promoted nonviolent tactics, such as the massive March on Washington (1963), to achieve civil rights.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.