Mir-Hossein Mousavi on 2 March 1942 in Khameneh, East Azerbaijan, Iran. He is an ethnic Azerbaijani, whose family originated from Tabriz. His father, Mir-Ismail, was a tea merchant from Tabriz. Mousavi grew up in Khameneh, and moved to Tehran following his graduation from high school in 1958. Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native Ali Khamenei: Mousavi's grandmother is Khamenei's paternal aunt. He earned his undergraduate degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran (now Shahid Beheshti University), and in 1969 was awarded his master's degree in architecture from the National University of Tehran, focusing primarily on traditional Iranian architecture.
Mir-Hossein Mousavi in Shiraz, "Haft-e-tir Martyr's tomb" in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra, and "Salman mosque" in the presidential residence are examples of his work. In recent years, he has been more active in painting and has participated in many exhibitions. Mousavi refused to run for the presidency in the 1997 elections, which caused the reformists to turn to his former Cabinet Minister, then a little-known cleric, Mohammad Khatami, who was elected by a landslide. During Khatami's administration, Mousavi served as the Senior Adviser to the President. Mousavi was considered the leading candidate from the reformist alliance to run in the Iranian presidential election,