In the early 2000s, Saparmurat Niyazov, the authoritarian leader of Turkmenistan, took personality cult to an extreme—by renaming the calendar itself. Niyazov renamed January “Türkmenbaşy,” meaning Leader of the Turkmen, after himself. April was renamed “Gurbansoltan,” in honor of his mother. Other months and even days of the week were also renamed to reflect his ideology, family, and writings, including his book Ruhnama, which was made mandatory reading. The changes were enforced nationwide—use