Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) is an American religious leader and the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, the predominant branch of which is Mormonism.

At age twenty-four, Smith publishes the Book of Mormon, and in the next fourteen years he attracts thousands of followers, establishes cities and temples, and creates a lasting religious culture.

Smith was born in Sharon, Vermont, and by 1817 had moved with his family to the burned-over district of western New York, an area repeatedly swept by religious revivals during the Second Great Awakening.

The Smiths believe in visions and prophecies, and participate n folk religious practices typical of the era.

According to Smith, beginning in the early 1820s he had visions, in one of which an angel directed him to a buried book of golden plates inscribed with a Judeo-Christian history of ancient American civilizations.

In 1830, he publishes what he says is an English translation of these plates as the Book of Mormon and organizes the Church of Christ as a restoration of the early Christian church.

Church members are later called Latter Day Saints, Saints, or Mormons.

In 1831, Smith and his followers move west with plans to build a communalistic American Zion.

They gather in Kirtland, Ohio, and establish an outpost in Independence, Missouri, intended to be Zion's "center place".

During the 1830s, Smith sends out missionaries, publishes revelations, and supervises construction of an expensive temple.

However, due to the collapse of a church-sponsored bank and violent skirmishes with angry non-Mormon Missourians, Smith's dreams of building Zion in Missouri and Ohio fail by the end of the decade.

In the early 1840s, Smith establishes a new city called Nauvoo, Illinois, where he serves as mayor and militia commander.

In 1844, Smith and the Nauvoo City Council anger non-Mormons by destroying a printing press after it is used to publish an exposé critical of Smith's power and practice of polygamy.

During the ensuing turmoil, Smith is imprisoned in Carthage, Illinois, and killed when a mob storms the jailhouse.

During his lifetime, Smith publishes many revelations and other texts that are regarded as scripture by his followers.

His teachings include unique views about the nature of God, cosmology, family structures, political organization, and religious collectivism.

His followers regard him as a prophet of at least the stature of Moses and Elijah.

Smith's legacy includes a number of religious denominations, the largest of which are the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Community of Christ.