Lee Kuan Yew (born 16 September 1923) is the founding leader of Singapore. He was the first Prime Minister of Singapore, when Singapore gained self-rule from colonial ruler Britain, , until he stepped down in 1990 in favor of his deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn handed power to his son Lee Hsien Loong in 2004. Governing for three decades from 1959 to 1990, Lee is widely credited with transforming the city-state to one of Asia's wealthiest economies.

As the co-founder and first Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP), he led the party to eight victories, and oversaw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and its subsequent transformation from a relatively underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a "First World" Asian Tiger. He is one of the most influential political figures in Asia.

Lee attended the Telok Kurau Primary School and then Raffles Institution (RI). During his junior Cambridge years, he obtained several scholarships, including the John Anderson scholarship to attend Raffles College (now National University of Singapore). Lee was the top student in Singapore and Malaya.

Lee's university education was delayed by World War II and the 1942–1945 Japanese occupation of Singapore. After the war, Lee went on to study in England. He briefly attended the London School of Economics before moving to the University of Cambridge, where he read law at Fitzwilliam College and graduated with a rare Double Starred (double First Class Honours). Lee was subsequently made an honorary fellow of Fitzwilliam College.

It was in England that Lee decided Singapore had to govern itself if it were to defend itself. He subsequently returned to Singapore in 1949.