Mousavi was among the student activists who regularly attended Ali Shariati’s lectures at Hosseiniyeh Ershad of capital, where Mousavi also exhibited his artwork under the pseudonym Hossein Rah’jo.In 1969, Mousavi married Zahra Rahnavard, a fellow university student who specialized in sculpture, and was among the well-known students of Ali Shariati. Rahnavard later became the Chancellor of Alzahra University as well as political adviser to homeland’s former President Mohammad Khatami. The couple have three daughters; all speak Azeri, Persian, English, and Arabic.