Artur Tahir oghlu Rasizade ( az, Artur Tahir oğlu Rasizadə; born 26 February 1935) is an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

i politician who served as the

Prime Minister of Azerbaijan The prime minister of Azerbaijan is the head of government of Azerbaijan. The current prime minister is Ali Asadov on 8 October 2019 after the removal of his predecessor, Novruz Mammadov. Due to the central role of the president in the politic ...

from 1996 until 2003, and again from 2003 until 2018. Rasizade was a long-time

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

member during the Azerbaijan SSR period.

Biography

Artur Rasizade was born on 26 February 1935 in Kirovabad (now Ganja) in a teacher's family. His father Tair Mamed Oglou Rasizade was killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1942. In 1952, Artur Rasizade graduated from the Secondary school № 4 (

Lankaran Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a dis ...

), and in 1957 he finished his studies at

Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University Azerbaijan State Oil and Industrial University (formerly Azerbaijan State Oil Academy) ( az, Azərbaycan Dövlət Neft və Sənaye Universiteti, Азәрбајҹан Дөвләт Нефт вә Сәнаје Университети (ADNSU)) is a ter ...

. After his graduation, he started working as engineer in Azerbaijani institute of oil mechanical engineering. In 1973, Rasizade became a scientific vice-principal of this institute. In 1975, he was appointed as senior principal engineer of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR). In 1977, he became a director of the Azerbaijani institute of oil mechanical engineering. From 1978 to 1981, he worked as vice-chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR. From 1981 to 1986, he was a chief of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Azerbaijan Central Committee. From 1986 to 1992, he was the first vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR, supervising energy, mechanical engineering, defense, oil and chemical industries. From 1992 to 1996, he was a council of the Economic Development Fund. From February 1996 he worked as an assistant of the President of Azerbaijan,

Heydar Aliyev Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev ( az, Һејдәр Әлирза оғлу Әлијев, italic=no, Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, ; , ; 10 May 1923 – 12 December 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as the third president of Az ...

; then, on 3 May 1996, he was appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan. On 20 July 1996, he became Acting Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, and on 26 November 1996 he was appointed as Prime Minister. On 4 August 2003, he was relieved of his post to make way for Aliyev's son Ilham and was instead appointed as First Deputy Prime Minister. However, on 4 November 2003 he resumed his post of Prime Minister after Ilham took office as President. He served for 15 years as Prime Minister before he was replaced in April 2018 by

Novruz Mammadov Novruz Ismayil oglu Mammadov ( az, Novruz İsmayıl oğlu Məmmədov; born 15 March 1947) is an Azerbaijani politician and translator who served as Prime Minister of Azerbaijan from April 2018 to October 2019. He previously held the title as ass ...

. Artur Rasizade is married and has a daughter.

Career

He was officially Prime Minister from 26 November 1996 until 18 October 1998 and from 24 October 1998 until 4 August 2003, when he resigned, ostensibly due to health reasons, enabling President

's son Ilham Aliyev to assume the office for less than three months. Rasizade continued to act as Prime Minister for Ilham Aliyev, however, and he formally returned to the post on 4 November 2003, after Ilham Aliyev was elected as

President of Azerbaijan The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the head of state of Azerbaijan. The Constitution states that the president is the embodiment of executive power, commander-in-chief, "representative of Azerbaijan in home and foreign policies", ...

. He was succeeded in the position by

on 21 April 2018. As First Deputy Prime Minister, Rasizade had been Acting Prime Minister from 20 July 1996 until formally assuming the post on 26 November of that year. Furthermore, as Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Rasizade held the same role from 31 October 2003, when Ilham Aliyev vacated the post to take up the presidency, until Aliyev had him formally re-appointed to the post on 4 November 2003. Finally, Rasizade had been Acting Prime Minister for 6 days in October 1998, between his own two formal terms of office. Will a total tenure in office of 21 years and 187 days, Rasizade is by far Azerbaijan's longest-serving Prime Minister.

Awards

On 28 June 2006, Rasizade was awarded with

Istiglal Order Istiglal Order ( az, Istiqlal ordeni), is the highest supreme order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, along with Heydar Aliyev Order. presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Istiglal means ''Sovereignty'' in Azerbaijani. History ...

() for his contributions to economic development of Azerbaijan by President Ilham Aliyev . On 25 February 2015, Rasizade was given

Shohrat Order Shohrat Order ( az, Şöhrət ordeni), translated as ''Order of Glory'', is an award presented by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. History and status The order was created by the Decree No. 757 of the President of Azerbaijan, Heydar ...

() for his special contributions to economic, scientific, social and cultural development. Among others, Rasizade was awarded with Sharaf Order () – Order of Glory; Order of National Cohesion;

National Order of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

(). In 1971, he was a winner of the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

(). He was awarded " Order for service to the Fatherland" 1st Class on February 27, 2020.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasizade, Artur 1935 births Living people Azerbaijan Communist Party (1920) politicians Azerbaijani mechanical engineers Azerbaijani Shia Muslims New Azerbaijan Party politicians Politicians from Ganja, Azerbaijan Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan Recipients of the Istiglal Order