Muhammetnazar Gapuroviç Gapurov (Turkmen Cyrillic: Мухамметназар Гапурович Гапуров; rus, links=no, Мухамметназар Капурович Капуров, Mukhammetnazar Kapurovich Kapurov; 15 February 192213 July 1999) was a Turkmen politician who has served as the First Secretary of the

Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR The Communist Party of Turkmenistan (russian: Коммунистическая партия Туркменистана; tk, Türkmenistanyň Kommunistik Partiýasy) was the ruling communist party of the Turkmen SSR, and a part of the Communis ...

from 1969 until 1985. He spent his entire career in the Komsomol and Communist Party apparatus, becoming the republic's most influential politician for almost two decades in the

Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 198 ...

era.

Early life and career

Gapurov was born in a small village close to Charjou, Charjou Oblast (now

Türkmenabat Türkmenabat ( tk, Türkmenabat, Түркменабат), formerly and since medieval times Chardzhou, (russian: Чарджоу, ''Chardzhou''; tk, Çärjew, links=no, ) ( fa, چهارجوی 'čahârjuy', meaning 'four brooks') and in ancient ti ...

Lebap Province Lebap Region ( tk, Lebap welaýaty/Лебап велаяты from the Persian language, Persian ''Lab-e āb'') is one of the regions of Turkmenistan. It is in the northeast of the country, bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan along the Amu Darya ...

). In December 1941 he was drafted into the army, serving as the commander of a gunners section in the

88th Separate Rifle Brigade The 88th Separate Rifle Brigade (, , ), also known as the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Teaching Brigade or the 88th International Brigade, was an international military unit of the Red Army created during World War II. It was unique in t ...

of the

Central Asian Military District The Red Banner Central Asian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, which existed in 1926–1945 and 1969–1989, with its headquarters at Tashkent (1926–1945) and Almaty (1969–1989). By USSR Order No.304 of 4 ...

. From 1941 to 1944 he was on active duty in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

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 1948 Gapurov joined the Communist Party ''nomenklatura'' as head of the Propaganda Department at the district level in Charjou oblast and gradually climbed the party ladder. He graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Ashkhabad in 1954. From 1951 to 1955 he worked as first secretary of the Komsomol organisation, and later he held various party posts before assuming the republic's leadership.

Leadership of Turkmenistan

In 1969, he was appointed first secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR. During his time in office, the republic received considerable investment in its modernisation of the gas and oil sectors, and living standards rose significantly for the general population. However, excessive centralised control over economic development and macroeconomic mismanagement led to a stagnation of economic growth in most sectors of the republic's economy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gapurov's era also witnessed further growth in nepotism, regional rivalries and corruption. In 1985, incoming General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev removed Gapurov from his post due to a cotton-related corruption scandal and sent him into retirement.

Later life

He never returned to the political arena and held several minor positions in the late 1980s. He authored several books and articles during the Soviet era, mainly on Communist Party and Turkmenistan development issues. In the 1990s he began writing his memoirs but left them unfinished when he died on 13 July 1999. He was known to have one son, Batyr who died in September 2015 at the age of 61 of cardiac arrest.

References

Sources

*Abazov, Rafis. ''Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan'', p. 64-5. Scarecrow Press, 2005, .

External links

Rulers of Soviet Republics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gapurov, Muhammad Soviet military personnel of World War II 1922 births 1999 deaths People from Türkmenabat First secretaries of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Heads of government of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic People's commissars and ministers of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic