Artur Rasizade, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, celebrates his next birthday today.
According to Modern.az, he has turned 91.
Artur Rasizade served as Prime Minister of Azerbaijan for exactly 22 years.
Artur Tahir oglu Rasizade was born on February 26, 1935, in Ganja, into a teacher's family. He is originally from the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. He is the son of Tahir Rasizade, an agricultural specialist and poet. A. Rasizade's mother was ethnically Russian.
They were two children in the family – Artur and his sister Tamella...
Artur Rasizade is the grand-nephew of the great Azerbaijani writer Huseyn Javid.
He graduated from the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University) in 1957.
He began his career as an engineer at the Azerbaijan Oil Machine-Building Plant, later working as a senior engineer, department head, and deputy director for scientific affairs.
From 1973–1975, he served as chief engineer at the “Azneftsənayemaş” association; from 1975–1977, as first deputy head-chief engineer of the "Ittifaqneftmash" Scientific-Industrial Association; and from 1977–1978, as director of the “AzINMASH” Oil Machine-Building Scientific Research Institute.
From 1978–1981, he served as Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Azerbaijan SSR; from 1981–1986, as Head of the Machine-Building Department at the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan; and from 1986–1992, as First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan (later First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan).
From 1992–1994, he worked as a consultant at the Economic Reforms Fund; in 1994, as a consultant at the “DEKA-B” company; and from 1994–1996, as a consultant at the Economic Reforms Fund.
On February 15, 1996, he was appointed Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev for economic affairs, serving in this position until November 25, 1996.
From May 1996, he served as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan; from 1996–2003, as Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and from August–November 2003, as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
From November 2003 until April 21, 2018, he once again served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In 2005, President Ilham Aliyev awarded Artur Rasizade the “Istiglal” Order, and in 2010, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, the “Sharaf” Order.
In 2015, Artur Rasizade was awarded the “Shohrat” Order by the head of state in connection with his 80th anniversary.
On April 21, 2018, Artur Rasizade was retired in connection with the formation of the new Cabinet of Ministers.
On February 20, 2025, he was awarded the “Heydar Aliyev” Order.
Gurban Sadigov, a sector manager who has long worked in the Cabinet of Ministers, characterized Artur Rasizade as follows:
“Artur Rasizade is a noble, extremely simple, loyal, humble, cultured, educated, and professional person. He was a statesman who loved his country, nation, and state with all his heart, valued precision and concreteness, possessed high management skills, and was capable of making prompt decisions. When selecting personnel, he prioritized their loyalty to statehood, knowledge, professionalism, and experience. He managed to create a very fertile and healthy environment in the Apparatus of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan...
...He had instructed that, as a rule, in all meetings held with high-level representatives of international organizations, photographs, video recordings, and all possible evidence reflecting the Khojaly genocide, Armenian vandalism against our people, and Armenian atrocities should be displayed and presented to them.
...He firmly stated that peace negotiations would yield no results. By strengthening our economic power and our country's defense potential, we would liberate our lands from occupation by military means and restore our territorial integrity and sovereignty.
And so it happened. As a result of the April battles that began in 2016, the 44-day Patriotic War, and the one-day anti-terrorist operations in 2023, all our lands were liberated from occupation under the leadership of our Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Ilham Aliyev....
...It is fortunate that he witnessed these events on the eve of his 90th birthday.
On his birthday, February 26, Artur Rasizade would not allow anyone to congratulate him on that day due to the Khojaly tragedy, and the leadership of the Cabinet of Ministers Apparatus would only congratulate him with a single bouquet of flowers...
...Artur Rasizade played a special role in my advancement; under his leadership, I worked as a department head in the Cabinet of Ministers Apparatus for a total of 17 years.
Artur Rasizade is also a wonderful family man. Those who know his only daughter, Ms. Naila, his son-in-law Kamal Babayev, who grew up in an intellectual family and held many high positions, and his grandchildren, know well what sincere, simple, and kind people they are.”
It should be noted that Artur Rasizade's wife – the late Ms. Aida – had an Azerbaijani father and a Russian mother. Ms. Aida passed away in 2017.
The former prime minister's only child – his daughter Naila Rasizade – was born in Baku in 1961. She received her initial secondary education at School No. 1 in Baku. Naila Rasizade graduated from the current Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (formerly the Institute of Oil and Chemistry).
N. Rasizade is married and has two children named Tahir and Rana.
A.Gorkhmaz
