Hafizullah Amin
| Hafizullah Amin حفيظ الله امين |
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| General Secretary of the Central Committee of the People's Democratic Party | |
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In office 14 September – 27 December 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Nur Muhammad Taraki |
| Succeeded by | Babrak Karmal |
| Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council | |
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In office 14 September – 27 December 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Nur Muhammad Taraki |
| Succeeded by | Babrak Karmal |
| Minister of National Defence | |
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In office 28 July – 27 December 1979 |
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| President |
Nur Muhammad Taraki Himself |
| Preceded by | Mohammad Aslam Watanjar |
| Succeeded by | Mohammed Rafie |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers | |
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In office 27 March – 27 December 1979 |
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| President |
Nur Muhammad Taraki Himself |
| Preceded by | Nur Muhammad Taraki |
| Succeeded by | Babrak Karmal |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
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In office 1 May 1978 – 28 July 1979 |
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| President | Nur Muhammad Taraki |
| Preceded by | Mohammed Daoud Khan |
| Succeeded by | Shah Wali |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1 August 1929 Paghman, Afghanistan |
| Died | 27 December 1979 (aged 50) Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Political party | People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan(Khalq) |
| Spouse(s) | Patmanah |
| Children | Abdur Rahman one daughter. |
| Profession | Teacher, civil servant |
Hafizullah Amin (Persian: حفيظ الله امين born 1 August 1929 – 27 December 1979) was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Amin was born in Paghman and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his career as a teacher. After a few years in that occupation, he went to the United States to study. He would visit the United States a second time before moving permanently to Afghanistan, and starting his career in radical politics. He ran as a candidate in the 1965 parliamentary election but failed to secure a seat. Amin was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the 1969 parliamentary election, thus increasing his standing within the party. He was one of the leading organisers of the Saur Revolution which overthrew the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan.
Amin's short-lived presidency was marked by controversies from beginning to end. He came to power by ordering the death of his predecessor Nur Muhammad Taraki. The revolt against communist rule which had begun under Taraki worsened under Amin, and was a problem that his government was unable to solve. The Soviet Union, which alleged that Amin was an agent of the CIA, intervened in Afghanistan while invoking the Twenty-Year Treaty of Friendship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Amin was assassinated by the Soviets in December 1979 as part of Operation Storm-333, having ruled for slightly longer than three months.
Hafizullah Amin was born to a Ghilzai Pashtun family in Paghman on 1 August 1929. His father, a civil servant, died when he was still very young. Thanks to his brother Abdullah, a primary school teacher, Amin was able to attend both primary and secondary school, which in turn allowed him to attend Kabul University (KU). After studying mathematics there, he also graduated from the Darul Mualimeen Teachers College in Kabul, and became a teacher. Amin later became vice-principal of the Darul Mualimeen College, and then principal of the prestigious Avesina High School, and in 1957 left Afghanistan for Columbia University in New York City, where he earned M. A. in education. It was at Columbia that Amin became attracted to Marxism, and in 1958 he became a member of the university's Socialist Progressive Club. When he returned to Afghanistan, Amin became a teacher at Kabul University, and later, for the second time, the principal of Avesina High School. During this period Amin became acquainted with Nur Muhammad Taraki, a communist. Around this time, Amin quit his position as principal of Avesina High School in order to become principal of the Darul Mualimeen College.
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