Qahhor Mahkamov
| Qahhor Mahkamov | |
|---|---|
| 1st President of the Republic of Tajikistan | |
|
In office November 30, 1990 – August 31, 1991 |
|
| Succeeded by | Rahmon Nabiyev |
| Full member of the 28th Politburo | |
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In office 14 July 1990 – 29 August 1991 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 16, 1932 Khujand, Tajik SSR |
| Died | June 8, 2016 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | Tajik |
Qahhor Mahkamov (Tajik: Қаҳҳор Маҳкамов; alternative spelling Kahar Mahkamov; born April 16, 1932 – June 8, 2016) was a Tajik politician who served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and was the first President of Tajikistan.
Mahkamov was born into a working-class family in the northern city of Khujand on April 16, 1932. He graduated from Dushanbe Industrial Technicom in 1950 and from the Leningrad Institute of Mountain Mining in 1953 with a degree in engineering. He worked as a professor, head engineer, and director of a mine in Isfara. In 1957 he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and quickly worked his way into the high ranks of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, becoming head of the prestigious Committee of the Representatives of the Workers of Leninabad. In 1963 Mahkamov was appointed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and from 1963 until 1982 he was Head of the Central Planning and the Vice-Director of the Cabinet of the Ministers of Tajikistan, one of the most power positions in the republic.
In 1985 Rahmon Nabiyev was ousted in a corruption scandal as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and Mahkamov was chosen to succeed him. Mahkamov's tenure was one of the most turbulent in the republic's history. His accession to power coincided with that of Mikhail Gorbachev and the advent of Perestroika and Glasnost. During Mahkamov's reign in power Tajikistan saw a surge in nationalism, which culminated in the passage of the 1989 ‘’Language Law’’ that designated Tajik the official language of the republic. This law elicited a great deal of fear among the population and an exodus of the non-Central Asian population began, especially amongst ethnic Russians, Jews and Germans.
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