Who Was Jafar Pishevari And What Impact Did He Have On History?

Seyed Jafar Javadzadeh, commonly known as Seyed Jafar Pishevari, was the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Government of Azerbaijan and the founder of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party. He was also the People's Commissar for Internal Affairs in the Gilan Soviet Republic.

Early Life of Seyed Jafar Pishevari

He was born in 1893 in the village of Seyidlar Zivesi, near Khalkhal, and at the age of ten or twelve, after a brief period of primary education, he moved with his family to the Caucasus, having lost their property in a chaotic situation. At that time, Baku was rapidly developing as an industrial center, attracting many job seekers. He studied at the Communist University of the Toiling People of the East in Baku and also worked as a teacher in the Union of Iranians and at the municipality schools.

Political Activities of Seyed Jafar Pishevari

After the Russian Revolution, he became interested in communist ideals and began his journalistic activities by writing articles for the publication Achig Soz (Straight Talk), the organ of the Musavat Party, and later collaborated with the Azerbaijan newspaper, the organ of the Iranian Democratic Party's Baku branch. After the events of March 1918 and the increasing socialist activities among workers in Baku, he joined the Justice Party and continued his journalistic work in left-wing publications such as Hurriyat, the organ of the Justice Party.

Seyed Jafar Pishevari’s Rise to Prominence

In 1919, Pishevari was elected to the central committee of the Justice Party during its public conference. After the Bolsheviks took control of Azerbaijan and the Soviet occupation of Anzali in May 1920, he and other members of the Justice Party began political activities in Gilan. The Justice Party later renamed itself the Communist Party of Iran in a congress, and Pishevari became a member of its central committee.

He served as the Foreign Minister of the Gilan Republic after a coup. He attended the Congress of Eastern Peoples in Baku as a representative of Iran and left Iran after the defeat of the Gilan guerrilla movement. Pishevari also published the Akinji (Farmer) newspaper in Baku and later joined the editorial board of Haqiqat (Truth), the organ of the General Union of Iranian Workers, and played a significant role in its writings.

Political Exile and Leadership of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party

In 1945, after the end of World War II and with Soviet support, Pishevari returned to Tabriz and founded the Azerbaijan Democratic Party with other Azerbaijani political activists. On 12 September 1945, they issued a declaration announcing the creation of the political entity. One of their main objectives was to secure greater local autonomy, including the teaching of the Turkish language alongside Persian and implementing land and economic reforms.

This culminated in the establishment of the Autonomous Government of Azerbaijan on 21 December 1945. Following Soviet support, Pishevari became the Prime Minister of this government. However, after the formation of Qavam's government in February 1946, and an agreement between the Soviet Union and Iran, Soviet forces began withdrawing from Azerbaijan, leading to the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party.

Death of Pishevari

Seyed Jafar Pishevari died on July 10, 1947, following a car accident in which there was a dispute between him and Mir Jafar Bagirov, the Prime Minister of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Some have speculated that Bagirov may have been involved in the accident. In 1954, Mohammad Bi Ria, the Minister of Culture in Pishevari's government, wrote a letter to the Soviet Premier, Malenkov, suggesting that Pishevari's death was a result of murder.