Heydar Aliyev

Following elections at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party in July 1969, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Chairman of the Central Committee, thus becoming the leader of Azerbaijan.
An alternate member to the Political Bureau (Politburo) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (top political elite of the day) since 1976, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Politburo member in December 1982 and appointed to the position of the First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. In this capacity, he was actively involved in vital areas of the country’s economic, social and cultural life.