Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev

One of the most important historical figures in Azerbaijan is Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev. He (May 10, 1923 – December 12, 2003) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani politician who served as Azerbaijan's third president from October 1993 until October 2003. Originally a high-ranking official in the KGB of the Azerbaijan SSR for 28 years (1941-1969), he headed Soviet Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982 and served as the First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1987.

Aliyev was elected president of independent Azerbaijan at a time when the country was on the verge of civil war and had suffered significant losses in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War with neighboring Armenia. Supporters of Aliyev credit him for restoring Azerbaijan's stability and transforming the country into a major worldwide energy producer. In Azerbaijan, his regime has been labeled as dictatorial, authoritarian, and repressive. He was also accused of running a heavy-handed police state in which elections were manipulated and criticism was suppressed. A personality cult sprung up around Aliyev, which lasted until his death in 2003. His son, Ilham Aliyev, was elected president in a contentious election shortly before his death and continues to lead Azerbaijan to this day.

Throughout his life, Aliyev received numerous state orders and medals, and international prizes, and was named honorary doctor of various universities. He has been awarded the Order of Lenin five times, the Order of the Red Star once, and the Hero of Socialist Labor twice. Aliyev received Ukraine's highest accolade, the Yaroslav Mudry Order, on March 27, 1997, in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Turkey's highest honor, the Atatürk International Peace Prize, on April 13, 1999. On 3 April 2003, he was elected a professor and authorized member of the Russian Federation's Academy of Safety, and he was later granted the Yuri Andropov Premium. A statue of Aliyev has been inaugurated in Belgrade's Tamajdan Park, with the Azerbaijani government contributing 2 million euros ($2.9 million) to its refurbishment. A statue of Aliyev, given to Mexico by the Azerbaijani embassy, was put in a park in Mexico City in August 2012, but it was removed the following January after becoming contentious.