Jafar Pishevari
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Sayyid Jafar Pishevari (جعفر پیشهوری) was the founder and chairman of the Democratic Republic of South Azerbaijan (November 1945 – November 1946). He was born in Khalkhal (in Azarbaijan region of Iran) and became a journalist in the 1920s. For some time, he was imprisoned by the Iranian Shah for his political ideas. He was a candidate for the Iranian parliament but was denied entry by the rulers. Pishevari was leader of the Azerbaijani Democratic Party.
Pishevari, with Soviet backing, founded the autonomous socialist Democratic Republic of South Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan People's Government) in November 1945. After the collapse of this short-lived republic, he fled to Azerbaijan SSR and died there in 1947. It's claimed that he was executed by the Soviets.