Azhari, Ismail (1902–1969)

Sudanese politician, first prime minister of Sudan 1954–56 and president 1964–69. Imprisoned by the British for nationalist agitation, he was elected head of the National Unionist Party in 1952, and led the country in the two years preceding full independence.

Azhari was born at Omdurman and educated at Gordon College, Khartoum, and the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Following the army coup led by Ibrahim Abboud in 1958, he was politically inactive but assumed the presidency when the Abboud regime fell. He was toppled by General Nimeri's coup in 1969, and died a few months later.