Ismail al-Azhari

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Ismail al-Azhari
إسماعيل الأزهري
Al-Azhari in 1969
Chairman of the Sovereignty Council
In office June 10, 1965 – May 25, 1969 Co-leading with Sovereignty Council
Preceded by	Sirr Al-Khatim Al-Khalifa (Acting President)
Succeeded by	Gaafar Nimeiry (Chairman of the National Revolutionary Command Council)
1st Prime Minister of Sudan
In office 6 January 1954 – 5 July 1956
Monarch	Elizabeth II (until 1956)
Governor‑General	Knox Helm (until 1956)
Preceded by	Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi (As Chief Minister of Sudan)
Succeeded by	Abdallah Khalil
Personal details
Born	20 October 1900 Omdurman, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Died	26 August 1969 (aged 68) Khartoum, Sudan
Political party	Democratic Unionist Party

Ismail al-Azhari (Arabic: إسماعيل الأزهري, romanized: ʼIsmāʻīl al-Azharī; October 20, 1900 – August 26, 1969) was a Sudanese nationalist and political figure. He served as the first Prime Minister of Sudan between 1954 and 1956, and as Head of State of Sudan from 1965 until he was overthrown by Gaafar Nimeiry in 1969.^[1]

He was president of the National Unionist Party (now the Democratic Unionist Party) when the unionist parties united under his leadership. In 1954 he was elected prime minister from within the parliament and under the influence of the growing sense of the need for independence of Sudan and before the union discussion with Egypt. With the support of the independent movement, he submitted the proposal to declare independence to parliament. He assumed the post of president of the Council of Sovereignty after the revolution of October 1964 during the second period of democracy. He was arrested during the May 1969 coup and imprisoned in Cooper prison and when his health declined, he was admitted to hospital, where he remained until his death.^{[citation needed]}