Mammad Yusif Jafarov

Mammad Yusif Jafarov Hajibaba oghlu (; , 1885 - May 15, 1938) was an Azerbaijani statesman.

Early life Jafarov was born on , 1885 in Baku, in the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Azerbaijan). He was the younger brother of a prominent professor and journalist, Ali Isgender Jafarzadeh. After completion of his secondary education, Jafarov studied in at Moscow State University graduating with a cum laude degree in law in 1912. While in Moscow, he was one of the organizers of regular ethnic Azerbaijani concerts and co-founders of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations.

Political career

Russian Empire In 1912, when Fourth Duma of Russian Empire convened in Saint Petersburg, Mammad Yusif Jafarov was elected by the Muslim population of Baku, Ganja and Erivan governorates to represent them in state parliament. In Saint Petersburg, he joined Constitutional Democratic Party (also known as Kadets). While in the Duma, he repeatedly criticized Tsar's government for their unjust colonization policy in Azerbaijan. On March 9, immediately after Russia's February Revolution, the interim government established the Transcaucasian Committee of the Duma. Jafarov was one of the members of the committee that managed the industrial and economic operations. On November 15, 1917, he was appointed Commissar of Industry and Trade of Transcaucasian Commissariat. Jafarov served as the acting speaker and head of government until April 27, 1920, when Azerbaijan was occupied by Bolshevik 11th Red Army and ADR ceased to exist. He signed the documents of the peaceful surrender of the Azerbaijani government to the Bolsheviks.

Soviet Azerbaijan During the Soviet rule of Azerbaijan SSR, Jafarov retired from politics and worked as a legal counselor at Azerbaijani wine-making and cotton-wool trusts. He died on May 15, 1938, in Baku.