Ismail al-Azhari

Ismail al-Azhari was born on October 20, 1900, in the historic city of Omdurman, Sudan, into a distinguished family of religious scholars and jurists. Educated at Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum and the American University of Beirut, al-Azhari initially taught mathematics before dedicating his life to the liberation of Sudan from Anglo-Egyptian colonial rule.

In 1938, al-Azhari founded the Graduates' General Congress, which quickly became the nucleus of the Sudanese national liberation movement. In 1952, he united nationalist factions into the National Unionist Party (NUP). When self-government elections were held under colonial supervision in November 1953, al-Azhari's party won a resounding victory, and he was appointed Sudan's first Prime Minister on January 6, 1954.

Al-Azhari's supreme historic triumph occurred on December 19, 1955, when he led the Sudanese Parliament to unanimously declare complete national independence. On January 1, 1956, standing in Khartoum before roaring crowds, al-Azhari lowered the British and Egyptian flags and hoisted the tricolor banner of the sovereign Republic of Sudan. He later served as President of the High Council of State (Head of State) from 1965 until 1969, remaining an immortal national symbol of African self-determination and parliamentary sovereignty.