Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (Uzbek: Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov / Ислом Абдуғаниевич Каримов; Russian: Ислам Абдуганиевич Каримов; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was an Uzbek politician who served as the first president of Uzbekistan, from the country's independence in 1991 until his death in 2016. He was the last First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1989 to 1991, when the party was reconstituted as the People's Democratic Party of Uzbekistan (O‘zXDP); he led the O‘z