Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov (; ; 30 January 1938 – 2 September 2016) was the leader of Uzbekistan and its predecessor state, the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, from 1989 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 (PDP); he led the PDP until 1996. He was the President of the Uzbek SSR from 24 March 1990 until he declared the independence of Uzbekistan on 1 September 1991. He declared Uzbekistan an independent nation on 31 August 1991. He subsequently won a non-democratic presidential election on 29 December 1991, with 86% of the vote. Foreign observers and opposition party cited voting irregularities, alleging state-run propaganda and a falsified vote count. Karimov's first presidential term was extended to 2000 by way of a referendum, and he was re-elected in 2000, 2007 and 2015, each time receiving over 90% of the vote. He died from a stroke on 2 September 2016, after being president of the country for 25 years. He ruled a repressive authoritarian regime in Uzbekistan where political opponents were assassinated, human rights were repressed, and dissent was prohibited but the capital punishment was repealed in 1998. Early life and career Karimov was born in Samarkand to Uzbek parents who were civil servants. According to official data his father is Abdug'ani Karimov, an Uzbek, and his mother is Sanobar Karimova, a Tajik. But according to unofficial data his biological father was Bukharan Jewish. He was sent to an orphanage in 1941, brought back in 1942, and then returned to the orphanage in 1945. In 1955, he graduated from high school. In 1960, he graduated from the Central Asian Polytechnic Institute (now Tashkent State Technical University) with a degree in mechanical engineering. He began work as an engineer, eventually joining the Ministry of Water Resources of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1967, he earned a master's degree in economics from Tashkent State University of Economics. From 1966 to 1986, he worked his way up the ranks in the Uzbek State Planning Committee, from chief specialist, to department head, to Minister of Finance of the Uzbek SSR, chairman of the State Planning Committee and deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Uzbek SSR. In 1986, Karimov assumed the post of first secretary of the Kashkadarya Regional