Rafiq Nishonov

Rafiq Nishonovich Nishonov (Cyrillic ; "Rafik Nishanovich Nishanov") (born 15 January 1926) served as the twelfth First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR.
Nishonov held this position for 17 months, from 12 January 1988 to 23 June 1989. His replacement was Islam Karimov. Prior to that, he also served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR between 1986 and 1988. He was also Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities from 1989 to 1991.
In 1970-78 he served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Sergei Lavrov, who has since 2004 served as the Foreign Minister of Russia, served as his Sinhala interpreter.