27 Facts About Zeynalabdin Taghiyev

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev was born into the poor family of a shoemaker Muhammedtaghi Taghiyev, and his wife Umukhanum, in the Old City of Baku.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev invested his fortune not only in the oil business but in many other projects such as a textile factory and industrial fisheries along the shore of the Caspian Sea.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev arranged for the construction of a mosque and evening self-education courses for the employees of the textile factory, a school for their children, a pharmacy, a first-aid post, and a mill.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sold his oil business interest to Anglo-Russian Oil Company for 5 million rubles.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev amassed shares in the Oleum Company established on the basis of these enterprises to the amount of 16 million rubles.

Later, in 1890, Zeynalabdin Taghiyev bought the Caspian Steamship Company, renovated it, and created a fleet of 10 steamboats.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev owned real estate in Baku, Moscow, Tehran, Isfahan, Anzali, and Rasht.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sponsored the construction of the first Azerbaijani national theatre in 1883 and helped to repair it after reactionists burned it down in 1909.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev personally obtained the permission to build the school in his correspondence with Empress Alexandra.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sponsored the construction of a school of agriculture in Mardakan in 1894 and the first technical school in the Baku Governorate in 1911.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev helped to maintain many city institutions and contributed to the adornment of Baku, including laying out parks and paving the streets.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev helped to solve the water crisis in the city by helping to finance the Shollar water pipeline, which channeled water 100 miles away in the Caucasus Mountains, near Quba, via a ceramic pipeline.

In 1886 Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sponsored the establishment of a fire department in Baku.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev provided scholarships for many Azerbaijani youths who strived for higher education in prestigious Russian and European universities.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev then sent a mullah envoy to Baghdad who came back with an official permission from a board of Muslim scholars to translate the Koran from Arabic into Azerbaijani.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev ordered the necessary equipment from Leipzig and sponsored the translation and the publishing.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev allocated 11,000 roubles for the construction of the head office for the Muslim Benevolent Society in Saint Petersburg; 3,000 roubles for the education of Armenian orphans; 5,000 for the St Nina's School for Girls in Baku; 10,000 roubles for the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Baku; tens of thousands of roubles for the construction and repair of mosques and madrasas throughout Russia and Persia.

Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, often called the "Father of the Nation," was an illiterate man from a poor background who became one of the most frequently mentioned figures of his time.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev was deeply committed to public service and philanthropy, particularly in education.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev funded the construction of schools, including the first school for Muslim girls in the Caucasus, which he named after Empress Alexandra Fedorovna.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev's contributions earned him recognition from both Russian royalty and the Azerbaijani people.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev provided scholarships for Azerbaijani students to study abroad, many of whom went on to become notable figures.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sent funds to help free Pakistan from British rule.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev's grandson Ilkin Taghiyev is a film director and photographer.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev sent his daughters Leyla and Sara to study at the prestigious Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens in Saint Petersburg, from where his second wife Sona had once graduated.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev chose to stay in his summer cottage in the village of Mardakan, not far from Baku.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev died there four years later, on 1 September 1924 of pneumonia.