Shamsi Asadullayev, an Azerbaijani millionaire-oilman, philanthropist, was born in 1841 in the village of Amirjany, in the suburbs of Baku. He paid special attention to science and culture and patronized many young Azerbaijanis, sent them to study in Germany, France, Warsaw, Kazan, Kiev, Moscow, Odessa, St. Petersburg and Kharkov. Shamsi Asadullayev sponsored the Alexander Pedagogical Institute in Tbilisi. He was the grandfather of the famous French writer and memoirist Banin (Umbulbanu) of Azerbaijani origin.

Shamsi Asadullayev was born into a poor family. In his youth, he was a carrier and carried agricultural products. In 1874 he opened an office, with little capital, for the extraction of oil, which worked with primitive methods. But in 1893, this small office, already working on the new technological methods, became the “Shamsi Asadullayev” oil producing company, which was one of the 12 leading oil companies, producing about 60% of Baku oil. He is the first among the Baku oil producers, who in 1891 began to transport oil across the Caspian Sea by means of steam vessels.

In 1895, a large fountain was clogged on the newly acquired site, which lasted 56 days. Every day the fountain gave 1 million 600 thousand pounds of oil. It was the most famous fountain in Baku's oil history.

In 1895, a large fountain was hammered on the newly acquired site, which lasted 56 days.

Sh. Asadullayev owned numerous oil storages in the cities of the Volga region, in Moscow, Poland, as well as in Central Asia and Iran.

Shamsi Asadullayev was popularly nicknamed "the thunderstorm of the Nobels". Wherever the Nobel brothers opened their offices and branches - in Russia, Turkestan, Iran, even in Finland - the office of Shamsi Asadullayev immediately appeared next to them, who sold oil much cheaper and thereby lured the clients of the Swedish company.

In 1893, the capital of “the Shamsi Asadullayev” company amounted to only 500 manats, and in 1913 it reached 10 million manats. Shamsi Asadullayev owned 37 oil wells, mechanical workshops and oil refineries located in Sabunchi, Surakhani and Ramany, as well as dozens of ships sailing the Caspian Sea.
In 1903 Sh. Asadullayev moved to Moscow. He builds real estate in several locations in St. Petersburg and Moscow. He also does charity work, opens a school for poor children, donates one of his mansions to the Muslim cultural center (Tatar House).

In 1913, in connection with the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, he established two scholarships in his name at the Tbilisi Institute of Teachers.
After the fall of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1920, the communist regime nationalized all of Asadullayev's property. Shamsi Asadullayev died on April 21, 1913 in the city of Yalta at the age of 72 and was buried in Baku.

Shamsi Asadullayev's son Mirza Asadullayev (1875–1936) was an outstanding figure in the government of ADR. He was the father of the famous French writer and memoirist Banin (Umbulbanu) of Azerbaijani origin. Mirza Asadullayev emigrated to France in 1921 and died there in 1936, was buried in Bobigni.

Recommended literature:

1. Banin. Paris günləri : roman / Banin ; frans. tərc. H. Qoca ; Qafqazın Strateji Tədqiqatlar İnstitutu. - Bakı : Qafqaz NE, 2006. - 208 s.
2. Banin. Qafqaz günləri : avtobioqrafik roman / Banin ; frans. dilindən tərc.: H. Qoca, Ç. Vəliyeva ; red. Azad Qaradərəli. - Bakı : XAN nəşriyyatı, 2015. - 256 s.
3. Banine. Days in the Caucasus / Banine ; trans. A. Thompson-Ahmadova. - London : Pushkin Press, 2019. - 274 p.