Haji Zeynalabdin Tagi oglu Tagiyev was born on January 25, 1823 in Baku, in the family of a shoemaker. Multimillionaire, prominent Azerbaijani industrial magnate, and philanthropist, and successful entrepreneur in the 20th century. Since he was the patron of education and culture, the people called him the father of the nation. He went down in the history of the Azerbaijani people as a philanthropist, who had a great influence on the training of national personnel. Taghiyev contributed to the establishment and development of education and culture in Azerbaijan. No wonder the Azerbaijani people still call him the father of the nation.

Z. Taghiyev lost his mother at the age of 10. Since the difficult situation in the family forced him to work, he worked as a carrier of mud for 6 kopecks a day in construction. At the age of 12 he began to cut stone, and at the age of 15, he became a bricklayer. After collecting a certain sum of money, he bought two shops and started selling industrial products there. In 1870, Taghiyev built a plant with two cauldrons (boilers) for the production of the kerosene, which was in great demand at that time, and two years later, in 1872, invested in oil extraction - drilled the first oil wells. In 1886, he opened a joint-stock company engaged in oil production and oil refining. In 1897 Tagiyev established “Caucasus Joint-stock Community on the procession of fibrous materials”, the largest fabric factory in Russia. In 1914 he founded Baku Merchant Bank to conduct trade operations with other local entrepreneurs and was elected as a representative of the bank’s administrative staff. In 1916, Z. Tagiyev founded the “Tagiyev Fishing Industry Joint-Stock Company” that operated in Azerbaijan and Dagestan. He bought fishing vessels, set up fisheries, fish processing and canning plants. By the end of 1917, the fortune of Z. Tagiyev numbered 30 million rubles. An active and successful entrepreneur generously engaged in charity: he built schools, including for girls, a theater, which still functions today, established newspapers and magazines. With his money, hundreds of young people studied in England, Germany, Russia and France, including such outstanding Azerbaijanis as Mammad Emin Rasulzade, Nariman Narimanov and others.

Z. Taghiyev was not only a successful entrepreneur; he was also a great public figure. He was repeatedly elected to the Baku Duma and was involved in many civic projects, particularly in financing the construction of a horse-drawn tramline and the Baku-Shollar water pipeline. He constructed the first theatre building in Baku, in 1883.

Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev was awarded by many orders and medals of the Russian Empire, Persia and the Emirate of Bukhara. With the establishment of the communist regime in Azerbaijan in 1920, the property of Tagiyev was nationalized. Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev died on September 1, 1924, at the age of 86 in Mardakan settlement near Baku. 
 

Recommended literature:

1. Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti Ensiklopediyası : 2 cilddə / red. heyəti Y. M. Mahmudov [et al.] ; baş red. Y. M. Mahmudov. II cild. - Bakı : Lider nəşriyyat, 2005. - 472 s.
2. Mehri, Gülnarə. Neft Bakısı "nağılı" / G. Mehri. - Bakı : Gənclik, 2014. - 352 s.
3. Мири-заде, Саида. Путешествие в прошлое : [Гаджи Зейналабдин Тагиев] / С. Мири-заде ; ред. Н. Гусейнова. - Баку : Шарг-Гарб, 2018. - 224 с.