Гаджи Зейналабдин Тагиев: Жизнь и благотворительность азербайджанского мецената

Azerbaijani philanthropist (died 1924)

Hajji Mirza Zeynalabdin Taghi oghlu Taghiyev (; Тагиев, Гаджи Зейналабдин) (b. 25 January 1821, 1823, or 1838, d. 1 September 1924) was an Azerbaijani national industrial magnate and philanthropist.

Zeynalabdin Taghiyev was born into the poor family of a shoemaker Taghi and his wife Umukhanum in the old part of Baku. After his mother's death and his father's second marriage, he started learning masonry to help provide for his family of seven (sisters). His dedication to work ensured quick professional advancement and at 18, he was already a contractor. By mid 1873 along with two companions, Sarkis brothers, he purchased land near the oil booming town of Bibi Heybat, a few kilometres to the southeast of Baku. The intention was to discover oil, however all their attempts were in vain. After a while, Taghiyev's companions sold their share to him and returned to Baku. It was not long until oil gushed forth from one of the wells in 1877, leading to Taghiyev's instantly becoming one of the richest men in the Russian Empire.

Despite the decades of anti bourgeois Soviet propaganda that followed his lifetime, Taghiyev is revered by Azerbaijanis for his charity work. He sponsored the construction of the first Azerbaijani national theatre in 1883 (known as Taghiyev's Theatre, and later the Azerbaijan State Theatre of Musical Comedy) and helped to repair it after reactionists burned it down in 1909. In 1911, he covered all the expenses for the construction of what would later become the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Taghiyev provided 184,000 roubles to build the first secular Muslim school for girls in the Middle East in 1898–1900. He personally obtained the permission to build the school in his correspondence with Empress Alexandra. He also sponsored the construction of a school of agriculture in Mardakan in 1894 and the first technical school in the Baku Governorate in 1911. For his outstanding contributions, Taghiyev was twice awarded with the Order of Saint Stanislaus, as well as with a number of other orders and medals from both Russia and abroad.

Taghiyev was married twice. His first wife Zeynab, who was also his cousin, bore him three children. After her death, Taghiyev married Sona, the youngest daughter of General Balakishi Arablinski. The wedding took place in 1896. Arablinski's elder daughter Nurjahan had already been married to Taghiyev's older son Ismayil. His grandson Ilkin Taghiyev is a film director and photographer. Taghiyev sent his daughters Leyla and Sara to study at the prestigious Смольный институт благородных девиц in Saint Petersburg, from where his second wife Sona had once graduated.

After Azerbaijan's Sovietization in 1920 the country's wealthy suffered severe repressions from the Bolshevik government, resulting in the emigration of many of them. Taghiyev's house and his other possessions were therefore confiscated. Due to his past contributions and generosity, he was given the option of choosing a place of residence for himself. Taghiyev chose to stay in his summer cottage in the village of Mardakan, not far from Baku. He died there four years later, on 1 September 1924 of pneumonia. After his death, the summer cottage was confiscated and Taghiyev's family members were evicted. His wife Sona, once a wealthy, educated, and charitable noblewoman of the Caucasus, died in misery on the streets of Baku in 1938. The Azerbaijan State Museum of History is located in the former Taghiyev mansion in Baku.