Hacı Ömer Sabancı (1 January 1906 – 2 February 1966) was a Turkish

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, who founded a number of companies, which later formed the second largest industrial and financial conglomerate of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the

Sabancı Holding Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., commonly abbreviated as Sabancı Holding, is an industrial and financial conglomerate with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. The company's primary activities are in financial services, energy (electricity generat ...

. He initiated the establishment of a dynasty of Turkey's wealthiest businesspeople.

Early life

He was born in Akçakaya village, a small village in

Kayseri Province The Kayseri Province ( tr, ) is situated in central Turkey. The population is 1,434,357 of which around 1,175,876 live in the city of Kayseri. It covers an area of 16,917 km2 and it borders with Sivas, Adana, Niğde, Kahramanmaraş, Yoz ...

in central

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, Turkey. In 1921, a couple of years after the death of his father, the then fifteen-year-old youngster left his hometown and walked all the way to

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

to seek his fortune.

Career

Hacı Ömer started his new life as a

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

picker. In Adana he took part in the confiscation of Armenian property and businesses after the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

, which was encouraged by the Turkish government.Ayşe Buğra: ''State and Business in Modern Turkey. A Comparative Study.'' SUNY Press, 1994. p. 82 Soon, he became a broker for cotton harvesters. With the money he saved in a few years, Hacı Ömer entered the cotton trade, and in 1932 became a co-owner of a cotton

spinning Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

plant. At that time, the people working for him called him "Aga" ("Boss"). In 1943, he became a partner of YağSA, and in 1946 of MarSA, both production plants of

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...

and

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

, respectively. In 1948 Hacı Ömer established his own bank

Akbank Akbank T.A.Ş. is one of the largest banks in Turkey. Founded in 1948, , it had revenues of nearly TL 13.7 billion. Listed on the Borsa Istanbul, its largest shareholders are members of the Sabancı family. Akbank is a bank that offers vehicle ...

. In 1951 in Adana he founded the textile company Bossa, which became the largest integrated textile facility in Turkey. In the following years, he founded Oralitsa (1954), a roofing material factory, and Aksigorta (1960), an insurance company. In 1928, he married Sadıka (1910–1988), who bore him six sons, İhsan (1931–1979), Sakıp (1933–2004),

Hacı Hacı is the Turkish spelling of the title and epithet Hajji. It may refer to: People * Hacı I Giray (died 1466), founder and the first ruler of the Crimean Khanate * Hacı Ahmet ( 1566), purported Turkish cartographer * Hacı Arif Bey (1831� ...

(1935–1998), Şevket (1936–2021),

Erol Erol is a Turkish given name or surname meaning "brave". This name is shared by the following people: Given name * Erol Alkan (born 1974), Turkish Cypriot DJ, artist and record producer * Erol Erdal Alkan (born 1994), Turkish footballer * Erol Be ...

(born 1938) and Özdemir (1941–1996). Hacı Ömer Sabancı and his family moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

after purchasing, in 1951, a mansion known as "Atlı Köşk" ("Equestrian Villa") on the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an shore of

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

Emirgan Emirgan is a leafy, middle-class suburb of Istanbul, Turkey, on the western shore of the Bosphorus in the Sarıyer district north of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (Second Bosphorus Bridge). The name commemorates a friendship that eventually tur ...

. This house is used as the

Sakıp Sabancı Museum The Sabancı University Sakıp Sabancı Museum ( tr, Sakıp Sabancı Müzesi) is a private fine arts museum in Istanbul, Turkey, dedicated to Islamic calligraphy, calligraphic art, religious and state documents, as well as paintings of the Ottom ...

today. He died, a self-made rich man, on 22 February 1966 in İstanbul. He is commemorated by the holding company of the group, Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding, which was founded 1967 soon after his death in Adana. A charity institution, Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation "Vaksa" was established also in 1974 in Adana and named after him. The foundation built, among other things, a high school sports hall in İstanbul, a cultural center in Adana, dormitories in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

and Adana, and primary schools in Kayseri and Van, which are dedicated to him.

External links

Biography at Sabancı Holding website

Milestones of Sabancı Holding

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabanci, Haci Omer 1906 births 1966 deaths People from Talas, Turkey 20th-century Turkish businesspeople

Omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar * Omer (Book of Mormon), a Jaredite ...