Agha Musa Naghiyev ( az, Ağa Musa Nağıyev) (1849-1919) was an Azerbaijani industrial oil magnate in late 19th - early 20th century. He was also an adherent of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

and served on the

Spiritual Assembly Spiritual Assembly is a term given by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Baháʼí Faith. Because the Baháʼí Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level ...

of the Baháʼís of Baku.

Life and career

He was born into a very poor family near Baku and started working as a cargo carrier (''hambal''), but thanks to his natural wit and business abilities, he progressed to accumulate a vast amount of wealth. Musa Naghiyev was one of the richest oil industrialists in Baku, next to Nobel brothers. His assets were worth 300 million rubles. Later, he began investing in real estate so as to guarantee himself a source of regular income and became the largest rental property owner in Baku owning more than 200 buildings. He was considered in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

as one of the most stingy, tight-fisted millionaires. However, despite such claims, it was Agha Musa Naghiyev who built one of the most wonderful palaces in the entire city and offered it as a gift to the Muslim Charity Society. This palace, modeled on Doge's Palace in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

now houses Presidium of Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. Another gift from Naghiyev to the city was the city's largest hospital which was built in 1912 and is still used today by the Ministry of Health. The building is designed in the shape of an "H" (Cyrillic "N") for Naghiyev's name. The owner of dozens of magnificent buildings in Baku, Agha Musa Naghiyev himself lived in the area outside of

Icheri Sheher Old City or Inner City ( az, İçərişəhər) is the historical core of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The Old City is the most ancient part of Baku, which is surrounded by walls. In 2007, the Old City had a population of about 3000 people. ...

called Bayir Sheher, in the two-floor building behind Qasim-bey Mosque, on the crossing of Spasski (present Zargarpalan) and Gymnasist (Leo Tolstoy) streets. Actively involved in the work of the Baku Muslim Charitable Society, Musa Nagiyev was a philanthropist during his lifetime. Naghiyev's will was to be buried next to Ismail oglu in Karbala, the totalitarian regime did not allow it, so he sent his relatives to Karbala with the hope of taking him to Karbala. The architectural elements of stone clocks designed on the top and a stone lantern on the edge of that beautiful building erected in 1887, made it a distinctive appearance. The stone lantern called "Seng fanar" was decorated with red, green, blue, turquoise pieces of glass to create colourful illumination effect during the evenings. Every evening kids were gathering around the building to feast eyes on that startlingly impressive view of street lighting. Such a colourful lit of the stone lantern in Baku at the

fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...

used to create an amazing and spectacular attraction. Naghiyev was the main sponsor and trustee of one of the largest technical colleges, "Real College", the building now houses the

Azerbaijan State Economic University , latin_name = , image = Azerbaijan State Economic University main building.jpg , image_upright = 1.2 , caption = Building of Azerbaijan State Economic University in Istiglaliyyat Street , motto = , established = June ...

. He died of a heart attack on 4 March 1919.

References

External links

Azerbaijan International

Musa Nagiyev.az
* Miryusif Mirbabayev. Concise history of Azerbaijani oil - Baku, 2008, SOCAR Publishing House, 340p. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nagiev 1849 births 1919 deaths Azerbaijani businesspeople in the oil industry Azerbaijani businesspeople Azerbaijani philanthropists Azerbaijani Bahá'ís 19th-century philanthropists Azerbaijani humanitarians