Ivan Mirzoev ( arm, Հովաննես Միրզոյան) (died 1880) was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

businessman, the first person to drill oil in Baku and is considered one of the "founding fathers" of the Baku oil industry. He founded the Mirzoev Brothers oil company, which at the time had become one of the most effective and sustainable companies in the world oil industry. He was of Armenian descent.

Life

Born into an Armenian family in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, Ivan Mirzoev moved to Baku and began working in the silk trade. In 1855, he then opened a fishery company on the banks of the

Caspian sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...

, which employed 2,500 people.

Oil business

In the years between 1821 and 1872, the Russian Czarist government maintained a monopoly over the

Apsheron peninsula The Absheron Peninsula ( az, Abşeron yarımadası) is a peninsula in Azerbaijan. It is the location of Baku, the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyr ...

's oil fields. In 1863, through governments concessions, Mirzoev opened the first oil refinery in the Apsheron peninsula. Mirzoev, who held concessions in Apsheron since 1863, immediately took up the opportunity to build his own drilling sites once the monopoly of the Russian government ended in 1872. In Surakhani, Mirzoev founded two kerosene factories and produced 160 thousand tons of kerosene, amounting to 260 thousand

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

s. This project made him the first exporter of petroleum out of

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 th ...

. In 1871, using wooden rods, Mirzoev drove a well 45 meters deep which produced a daily output of 2000 cubic meters in the Balakhany oil fields. This because the first successful oil drilling operation in Baku's history. The success of the drilling of Mirzoev was the first element contributing to the Baku oil rush. Mirzoev eventually became a major purchaser of oil in and around Baku. After Mirzoev's death, his wife Daria, sons Gregory and Melkon, and daughter Maria founded the oil industry and the partnership known as Brothers Mirzoev with a grand capital of 2.1 million rubles in 1886. The company remained active until 1918 when it was forced to shut down due to massacres against Armenians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirzoev, Ivan Armenian diaspora Businesspeople from Baku 1885 deaths Armenian businesspeople in the oil industry Russian businesspeople in the oil industry

Life

Oil business

See also

References