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29 May 2024
Iniziative (EN) -
Maison de la Paix (EN)
One of the last links to the old world in Abu Dhabi, before the transformation brought about by oil and gas, was severed with the passing of Saeed bin Ahmed Al Otaiba.
He is believed to have been born around 1916, at a time before birth certificates, and only seven years after the death of Sheikh Zayed the First, who had ruled Abu Dhabi since 1855. During his lifetime he saw seven rulers of Abu Dhabi and every aspect of life in the emirate and the UAE transformed.
The world he was born into had remained largely unchanged for centuries, where wealth and influence centred on the Arabian Gulf pearl trade.
The Otaiba family was one of the leading pearl traders in Abu Dhabi: by the 19th century, Khalid bin Abdullah had created a fleet of over 80 ships and earned the unofficial title of "pearl king".
Al Otaiba would also make his contribution over more than a century of life and work. Born in Al Dhahr, Abu Dhabi, his schooling included reading, writing, learning and reciting the Koran.
He began working as a pearl merchant, later expanding to other commodities when the pearl industry declined in the 1930s due to the arrival of Japanese artificial pearls.
After the formation of the UAE in 1971, he worked to establish Sheikh Zayed's economic vision for the country, becoming president of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Industry and Commerce and president-elect of the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, also remembered the pioneer, the ‘living memory of the capital’, in a statement published in X.
According to the directives of President Sheikh Mohamed, a street, named Saeed Bin Ahmed Al Otaiba Street, was named after him.