Ahmet Khusainov was an entrepreneur, merchant of the 1st guild, philanthropist.
He was born in 1837 in the family of the bankrupt merchant Muhammadali Khusainov from Seitov Posad (Kargaly) near Orenburg. At a young age, he opened his own enterprise for the sale of petty goods and raw materials in the city of Orenburg, to which he later attracted his brothers Mahmud and Gani. Together they created the firm “Ahmet Khusainov and brothers”, which carried out trade and intermediary operations between European Russia and Central Asia. In 1886, the Khusainovs were included from the middle class in the first guild of merchants. For several decades of joint activity, the Khusainov brothers have created a successful company with branches in many large shopping centers in Russia and abroad. The Khusainovs gained the greatest fame in the Tatar world thanks to generous charity. Being deeply religious Muslims, they paid special attention to supporting mosques and Jadid madrasahs, sparing no funds for the construction of school buildings, the publication of the necessary educational literature, and the remuneration of teachers. On the initiative of Ahmet Khusainov, in 1889, the Khusainia Madrasah was opened in Orenburg. In 1896, Ahmet Khusainov moved permanently to Kazan, where he announced his capital in the first guild and settled in a mansion on the embankment of Kaban Lake (now 42 Marjani Street), where, until his death in December 10, 1906, he continued his charitable activities, financially supported the Muhammadiya Madrasah and the Muslim Charitable Society. As Rizaitdin Fakhretdin wrote: “During the 10 years spent in Kazan, he, allocating 3000 or more rubles from each of his incomes, built 20 mosques and madrasahs, paid for the work of mugallims in 40 kuttabs, provided 200 schools with necessary textbooks” .
