Yosef Davydov

(1855 - 1914)

Yosef (Yusuf) Davydov was born in 1855 to Yudo and Ogul Davydov in Tashkent. His father, Yudo, worked as a dyer of fabrics and owned a shop, eventually becoming wealthy.

Growing up, Yosef studied Hebrew and laws of the Talmud. After he finished his education, Davydov used family capitol to open the Davydov Trading House with his brothers and a partner, Benjamin Abramov. The business was very successful, and in a short time the Davydov brothers became the owners of four cotton factories, a brewery (which is still in operation in Tashkent as the Brewery #6) and a plenty of warehouses. Yosef Davydov became a millionaire in Tashkent, where the family had a private residence on street named Davydov. (It was subsequently renamed Arpapai, and then Uzbekistan Street.)

Wanting to give back to the Jewish community that raised him, Davydov inanced the construction of two Jewish schools and a synagogue in 1902.

A businessman and at the same time a religious person, Yosef Davydov made several pilgrimages to Jerusalem, where he had constructed a house in Sh'hunat ha-Buharim. He was also the founder of Bukharian-Jewish cemetery called "Chigatai" in Tashkent. In 1908, Yosef Davydov was elected as the head of Bukharian Jewish community of Tashkent.

In 1913, Davydov and his wife left Tashkent and moved to Jerusalem, where he had a private residence. Yosef Davydov died in 1914 in Jerusalem at age 58.

Sources: Bukharian Jews