Bahrain: A leading Bahraini businessman, philanthropist and visionary who helped shape the nation has died.
Husain bin Ali Yateem opened the country’s first cinema and its first petrol station, as well as being instrumental in the formation of national airline Gulf Air.
He died yesterday, aged 101.
He was the father of Ali, Mohammed, late Laila, Mary, Salwa and Sheherazede.
The funeral will be held today at 9am at the Manama Cemetery.
Known as a professional, modest and humble man by his family, friends and employees, Mr Yateem lived a full and eventful life punctuated with notable moments.
He was born in 1914 and while still a young man made what was then a 45-day journey to the UK, on the advice of his father’s friend and famed geologist Major Frank Holmes, to learn English.
His studies served him well in later life, giving him the ability to act as translator for major oil companies while in Bahrain – and the proficiency to debate matters of the day with world leaders he met on his travels, such as the late US president Franklin D Roosevelt.
Such was Mr Yateem’s linguistic expertise that it was commented on by none other than the famous former British prime minister Winston Churchill, who he also met.
The late Amir, HH Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, with Mr Yateem, left, the late Ahmed Kanoo and Mohammed Jalal
When oil was first discovered in the Gulf in 1932, his family company A M Yateem Brothers became chief supplier of cement and building materials to the nascent Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).
Indeed, it was Mr Yateem who helped the Standard Oil Company of California win oil concessions in what was then known as the Trucial States (now the UAE).
He was the first to import air conditioners to Qatar and Bahrain in around 1934-35 and his early exposure to a European lifestyle inspired him to open the country’s first cinema, as well as an ice and sweet water plant.
An early cinema in Bahrain with Mr Yateem responsible for opening the first in the 30s
The 1938 opening ceremony of Bahrain's first petrol station near Bab Al Bahrain.
In 1938, Mr Yateem opened Bahrain’s first petrol station near Bab Al Bahrain, which was only demolished in the late 1980s and is now the site of the Yateem Mosque.
He would also become known as an importer of iconic Studebaker cars from the US as well as luxury Swiss watches.
Working alongside Sir Charles Belgrave, a British adviser to Bahrain’s government, Mr Yateem helped attract investors from Saudi Arabia and Qatar to form the Gulf Aviation Company in 1950, which in 1974 would become Gulf Air.
The Yateem Mosque is now located on the site
The late Amir, HH Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, accompnied by Mr Yateem, left, during a visit to London
He travelled the world and frequently accompanied Bahrain’s rulers on official and private trips, including the late Shaikh Hamad (1932-1942), Shaikh Salman (1942-1961) and former Amir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
In 1953, Mr Yateem was present for the coronation of the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II.
He gave his name to the landmark Yateem Centre in Manama Suq, which was built in 1981 on a site near to where he once lived.
The quiet-spoken entrepreneur supported the BD12.5 million Shaikh Isa National Library and Conference Hall project, was a founder member and formerly deputy chairman of the National Bank of Bahrain and Gulf Hotel board, and at one time headed both the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bahrain Red Crescent Society.
In March this year, Mr Yateem was honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the first ever Bahrain Award for Entrepreneurship.
A senior staff member from A M Yateem Brothers who had worked with Mr Yateem for more than two decades described him as the “most humble and generous person”.
“Mr Yateem’s door was always open for all working in the organisation,” he said.
Condolences will be received from men at Yateem Majlis at Yateem Gardens in Adliya and from women at the house of Mr Yateem’s son Mohammed Yateem in Adliya, today, tomorrow and on Monday.
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