Sakıp Sabancı was the President of the Board of Sabancı Holding, one of the two largest family-owned industrial holdings in Turkey.
He was born in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri in 1933, the second of six sons of cotton trader and textile factory owner Hacı Ömer Sabancı. After his father's death, Sakıp Sabancı took over the family business in 1967, assisted by his brothers, and built it into an empire with more than 30,000 employees.
Sabancı, who wrote 14 books, founded the charitable Sabancı Foundation, which runs more than 100 health, education and culture centers throughout Turkey. He contributed millions to education in Turkey and set up a university named after the family. He was a passionate art collector and his collection of paintings, statues and Ottoman calligraphy are exhibited at the longtime family villa overlooking the Bosphorus, which was turned into the Sakip Sabancı Museum in 2002.
Sakıp Sabancı was awarded 12 honorary doctorates. He was decorated with the "Rank of Commodore of the Order of King Leopold II" of Belgium, "The Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star" award by the Japanese Government and "Legion d'Honneur" by Jacques Chirac, the President of France at the Elysee Palace in Paris in 2001.
Sakıp Sabancı died on 10th of April, 2004. He was happily married, with three children and a grand-daugther.
For more information visit www.sakipsabanci.gen.tr