Early Life
Born in Tiflis (modern Tbilisi), Mantashev spent most of his childhood in Tabriz, where his father was involved in the cotton and textile trade. Being the only son, he was involved in his father's business affairs early on. In 1869, he moved to Manchester (known as Cottonopolis in the 19th century), a major center of cotton and textile processing industries, from where he helped ship goods to his father in Tabriz. Mantashev's stay in Manchester played an important role in the development of his character. Not only did he learn the secrets and crafts of the textile industry in Manchester, but he also delved into the intricacies of European business and English culture. During this period he learned the English, French, and German languages. In 1872, Mantashev returned to Tiflis with his father. In the first floor of the hotel Caucasus, located in Erivansky Square, the Mantashevs opened a cotton store, then another one, eventually becoming fully engaged in the wholesale textile trade. After his father's death in 1887, Alexander purchased most of the shares of the Tiflis Central Commercial Bank — thus becoming its principal shareholder, and then the Chairman of the Board of the Bank. The bank was involved in almost every aspect of trade in the Caucasus. Incidentally, Tifkombank was the only financial institution in the Caucasus whose shares traded on the Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange. In the early 1890s, Alexander was already a 1st guild merchant and a Speaker of the Tiflis duma. It was then that he became interested in a new business venture, when he was looking into the prospects of Baku oil.
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