Zufar Ayupov, a 74-year-old head of the Ufa branch of the Russian Nobility Assembly and Honored Builder of Bashkiria, is also a real prince who constructed a unique high-rise building in Ufa. His noble lineage and remarkable life, including his grandfather’s experiences in three wars and capture, have been revealed.

Ayupov discovered his noble roots through family history and KGB archives. His maternal grandfather, a district police officer and merchant, faced repression, while his paternal grandfather endured capture during World War I and later fought in the Civil War and Great Patriotic War.

During World War I, Ayupov’s paternal grandfather was captured near Gdańsk and was taken in by a German woman who wanted him to marry her widowed daughter. He lived there for a year and had two sons with her. After the war, he returned to Russia, fought in the Civil War, and later volunteered in World War II as a translator due to his German fluency.

Ayupov’s construction career began after graduating from the Ufa Petroleum Institute. He worked his way up at Bashneftekhimremstroy and later led the Ufa department of the Uralpromrekonstruktsiya trust and worked as Deputy General Director in the Large-Panel Housing Construction (LPHC) trust. He faced challenges in building the high-rise, including lack of infrastructure and bureaucratic hurdles, but persevered with the support of his wife and a loan, transforming a neglected area of Chernikovka.

Ayupov is connected to descendants of the Russian imperial family and European aristocrats through the Russian Nobility Assembly. He emphasizes that his title allows him to connect with fascinating people who embody Russian history. Despite challenges, he built a boiler house, defying environmental concerns, and later built a sports facility for local children.