Zihni Derin was an agricultural engineer, educator, and public official who institutionalized tea cultivation in Türkiye and initiated the first systematic efforts in this field. His work in establishing and expanding tea cultivation in the Eastern Black Sea Region has earned him a significant place in Türkiye’s agricultural history.

Zihni Derin was born in 1880 in Muğla. After completing his primary education, he graduated successively from Muğla İdadisi, Thessaloniki Agricultural Practical School, and the Higher Agricultural School at Halkalı in 1904. He began his professional career in 1905 as a state official in the Forestry and Mines Office of Aydın Vilayeti. He later served as Secretary to the Forestry Inspector in Rhodes and as Acting Forestry Inspector in Gediz and Simav. In 1907 he was appointed Forestry Inspector and taught at the Thessaloniki Agricultural School between 1909 and 1912. During World War I and the early years of the Republic, he held teaching positions at the Bursa Agricultural School and also served as Deputy Director of National Education there.

Zihni Derin’s interest in tea cultivation began when he was assigned to the Ministry of Economy in the early 1920s. In 1923, following a report by a commission aimed at promoting economic development in Rize and its surroundings, he was sent to the region to study the suitability of cultivating hazelnuts, oranges, lemons, mandarins, and especially tea. That same year, he traveled to Batum, where he personally examined tea plantations and production facilities and brought tea seeds and seedlings back to Türkiye.

As a result of these initiatives, Law No. 407, adopted on 6 February 1924, established the legal foundation for tea and citrus cultivation in Rize and Borçka. Zihni Derin took the first step toward tea production by establishing a small nursery in Rize; this initial effort gradually expanded at regional and national levels, laying the foundations for Türkiye’s tea production industry.

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Zihni Derin’s efforts in tea cultivation continued into the 1930s. In 1936 he was appointed Agricultural Advisor for Thrace, and in 1937 he became Chief Agricultural Advisor at the Ministry of Agriculture, assuming the additional role of Coordinator of the Rize Agricultural Organization that same year. During this period, he contributed significantly to the spread of tea cultivation through both fieldwork and educational activities.

After retirement, he participated in the “40th Anniversary of Tea” ceremonies held in Rize in 1964. During this visit, he was seriously injured in an accident and died shortly thereafter on 25 August 1965 in Ankara.

Zihni Derin’s scientific approach to tea cultivation is regarded as one of the earliest and most important examples of successfully adapting a crop from a different ecosystem in Türkiye. Through his educational experience and public service, he helped ensure that tea was embraced not only as an economic commodity but also as a socio-cultural element. Today, tea cultivation, which has become a fundamental pillar in the development of the Eastern Black Sea Region, has taken institutional form largely due to Zihni Derin’s scientific foresight and systematic efforts.