The Abdullah Al Zayed House for Bahraini Press Heritage was the first restoration project undertaken by the Shaikh Ebrahim Center with private sponsors. The newly restored 100-year old building opened in November 2003. Being the house of the founder of the first weekly newspaper in Bahrain and the Gulf, the house is dedicated to the preservation of Bahrain’s press heritage and at the same time preserves part of the country’s unique architectural traditions.
The extension of the Abdullah Al Zayed House for Bahraini Press Heritage opened in November 2009.
The restoration of the Abdullah Al Zayed House was sponsored by HRH Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander, BBK, National Bank of Bahrain, Bahrain Credit and Bahrain Kuwait Insurance. The extension was sponsored by Her Highness Shaikha Sabeeka bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa and the National Bank of Bahrain.

Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabber Al Zayed
(1899-1945)

Abdullah bin Ali bin Jabber Al Zayed was born on 1 January, 1899 in Muharraq. He studied the quoran at the informal school of Shaikh Isa bin Rashid bin Ahmed in Muharraq and later joined the Al Ahlia School, established by Ali bin Ebrahim al Zayani in the early 1920s.
At a young age, he made contact with the forum of the famous Bahraini poet Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohammed Al Khalifa and became one of its regular visitors and pioneer young writers. He was one of the founders of the Literature Club in Muharraq in 1920 and was its secretary until 1929. He chaired the Bahraini Committee to honor the poet Ahmed Shawqi following Shawqi’s appointment as “Prince of Poets” in 1927, the highest award in the Arab world in the field of poetry.
Abdullah Al Zayed was the secretary of the National Movement under the leadership of Shaikh Abdul Wahab Al Zayani from 1921-6. In 1929 he travelled to India to study and became proficient in English. He then continued his travels to Baghdad, Beirut, Italy,France and Britain.