By Noelia Fraguela
Marketing4ecommerce Content Manager
MEvery year, more than 700 million people use the social network Telegram , a messaging application that became popular due to its extreme encryption system and has managed to gain more and more ground over its main competitor, WhatsApp . However, few people know the creators of this platform, the Russian-born brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov. The first, a programmer and mathematician born in 1980 in St. Petersburg; the second (and the real controller of Telegram), an entrepreneur and billionaire born in 1984 also in St. Petersburg, and known as “ the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia . ”
Despite their great achievements and their great fortune, both brothers have tried to keep a low profile and hide their residence for security reasons, since the Russian government has pressured them several bahamas number data times to make the businessmen give up data from the application for political purposes, something that the brothers always refused to do, earning the hatred of the Kremlin.
The Durov brothers: the story behind Telegram
Nikolai and Pavel Durov grew up in St. Petersburg, Russia, during a period of great political and technological transformation. From an early age, both showed a deep interest in computer science, greatly influenced by their family background. Their father, Valery Durov , an expert in cybernetics, played a crucial role in fostering their passion for programming and technology .
During their teenage years, the future creators of Telegram stood out for their skill and creativity in the field of computer science. This period was crucial in defining their future path, developing the skills that would later allow them to innovate in the technological world. Pavel studied philology at St. Petersburg State University and in Turin, graduating with honors in 2006. While training to become an interpreter and translator in Russia, he created an online bookstore so that his classmates could share notes and books. The success of this invention was such that it quickly became popular and he expanded it to a university forum.