He was born on January 5, 1913, in İzmir (that time called Smyrna), Ottoman Empire, to Süleyman Ferit Eczacıbaşı (1885–1973) and his wife Safet Hanım as their first of seven sons, Vedat (1916–1961),[1] Sedat (1917 – c. 1950), Kemal (1918–1996),[2] Haluk (1921–1996),[3] Melih (1923–2004),[4] Şerif (1929&–2010).

[8] Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı conducted post-doctoral scientific works on hormones and vitamins at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Germany.

[9] These studies contributed to Eczacıbaşı's scientific, systematic and universal approach to life and business, and reinforced his belief that the right to private enterprise ought to be tempered by social responsibility.

"[citation needed] After returning home, he settled in Istanbul, and started in 1942 with the production of vitamin drugs and baby food in a small laboratory.

Between 1950 and 1990, he oversaw the expansion of the Eczacıbaşı Group's activities from pharmaceuticals to building materials, tissue paper, personal health care, capital markets, foreign trade and information technology.

Starting with his first business venture in the 1940s, Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı selected the most advanced technology available to manufacture products of international standards.

Eczacıbaşı was the first president of the Turkish Educational Foundation, established in 1966 to provide scholarships for university and graduate students.

Eczacıbaşı was one of the principal founders of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and the Arts, which was established in 1973 on the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.

Twenty years later, in recognition of the success of these festivals, UNESCO awarded the foundation the International Arts and Culture Trophy.

The "Dr. Nejat F. Eczacıbaşı Foundation", established by him in 1978, provides scholarships for talented musicians, annual cinema and graphic arts awards and grants to public schools and institutes for scientific research.