Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (,
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
hy, Գալուստ Կիւլպէնկեան; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955), nicknamed "Mr Five Per Cent", was a British-Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development and is credited with being the first person to exploit Iraqi oil. Gulbenkian travelled extensively and lived in a number of cities including
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, London, Paris and
Lisbon.
Throughout his life, Gulbenkian was involved with many philanthropic activities including the establishment of schools, hospitals, and churches. The
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...
, a private foundation based in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, was created in 1956 by his bequest and continues to promote arts, charity, education, and science throughout the world. It is now among the largest foundations in Europe. By the end of his life he had become one of the world's wealthiest people and his art acquisitions one of the greatest private collections.
Biography
Family background
Gulbenkian's family are believed to be descendants of the
Rshtuni
Rshtuni ( hy, Ռշտունի, also spelled Rashduni, Rshdouni, Reshdouni, Rashdouni, Rachdouni, Rachdoni, and Rushdoony) was an old Armenian noble house which ruled the region of Rshtuniq who were purportedly descendants of Rusas I of Urartu.
Th ...
s, an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
noble family centred around
Lake Van
Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...
in the 4th century AD. In the 11th century, the Rshtunis settled in
Kayseri, taking the name Vart Badrik, a Byzantine noble title. With the arrival of the
Ottoman Turks, the Turkish equivalent of the name, Gülbenk, was adopted. The family had established themselves in the town of
Talas and lived in the region until the mid-1800s, when they ultimately moved to Istanbul. Their property in Talas was ultimately
confiscated
Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, ...
and is currently owned by the Turkish Government.
Gulbenkian's family established close relations with the House of Osman. By 1860, his father Sarkis Gulbenkian was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
oil importer and exporter already heavily involved in the oil industry. Sarkis was an owner of several oil fields in the
Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...
, mainly in
Baku, and was a representative of
Alexander Mantashev's oil company. Sarkis Gulbenkian also provided oil to the
Sultan of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. During
Hagop Pasha's Directorship, and, subsequently, Ministry of the Privy Treasury under Sultan
Abdulhamid II
Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...
in 1879, Sarkis acquired the lucrative collection of taxes for the Privy Purse of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...
.
Early life
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was born on 23 March 1869 in Scutari (
Üsküdar
Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; ...
), in the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
capital
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
(now
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
). He received his early education at Aramyan-Uncuyan, a local Armenian school. He then attended the
Lycée Saint-Joseph French school and continued his studies at
Robert College. These studies were cut short in 1884, when he moved to
Marseilles at the age of 15 to perfect his French at a high school there.
Oil business
Immediately afterwards his father sent him to be educated at
King's College London, where he studied
petroleum engineering. He was a brilliant student and graduated in 1887 at the age of 18 with a
first-class degree in engineering and applied sciences. A year later, he went to
Baku to examine the
Russian oil industry and to further his knowledge of the oil industry.
Gulbenkian later wrote an article entitled ''La Transcaucasie et la péninsule d'Apchéron; souvenirs de voyage'' ("
Transcaucasia
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
and the
Absheron Peninsula
The Absheron Peninsula ( az, Abşeron yarımadası) is a peninsula in Azerbaijan. It is the location of Baku, the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyrd ...
– Memoirs of a Journey") which appeared in the ''
Revue des deux Mondes'', a French language monthly literary and cultural affairs magazine. The article described his travels to Baku and the state of the
oil industry in the region. It was eventually published as a book in 1891 in Paris.
After Hagop Pasha's appointment as the
Ottoman Minister of Finance in 1887, he had Calouste prepare an oil survey of Mesopotamia.
To develop the oil survey, Calouste merely read travel books and interviewed railroad engineers that were surveying and building the
Baghdad Railway
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
.
Gulbenkian's oil survey led Hagop Pasha to believe that vast oil deposits lay in Mesopotamia (modern Syria and Iraq), to acquire tracts of land for the Sultan's oil reserves, and to establish the Ottoman oil industry in Mesopotamia.
By 1895, he started his oil operation business.
He had to return to the Ottoman Empire, but in 1896, Gulbenkian and his family fled the empire due to the
Hamidian massacres of Armenians. They ended up in Egypt, where Gulbenkian met
Alexander Mantashev, a prominent
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
oil magnate and philanthropist. Mantashev introduced Gulbenkian to influential contacts in Cairo. These new acquaintances included
Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer
Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, (; 26 February 1841 – 29 January 1917) was a British statesman, diplomat and colonial administrator. He served as the British controller-general in Egypt during 1879, part of the international control whic ...
. Still in his twenties, Gulbenkian moved to London in 1897 where he arranged deals in the oil business. He became a naturalised British citizen in 1902. In 1907, he helped arrange the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company with "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Ltd. Gulbenkian emerged as a major shareholder of the newly formed company,
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
.
His policy of retaining five per cent of the shares of the oil companies he developed earned him the nickname "Mr Five Per Cent".
After the royalist
countercoup of 1909, Gulbenkian became a financial and economic adviser to the Turkish embassies in London and Paris, and later, chief financial adviser to the Turkish government.
He was a member of a British technical team to Turkey and, later, a director of the
National Bank of Turkey
The National Bank of Turkey was founded in 1909.Marian Kent (1975). Agent of Empire? The National Bank of Turkey and British Foreign Policy. The Historical Journal, 18, pp 367-389 doi:10.1017/ S0018246X00023736 The majority capital came from foundi ...
, which was established to support British designs.
In 1912 Gulbenkian was the driving force behind the creation of the
Turkish Petroleum Company
The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the world's ...
(TPC)—a consortium of the largest European oil companies aimed at cooperatively procuring oil exploration and development rights in the Ottoman territory of Mesopotamia, while excluding other interests. The German interests would be limited to a 25% share, with a 35% share for the British, and the remaining for Gulbenkian to choose.
So, he gave
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
25% and kept 15% for himself as "the conceiver, the founder, and the artisan of the Turkish Petroleum combine."
A promise of these rights was made to the TPC, but the onset of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
interrupted their efforts. At first, the British Foreign Office supported the
d'Arcy group to gain a share and replace Calouste's share, but Gulbenkian worked closely with French concerns, arranged for the French to receive the German's share as part of the spoils of victory, and, in return, the French protected his interest.
During the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after the war, most of
Ottoman Syria came under the
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate foun ...
and most of
Ottoman Iraq
Ottoman Iraq ( ar, العراق العثماني}) refers to the period of the history of Iraq when the region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (1534–1920; with an interlude from 1704 to 1831 of autonomy under the Mamluk dynasty of Iraq).Before ...
came
under British mandate. Heated and prolonged negotiations ensued regarding which companies could invest in the Turkish Petroleum Company. The TPC was granted exclusive oil exploration rights to Mesopotamia in 1925. The discovery of a large oil reserve at
Baba Gurgur
Baba Gurgur (Arabic: بابا كركر, ku, بابە گوڕگوڕ ,Babagurgur) is an oil field and gas flame near the city of Kirkuk, which was the first to be discovered in Northern Iraq in 1927.
It was considered the largest oil field in ...
provided the impetus to conclude negotiations and in July 1928 an agreement, called the "
Red Line Agreement The Red Line Agreement is an agreement signed by partners in the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) on July 31, 1928, in Ostend, Belgium. The agreement was signed between Anglo-Persian Company (later renamed British Petroleum), Royal Dutch/Shell, Compa ...
", was signed which determined which oil companies could invest in TPC and reserved 5% of the shares for Gulbenkian. The name of the company was changed to the
Iraq Petroleum Company
The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It is jointly owned by some of the worl ...
in 1929. The
Pasha
Pasha, Pacha or Paşa ( ota, پاشا; tr, paşa; sq, Pashë; ar, باشا), in older works sometimes anglicized as bashaw, was a higher rank in the Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitar ...
had actually given Gulbenkian the entire Iraqi oil concession. Gulbenkian, however, saw advantage in divesting the vast majority of his concession so that corporations would be able to develop the whole. Gulbenkian grew wealthy on the remainder. He reputedly said, "Better a small piece of a big pie, than a big piece of a small one."
In 1938, before the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Gulbenkian incorporated a Panamanian company to hold his assets in the oil industry.
From this "Participations and Explorations Corporation" came the "
Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation", now a subsidiary of the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...
headquartered in
Lisbon.
Art collection
Gulbenkian amassed a huge fortune and an art collection which he kept in a private museum at his Paris house. An art expert said in a 1950 issue of
''Life'' magazine that "Never in modern history has one man owned so much."
His four-story, three-basement house on
Avenue d'Iéna
The Avenue d'Iéna is a tree-lined avenue in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, running from the Trocadéro (Avenue Albert De Mun) to the Place de l'Étoile. Passing through Place d'Iéna, Place de l'Amiral de Grasse, Place de l'Uruguay and Place ...
was said to be crammed with art, a situation ameliorated in 1936 when he lent thirty paintings to the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London and his Egyptian sculpture to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
Throughout his lifetime, Gulbenkian managed to collect over 6,400 pieces of art. From
René Lalique
René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments.
Life
Lalique' ...
alone, Gulbenkian commissioned more than 140 works over nearly 30 years.
The collection includes objects from antiquity to the 20th century. Some of the works in the collection were bought during the
Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings
The Soviet sale of Hermitage paintings in 1930 and 1931 resulted in the departure of some of the most valuable paintings from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum in Leningrad to Western museums. Several of the paintings had been in the H ...
.
While Gulbenkian's art collection may be found in many museum across the world, most of his art is exhibited at the
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French decor ...
in Lisbon, Portugal. The museum was founded according to his will, to accommodate and display his collection, now belonging to the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...
. Of the roughly 6,000 items in the museum's collections, a selection of around 1000 is on permanent display.
Philanthropy
Throughout his life, Gulbenkian donated large sums of money to churches, scholarships, schools, and hospitals. Many of his donations were to Armenian foundations and establishments. He required that proceeds from his 5% share of profits from oil should go to Armenian families. He also demanded that 5% of his workers in his oil production for the Iraq Petroleum Company should be of Armenian descent.
He established and built the
St Sarkis Armenian church in
Kensington, central London, England, built in 1922–23 as a memorial to his parents, to the design of the architect
Arthur Davis.
Gulbenkian wanted to provide "spiritual comfort" to the Armenian community and a place of gathering for "dispersed Armenians," according to a message written by Gulbenkian to the
Catholicos of All Armenians
The Catholicos of All Armenians (plural Catholicoi) ( hy, Ամենայն Հայոց Կաթողիկոս; see #Other names), is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Arme ...
.
In 1929, he was the chief benefactor to the establishment of an extensive library at the
St. James Cathedral, the principal church of the
Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The library is called the Gulbenkian Library and contains more than 100,000 books.
Among many of his significant donations was to the
Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital located in Istanbul. A large property called the ''Selamet Han'' was donated to the Surp Pırgiç foundation in 1954.
The property was confiscated by the state in 1974, but returned to the foundation in 2011.
He also helped establish a nurses' home at the hospital after selling his wife's jewellery.
He was president of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...
(AGBU) from 1930 to 1932, resigning as a result of a
smear campaign by ''Soviet Armenia'', an Armenian newspaper based in
Armenia SSR. He was also a major benefactor of
Nubarashen and
Nor Kesaria
Nor Kesaria ( hy, Նոր Կեսարիա) is a town in the Armavir Province of Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classificat ...
, which were newly founded settlements consisting of refugees from the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
.
Later life and death
In 1937, Gulbenkian purchased a property near
Deauville
Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...
and called it ''Les Enclos''. It was a place of repose for him. Nobel prize-winning writer and friend
Saint-John Perse
Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet-diplomat, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative ...
nicknamed him the ''Sage of Les Enclos'' and remarked in a letter to Gulbenkian that Les Enclos was "the cornerstone of your work, because it is the most alive, the most intimate and sensitive, the best guarded secret for your dreams."
By the onset of the Second World War, having acquired
diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country. as the economic adviser of the Persian legation in Paris, he followed the French government when it fled to
Vichy
Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais.
It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...
, where he became the minister for Iran.
In consequence, he was, despite his links to the UK, temporarily declared an enemy alien by the British Government, and his UK oil assets sequestered, though returned with compensation at the end of the war. He left France in late 1942 for Lisbon and lived there until his death, in a suite at the luxurious Aviz Hotel, on 20 July 1955, aged 86.
In 1952 he refused being appointed as
Knight Commander
Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders.
The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...
, and therefore the possibility of being styled as ''Sir'', to the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
. In this same year his wife Nevarte died in Paris.
They had two children, a son
Nubar and a daughter Rita, who would become the wife of Iranian diplomat of Armenian descent Kevork Loris Essayan.
His ashes were buried at
St Sarkis Armenian Church in London.
Legacy and fortune
At the time of his death, Gulbenkian's fortune was estimated at between US$280 million and US$840 million. Undisclosed sums were willed in trust to his descendants; the remainder of his fortune and art collection were willed to the
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation ( pt, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One ...
(''Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian''), with US$400,000 to be reserved to restore the
Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church, when relations with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
permitted.
The foundation was to act for charitable, educational, artistic, and scientific purposes, and the named trustees were his long-time friend
Baron Radcliffe of Werneth, Lisbon attorney José de Azeredo Perdigão (1896-1993), and his son-in-law, Kevork Loris Essayan (1897-1981). In Lisbon the foundation established its headquarters and the
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French de ...
(''
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French decor ...
'') to display his art collection.
William Saroyan
William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''T ...
wrote a short story about Gulbenkian in his 1971 book, ''
Letters from 74 rue Taitbout or Don't Go But If You Must Say Hello To Everybody''.
There are rooms and buildings at the University of Oxford named after Gulbenkian, including the Gulbenkian Reading Room in
St Antony's College, Oxford's old library and the Gulbenkian Lecture Theater in the St Cross Building on Manor Road.
Awards
*
Grand Cross of the
Order of Christ (Portugal) – 1950
Published works
* ''La Transcaucasie et la péninsule d'Apchéron; souvenirs de voyage'', Éditeur: Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1891. .
See also
* ''
Re Gulbenkian's Settlements''
*
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French de ...
*
Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian (CAM)
*
Gulbenkian commission
The Gulbenkian Commission sought to address inadequacies in the organization of the social science disciplines that developed in the nineteenth century by indicating a direction for social scientific inquiry for the next 50 years. It was founded b ...
*
Gulbenkian Park
*
Gulbenkian Orchestra
The Gulbenkian Orchestra ( pt, Orquestra Gulbenkian) is a Portuguese symphony orchestra based in Lisbon. The orchestra primarily gives concerts at the ''Grande Auditório'' (Grand Auditorium) of the Gulbenkian Foundation. The orchestra, which was f ...
*
Gulbenkian Science Institute
*
Museum of the Year
The Museum of the Year Award, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize and the Art Fund Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence". The award of £ ...
, formerly the Gulbenkian Prize
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
Biography
* Conlin, Jonathan. ''Mr Five Per Cent: The Many Lives of Calouste Gulbenkian''. London: Profile Books, 2019.
For detailed background concerning Gulbenkian and the Red Line Agreement controlling Middle East Oil see
*
Black, Edwin.
Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict'. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. .
For general background concerning the development of the petroleum industry in the Middle East see
* Blair, John Malcolm.
The Control of Oil'. New York: Pantheon, 1976. .
* Okumuş, Ali, ''Osmanlı Coğrafyası'nda Petrol Mücadesi, Kalust S.Gülbenkyan ve Türk Petrol Şirketi''. ORDAF. 2015.
*
Yergin, Daniel.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power'. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. .
*
Sampson, Anthony.
The Seven Sisters: The Great Oil Companies and the World They Made'. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. .
For Gulbenkian as a collector see
* Azeredo Perdigão, José de, and Ana Lowndes Marques.
Calouste Gulbenkian, Collector'. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1979.
Articles
*
*
External links
; Videos
In Memoriam Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (Part 1)Part 2Part 3Part 4Martin Essayan on his great-grandfather: Calouste Sarkis GulbenkianCalouste Sarkis Gulbenkian – recollections of his grandson(by Mikhael Essayan)
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a foundation in the world
; Books
*
' by the Gulbenkian Foundation (full view)
*
' by the Gulbenkian Foundation (full view)
*
La Transcaucasie et la péninsule d'Apchéron: souvenirs de voyage' by Calouste Gulbenkian (full view; in French)
; Official websites
Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationArmenian General Benevolent Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulbenkian, Calouste
1869 births
1955 deaths
Alumni of King's College London
Armenian billionaires
Armenian businesspeople in the oil industry
Armenian businesspeople
Armenian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Armenians from the Ottoman Empire
Associates of King's College
Art collectors from Paris
British people of Armenian descent
British art collectors
British businesspeople
British philanthropists
Businesspeople in the oil industry
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Collectors of Asian art
Ethnic Armenian businesspeople
Ethnic Armenian philanthropists
Fellows of King's College London
Founders of the petroleum industry
Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
Iraqi people of Armenian descent
Iraqi businesspeople
Museum founders
Businesspeople from Istanbul
People from Üsküdar
People of the Iraq Petroleum Company
19th-century businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire
Armenian expatriates in Portugal
Presidents of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
St. Joseph High School Istanbul alumni
Survivors of the Hamidian massacres