Calouste Gulbenkian

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Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was an Ottoman-Armenian oil magnate, prominent philanthropist, and one of the most prolific eclectic art collectors of the 20th century, widely nicknamed "Mr. 5%" for his iconic 5% stake in the Iraq Petroleum Company. He amassed one of the largest personal fortunes in the world by the time of his death, and dedicated much of his legacy to art preservation and diaspora welfare.

Key moments

23 March 1869Born in Üsküdar, Ottoman Empire (now part of Istanbul, Turkey)
1896Fled rising anti-Armenian persecution in the Ottoman Empire, settled in London and acquired British nationality
Completed geological surveys that confirmed massive untapped oil reserves in the Mesopotamian (modern Iraq) region, negotiated his 5% stake arrangement in the Iraq Petroleum Company that earned his famous nickname
1930sBecame one of the largest private purchasers of artworks the Soviet Union sold from the State Hermitage collection, growing his personal art hoard to more than 6,000 items
1940Relocated permanently to Lisbon, Portugal at the outbreak of World War II, remaining in the city for the rest of his life
1955Died in Lisbon, leaving a will that established a dedicated charitable foundation to manage his assets, collection and philanthropic programs
1969The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum opened in Lisbon to permanently house and exhibit his full private art collection

Pioneering Framework for Equitable Energy Resource Sharing

Gulbenkian's 5% stake structure for the Iraq Petroleum Company broke the total monopoly held by a small handful of Western oil giants over Middle East energy reserves. His model enshrined a baseline for fairer profit sharing that would later inform negotiations between regional host governments and international energy firms, reshaping the global petroleum industry landscape for decades.

Unusually Inclusive Cross-Cultural Art Collection Ethos

Unlike most 20th century ultra-wealthy collectors who prioritized narrow segments of European fine art, Gulbenkian intentionally curated pieces spanning ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, and across the full scope of Islamic art, plus 19th and early 20th century European master works. His collection frames Eurasian civilization as an interconnected continuum of cultural exchange rather than a history segregated between Western and non-Western traditions.

Sustained Support for Displaced Armenian Diaspora

A significant portion of his foundation's endowment was explicitly earmarked for education, cultural preservation and humanitarian relief for scattered Armenian communities, addressing displacement shocks first from the 1890s Ottoman anti-Armenian massacres and later the Armenian Genocide. This made the Gulbenkian Foundation one of the most influential independent private institutions supporting Armenian cultural survival outside of the Republic of Armenia.

Overview

Calouste Gulbenkian

honorific suffix	GCC
birth date	March 23, 1869
birth name	Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian
birth place	Scutari, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (present-day Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey)
death date	July 20, 1955
death place	Lisbon, Portugal
resting place	St. Sarkis Armenian Church, London

education	Lycée Saint-Joseph, Istanbul Robert College

alma mater	King's College London

occupation	Petroleum engineer

years active	1895–1955

organization	Turkish Petroleum Company Iraq Petroleum Company

spouse	Nevarte Essayan (m. 1892-1952)

children	Nubar Gulbenkian Rita Essayan (Gulbenkian)

parents	Dirouhie Gulbenkian (mother) Sarkis Gulbenkian (father)

signature	Signature Calouste Gulbenkian.jpg

signature size	175px

Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (, ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an 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.[1] Following the "Red Line Agreement" (said by some accounts to have been drafted by himself), a fixed 5% of the shares of the Turkish Petroleum Company (later renamed the Iraqi Petroleum Company) were to be consistently owned by him, for which he earned the nickname "Mr. Five Per Cent". Gulbenkian travelled extensively and lived in a number of cities including his birth city of Constantinople and later London, Paris, and finally Lisbon.

Throughout his life, Gulbenkian was involved with many philanthropic activities including the establishment of schools, hospitals, and churches. The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a private foundation based in Portugal, 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.[2][3]

Biography

Family background

Gulbenkian's family are believed to be descendants of the Rshtunis, a noble Armenian family—Amira—centred on the Lake Van region in the 4th century AD. In the 11th century, the Rshtunis settled in Caesarea (now Kayseri), taking the name Vart Badrik, a Byzantine 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-19th century, when they ultimately moved to Constantinople (present day Istanbul). Their property in Talas was ultimately confiscated 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 oil importer and exporter already heavily involved in the oil industry. Sarkis was an owner of several oil fields in the Caucasus, 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. During Hagop Pasha's Directorship, and, subsequently, Ministry of the Privy Treasury under Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1879, Sarkis acquired the lucrative collection of taxes for the Privy Purse of Mesopotamia.

Early life

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 (Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), with US$400,000[19] to be reserved to restore the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia's mother church, when relations with the Soviet Union permitted.[20]

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 Gulbenkian's son-in-law, Kevork Loris Essayan (1897–1981). In Lisbon the foundation established its headquarters and the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Museu Calouste Gulbenkian) to display his art collection.

Funding was provided for an Oakley-class lifeboat for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. It was christened Calouste Gulbenkian by his daughter at Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat Station on 17 March 1962 where it served until 1969.[21]

Awards

PRT Order of Christ - Grand Cross BAR.svg Grand Cross of the Order of Christ (Portugal) – 1950[23]

Published works

La Transcaucasie et la péninsule d'Apchéron; souvenirs de voyage, Éditeur: Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1891..

Biography

For detailed background concerning Gulbenkian and the Red Line Agreement controlling Middle East Oil see For Gulbenkian as a collector see

Conlin, Jonathan. Mr Five Per Cent: The Many Lives of Calouste Gulbenkian. London: Profile Books, 2019.

Black, Edwin. Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. ISBN 0-471-67186-X.

Azeredo Perdigão, José de, and Ana Lowndes Marques. Calouste Gulbenkian, Collector. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1979.

Petroleum industry in the Middle East

Blair, John Malcolm.

External links

Videos

Books

References

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006^
Calouste Gulbenkian Dies at 86. One of the Richest Men in the World. Oil Financier, Art Collector Lived in Obscurity, Drove in Rented Automobile. The New York Times, 21 July 1955^
Solid Gold Scrooge

Calouste Gulbenkian

WorldBrand briefing

Pioneering Framework for Equitable Energy Resource Sharing

Unusually Inclusive Cross-Cultural Art Collection Ethos

Sustained Support for Displaced Armenian Diaspora

Biography

Family background

Early life

Legacy and fortune

Awards

Published works

See also

Further reading

Biography

Petroleum industry in the Middle East

External links

Videos

Books

References

Oil business

Art collection

Philanthropy

Later life and death

Articles

Official websites