Calouste Gulbenkian
Encyclopedia
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. By the end of his life he had become one of the world's wealthiest individuals and his art acquisitions considered one of the greatest private collections.
, in Constantinople
(now Istanbul
), Ottoman Empire
, the son of an Armenian oil importer/exporter. His father sent him to be educated at King's College London
, where he studied petroleum engineering
, and then to examine the Russian oil industry at Baku
. While still in his twenties he lived in London
arranging deals in the oil
business. After becoming a naturalized British citizen in 1902, he was involved in arranging the 1907 merger resulting in Royal Dutch/Shell
and emerged from that effort as a major shareholder. His habit of retaining five per cent of the shares of the oil companies he developed earned him the nickname
"Mr. Five Percent".
In 1912 Gulbenkian was the brain behind the creation of the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC)—a consortium of the largest European oil companies aimed at cooperatively procuring oil exploration and development rights in the Ottoman Empire
territory of Iraq
, while excluding other interests. A promise of these rights was made to the TPC, but the onset of World War I
interrupted their efforts.
During the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after the war, Iraq 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 Iraq in 1925. The discovery of a large oil reserve at Baba Gurgur
provided the impetus to conclude negotiations and in July 1928 an agreement, called the "Red Line Agreement
", 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
in 1929. Actually, the Pasha
had given him the entire Iraqi oil concession, but he gave the rest away to corporations able to develop the whole, growing wealthy on the remainder. He reputedly said, "Better a small piece of a big pie, than a big piece of a small one."
Gulbenkian amassed a huge fortune and an art collection which he kept in a private museum at his Paris
house. His four-storey, three-basement house on Avenue d'Iéna was said to be crammed with art, a situation ameliorated in 1936 when he lent thirty paintings to the National Gallery, London
and his Egyptian sculpture to the British Museum
. He was president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
(AGBU) from 1930–1932, resigning as a result of a smear campaign
by the Soviet Armenian government.
In 1938, before the beginning of the Second World War, Gulbenkian incorporated in Panama
a company to hold his assets in the oil industry. It was from this "Participations and Explorations Corporation" which came the name Partex
(now called the "Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation" and which is now a subsidiary of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
headquartered in Lisbon
).
By the outset of the Second World War, he had acquired diplomatic immunity
as the Iraqi Minister in Paris and he followed the French government when it fled to Vichy
, serving the Pétainist Vichy France
regime as its Iranian minister. He left France in late 1942 for Lisbon and lived there until his death in a suite at the luxurious Aviz Hotel. His Armenian wife died in 1952. They had two children, a son Nubar
and a daughter Rita, who would become the wife of Iranian diplomat Kevork Loris Essayan.
At the time of his death in 1955, Gulbenkian's fortune was estimated at between US$280 million and US$840 million. After undisclosed sums 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$300,000–400,000 to be reserved to restore the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Echmiadzin, Armenia
, when relations with the Soviet Union
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, and his son-in-law Kevork Loris Essayan. The Foundation established its headquarters and the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
) in Lisbon to display his art collection.
Gulbenkian is buried in Châteauneuf.
For general background concerning the development of the petroleum industry in the Middle East see
For Gulbenkian as a collector see
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
businessman and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
available to Western development. By the end of his life he had become one of the world's wealthiest individuals and his art acquisitions considered one of the greatest private collections.
Biography
Calouste Gulbenkian was born in ÜsküdarÜsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
, in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(now Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
), Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, the son of an Armenian oil importer/exporter. His father sent him to be educated at King's College London
King's College London
King's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and...
, where he studied petroleum engineering
Petroleum engineering
Petroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Subsurface activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, which are the activities of...
, and then to examine the Russian oil industry at Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
. While still in his twenties he lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
arranging deals in the oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
business. After becoming a naturalized British citizen in 1902, he was involved in arranging the 1907 merger resulting in Royal Dutch/Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and emerged from that effort as a major shareholder. His habit of retaining five per cent of the shares of the oil companies he developed earned him the nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Mr. Five Percent".
In 1912 Gulbenkian was the brain behind the creation of the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC)—a consortium of the largest European oil companies aimed at cooperatively procuring oil exploration and development rights in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
territory of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, while excluding other interests. A promise of these rights was made to the TPC, but the onset of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
interrupted their efforts.
During the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after the war, Iraq 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 Iraq in 1925. The discovery of a large oil reserve at Baba Gurgur
Baba Gurgur
Baba Gurgur is a large oil field near the city of Kirkuk which was the first to be discovered in Northern Iraq in 1927....
provided the impetus to conclude negotiations and in July 1928 an agreement, called the "Red Line Agreement
Red Line Agreement
The Red Line Agreement is the name given to an agreement signed by partners in the Turkish Petroleum Company on July 31, 1928. The aim of the agreement was to formalize the corporate structure of TPC and bind all partners to a self-denial clause that prohibited any of its shareholders from...
", 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
Iraq Petroleum Company
The Iraq Petroleum Company , until 1929 called Turkish Petroleum Company , was an oil company jointly owned by some of the world's largest oil companies, which had virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq from 1925 to 1961...
in 1929. Actually, the Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
had given him the entire Iraqi oil concession, but he gave the rest away to corporations able to develop the whole, growing wealthy on the remainder. He reputedly said, "Better a small piece of a big pie, than a big piece of a small one."
Gulbenkian amassed a huge fortune and an art collection which he kept in a private museum at his Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
house. His four-storey, three-basement house on Avenue d'Iéna was said to be crammed with art, a situation ameliorated in 1936 when he lent thirty paintings to the National Gallery, London
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
and his Egyptian sculpture to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. He was president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union
Armenian General Benevolent Union
The Armenian General Benevolent Union abbreviated as AGBU, is a non-profit Armenian organization. It was established in Cairo, Egypt in 1906...
(AGBU) from 1930–1932, resigning as a result of a smear campaign
Smear campaign
A smear campaign, smear tactic or simply smear is a metaphor for activity that can harm an individual or group's reputation by conflation with a stigmatized group...
by the Soviet Armenian government.
In 1938, before the beginning of the Second World War, Gulbenkian incorporated in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
a company to hold his assets in the oil industry. It was from this "Participations and Explorations Corporation" which came the name Partex
Partex
Partex Oil and Gas Corporation is an oil company which is fully owned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, from Lisbon, Portugal.-History:...
(now called the "Partex Oil and Gas (Holdings) Corporation" and which is now a subsidiary of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...
headquartered in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
).
By the outset of the Second World War, he had acquired diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity
Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments that ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws...
as the Iraqi Minister in Paris and he followed the French government when it fled to Vichy
Vichy
Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
, serving the Pétainist Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
regime as its Iranian minister. He left France in late 1942 for Lisbon and lived there until his death in a suite at the luxurious Aviz Hotel. His Armenian wife died in 1952. They had two children, a son Nubar
Nubar Gulbenkian
Nubar Sarkis Gulbenkian was an Armenian petroleum magnate and socialite born in the Ottoman empire .-Early years:The son of Calouste Gulbenkian, he was born on the Bosporus but taken out of the country at an early age. Taken by his father to England, he was educated at Harrow School, Trinity...
and a daughter Rita, who would become the wife of Iranian diplomat Kevork Loris Essayan.
At the time of his death in 1955, Gulbenkian's fortune was estimated at between US$280 million and US$840 million. After undisclosed sums willed in trust to his descendants, the remainder of his fortune and art collection were willed to the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a Portuguese private foundation of public utility whose statutory aims are in the fields of arts, charity, education, and science...
(Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian), with US$300,000–400,000 to be reserved to restore the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Echmiadzin, Armenia
Echmiadzin
Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin is a 4th century Armenian church in the town of Ejmiatsin, Armenia. It is also the central cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church....
, when relations with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
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, and his son-in-law Kevork Loris Essayan. The Foundation established its headquarters and the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian
Museu Calouste Gulbenkian is a museum in Lisbon, Portugal, containing a collection of ancient, and some modern art...
) in Lisbon to display his art collection.
Gulbenkian is buried in Châteauneuf.
Published works
- La Transcaucasie et la péninsule d'Apchéron; souvenirs de voyage, Éditeur: Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1891. .
General
- "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 TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. July 21, 1955, p. 23. (Accessed via ProQuest Historic Newspapers, New York Times (1857–Current file), Document ID 83363695). - "Gulbenkian's Will Sets Up Foundation". The New York Times. July 23, 1955, p. 5. (Access via ProQuest Historical Newspapers, New York times (1857–Current file), Document ID 84151580).
Further reading
For detailed background concerning Gulbenkian and the Red Line Agreement controlling Middle East Oil see- Black, EdwinEdwin BlackEdwin Black is an American Jewish syndicated columnist, and journalist specializing in the historical interplay between economics and politics in the Middle East, petroleum policy, the abuses practiced by corporations, and the financial underpinnings of Nazi Germany, among other topics...
. Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. ISBN 047167186X.
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. ISBN 0394494709.
- Yergin, DanielDaniel YerginDaniel Howard Yergin is an American author, speaker, and economic researcher. Yergin is the co-founder and chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy research consultancy. It was acquired by IHS Inc...
. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. ISBN 0671502484. - Sampson, Anthony. "The Seven Sisters, the great oil companies and the world they made". New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. ISBN 0671502484.
For Gulbenkian as a collector see
- Azeredo Perdigão, José de, and Ana Lowndes Marques. Calouste Gulbenkian, Collector. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 1979.