Calouste Gulbenkian was a British businessman of Armenian descent. He played a significant role in securing access for Western fuel companies to oil fields in the Middle East. Calouste Gulbenkian is considered the first entrepreneur to organize the extraction of black gold in Iraq. The businessman traveled extensively and lived in cities such as Constantinople, London, Paris and Lisbon.
Throughout his life he was engaged in charitable work. The oilman founded schools, hospitals and churches. The Calouste Gulbenkian Private Foundation, located in Portugal, promotes the development of art, education and science throughout the world. The entrepreneur was one of the richest people of that time. His art collection is one of the greatest private collections in the world.
Origin
Representatives of the genus to which Calouste Gulbenkian belongs are considered descendants of the ancient Armenian aristocratic Rshtuni dynasty. Until the middle of the 19th century, this family lived in the city of Talas, and then moved to Constantinople. The father of the future philanthropist owned several oil fields near Baku and was engaged infuel supplies to Turkey.
Early years
Calouste Gulbenkian was born in 1869 in Constantinople, which at that time was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. He received his primary education at a local Armenian school. Then the training continued in the two most prestigious private institutions in Turkey: the French Lyceum Saint-Joseph and the American Robert College. At the age of 15, Gulbenkian traveled to Europe to improve his foreign languages.
Oil business
After leaving school, his father sent him to King's College London to prepare for work in the family business. In the capital of Great Britain, the future entrepreneur received a diploma in petroleum engineering. One of the few surviving old photos of Calouste Gulbenkian is depicted in the traditional attire of a graduate of King's College. A year later, he came to Baku to apply his knowledge in the local oil industry and gain practical experience.
New horizons opened up for the family business after Kazazyan Pasha, an Armenian by birth, was appointed Minister of Finance of the Ottoman Empire. The compatriot helped to win the favor of the Turkish government and get an order for exploration of oil fields in Mesopotamia (on the territory of modern Syria and Iraq). Galust was entrusted with the direct execution of this task. The novice oilman chose a very simple method of research - he simply interviewed the engineers who supervised the construction of the Baghdad railway. Exploration resultsconvinced Kazazyan Pasha that there are significant oil reserves in Mesopotamia, which are of great interest to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. The Minister of Finance agreed to the acquisition of land in this region and the creation of an extractive industry there.
Escape from Turkey
However, this project could not be realized at that moment due to the tragic turn of history. In the Ottoman Empire, the events known as the Hamidian Massacre began. On the territory of the state, massacres of Armenians began. According to various estimates, the death toll ranged from several tens to several hundred thousand people. The Turkish government and army unofficially approved of the bloodshed and provided support to the murderers of Armenians. The family of Calouste Gulbenkian was forced to leave the territory of the Ottoman Empire for security reasons. They took refuge in Egypt. In Cairo, Galust met the famous Russian oil tycoon Alexander Mantashev, who introduced him to a number of influential people, including the English politician Lord Evelyn Baring. Gulbenkian soon moved to Great Britain and in 1902 became a citizen of this country. He continued to be involved in the oil business and his habit of holding a fixed share of the total assets of the commercial companies he created earned him the nickname "Mr. Five Percent". The Armenian entrepreneur became one of the founders of the famous Dutch-British corporation Royal Dutch Shell.
World War I period
Despite the forced flight from the Ottoman Empire, Gulbenkian continued to cooperate with the government of this country as an economic and financial adviser. He took an active part in the creation of an oil company aimed at developing hydrocarbon deposits in Mesopotamia. Later, the businessman even took over as director of the National Bank of Turkey.
The biography of Calouste Gulbenkian is replete with episodes in which global historical events prevented the implementation of his grandiose plans. Once again, the businessman's plans to develop the oil industry in Syria and Iraq were violated by the First World War. The alignment of forces on the world stage has changed dramatically. The British government favored the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (modern British Petroleum). However, the results of the war were favorable for Gulbenkian. Defeated Germany ceased to participate in the struggle for global reserves of black gold. The Ottoman Empire ceased to exist. Mesopotamia became a French and British mandate. In the end, the Armenian industrialist received his traditional five percent stake in Iraq Petroleum Co Ltd. Gulbenkian became one of the richest people in the world.
World War II period
A subtle sense of danger and prudence never failed the famous businessman. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he transferred all his assets related to the oilindustry, managed by a company registered in Latin America. Gulbenkian remained in France occupied by the Third Reich because, as an economic adviser to the Iranian embassy, he managed to obtain diplomatic immunity. The collaboration of a British-citizen businessman with the pro-German Vichy puppet government backfired. In the United Kingdom, he was officially declared an enemy, and his financial assets in the country were blocked. In 1942, with the help of the Portuguese authorities, Gulbenkian left France and settled in Lisbon. He was destined to spend the rest of his life in this city. The oil tycoon, collector and philanthropist died in 1955. He was buried in London.
Legacy
The outstanding entrepreneur married in 1892 an Armenian Nevarta Essayan. They had two children, son Nubar and daughter Rita. The heirs grew up in the UK, where the family moved due to the massacre of Armenians in Turkey. The daughter married an Iranian diplomat. The son was educated at Cambridge and joined the family business. In the early stages, his father, whose avarice was legendary, paid him nothing for his work. Subsequently, the son sued the elder Gulbenkian, demanding $10 million in compensation. Nubar was distinguished by eccentricity and a penchant for an extravagant lifestyle. The complex nature of the heir prompted the magnate to decide on the will of a significant part of his fortuneCalouste Gulbenkian Charitable Foundation.
At the time of the death of the oilman, the total value of his assets was estimated at several hundred million dollars. In the era of a gold-backed currency, this was a fantastic amount. In accordance with the will, part of the state was transferred to trust funds intended for descendants. The son received several million dollars, but long before that he had already achieved financial independence on his own, doing business in the oil market. The remainder of the estate and the art collection went to the Calouste Gulbenkian Charitable Foundation and Museum. $400,000 has been set aside to be donated to the restoration of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia, one of the most ancient Christian churches in the world, when permission is obtained from the government of the Soviet Union. Baron Cyril Radcliffe, a well-known British politician, became the main manager of the charity fund. The headquarters of this organization is located in Lisbon.
Charity activities
Throughout his life, Gulbenkian often donated large sums of money to churches, schools and hospitals. He financially supported charitable foundations that helped Armenians. In those days, the compatriots of the oil magnate, fleeing extermination, were scattered all over the world. He demanded that five percent of jobs at Iraq Petroleum Co Ltd be reserved for individualsArmenian origin. Gulbenkian financed the construction of St Starkis Church in the London Borough of Kensington. He erected this temple as a memorial to his parents and also to create a place where members of the Armenian community could gather.
In 1929, the oilman founded an extensive library at the Cathedral of St. James in Jerusalem. This temple belongs to the Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The library is named after its founder and contains about 100,000 books. Gulbenkian donated a large building to the Armenian hospital in Istanbul. Subsequently, the Turkish government confiscated this building and returned it to the charitable foundation only in 2011. The oil tycoon has repeatedly financed the improvement of the Istanbul hospital and used money from the sale of his wife's jewelry to do this. For two years, the philanthropist served as president of the Armenian General Benevolent Union, but was forced to resign as a result of political intrigues. The oilman's fund successfully continued to work even after the death of the founder. In 1988, the charity donated about a million dollars to help victims of the earthquake in Armenia.
Artworks
Calouste Gulbenkian spent his huge fortune on the acquisition of items of high artistic value. Journalists and experts of that time believed that never in the previous history was there an example of one person owning such a largecollection. The oil tycoon managed to collect 6,400 pieces of art throughout his life. The creation of these works begins in antiquity and ends in the 20th century. Until the outbreak of World War II, the businessman kept the collection in his private home in Paris. As the number of items increased, the four-story building became overcrowded. For this reason, thirty paintings were deposited with the National Gallery in London, and Egyptian sculptures went to the British Museum.
Gulbenkian acquired some of the works during the sale of paintings from the Hermitage by the Soviet government. In dire need of foreign currency, the Bolshevik authorities decided to covertly invite we althy Western collectors to buy unique paintings that are a national treasure. Among these selected connoisseurs of art was Gulbenkian, who at that time was a trading partner of Soviet Russia in the oil sector. In total, he acquired 51 items from the Hermitage exposition. Currently, most of these paintings are in the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. The rest of the works of art from the collection of the oil magnate are also stored there. About one thousand items are presented to the eyes of visitors. This grandiose collection of unique artistic creations is now owned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
Museum
Fulfillment of the will of the late patron to create an arts center open to the general public and host it therethe unique collection took as much as 14 years. In 1957, land was purchased for the construction of buildings for the headquarters of the charitable foundation and the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. It was planned to create a park around the architectural complex. A competition was held for the best project. Based on its results, a team of architects and landscape designers was formed. The grand opening of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon took place in 1969. Currently, the Ministry of Culture of Portugal is considering the possibility of recognizing this architectural complex as a national treasure.
Exhibits in the museum are placed in chronological order and combined into two large groups. The first presents the monuments of the ancient era. There, visitors can see works of art created in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Persia and Mesopotamia. The second group is dedicated to European culture. It includes sculptures, paintings, decorations, furniture and books from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The unique collection attracts many tourists and provides work for hotels near the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. The motto of an outstanding entrepreneur and connoisseur of the arts sounded like "only the best." Museum visitors can see that he really followed this call.
