Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (; ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Ottoman-born 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. Following 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 the Anglo-Persian Company (later renamed British Petroleum), Royal Dutch/Sh ...

" (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 Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and later London, Paris, and finally

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. 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 (), 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 wealthiest charitable founda ...

, a private foundation based in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, 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 Rshtunis, a

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

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 around the ...

family - '' Amira'' - centred on the

Lake Van Lake Van (; ; ) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey in the provinces of Van Province, Van and Bitlis Province, Bitlis, in the Armenian highlands. It is a Salt lake, saline Soda lake, soda lake, receiv ...

region in the 4th century AD. In the 11th century, the Rshtunis settled in Caesarea (now

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

), taking the name Vart Badrik, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

title. With the arrival of the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

, 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

(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

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 spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, mainly in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, and was a representative of Alexander Mantashev's oil company. Sarkis Gulbenkian also provided oil to the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. During Hagop Pasha's Directorship, and, subsequently, Ministry of the Privy Treasury under Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

in 1879, Sarkis acquired the lucrative collection of taxes for the Privy Purse of

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Early life

Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was born on 23 March 1869 in Scutari (

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

), in the Ottoman capital Constantinople. 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 The American Robert College of Istanbul ( or ), often abbreviated as Robert or RC, is a Selective school, highly selective, Independent school, independent, mixed-sex education, co-educational, Education in Turkey#Private schools, private Second ...

. These studies were cut short in 1884, when he moved to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

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 King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, where he studied

petroleum engineering Petroleum engineering is a field of engineering concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas or both. Exploration and production are deemed to fall within the ''upstrea ...

. 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

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 West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

and the Absheron Peninsula – 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. Calouste Gulbenkian age 20

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 ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. 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 The Hamidian massacres also called the Armenian massacres, were massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1890s. Estimated casualties ranged from 100,000 to 300,000, Akçam, Taner (2006) '' A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide a ...

of Armenians. They ended up in Egypt, where Gulbenkian met Alexander Mantashev, a prominent

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 ...

. 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, which was established to support British designs. In 1912 Gulbenkian was the driving force 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 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

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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. Gulbenkian with his wife

During the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire after the war, most of

Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...

came under the

French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territori ...

and most of

Ottoman Iraq Ottoman Iraq () refers to the period of the history of Mesopotamia, Iraq when the region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (1534–1920; with an interlude from 1704 to 1831 From Independence under the Mamluk dynasty (Iraq), Mamluk state of Iraq).Bef ...

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, ) 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 the world until the discovery of the G ...

provided the impetus to conclude negotiations and in July 1928 an agreement, called the "

", 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. The

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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", a subsidiary of the

headquartered in

until 2019.

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 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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London and his Egyptian sculpture to the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

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. While Gulbenkian's art collection may be found in many museums across the world, most of his art is exhibited at the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal. The museum was founded according to his will, to accommodate and display his collection, now belonging to the

. 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. Saint Sargis Armenian church in London-4

Saint Sargis Armenian church in London-4

He established and built the St Sarkis Armenian church in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, 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 () is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. The Armenian Catholicos (plural Catholicoi) is also known as the Armenian ...

. 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 Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, also known as the Armenian Patriarchate of Saint James (, , ), is located in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. The Armenian Apostolic Church is officially recognised under Israel's confessional syste ...

. 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 ,''Hay Parekordzagan Enthanour Miyutyun'' or ...

(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 () is a town in the Armavir (province), Armavir Province of Armenia. The town was founded in 1949 as a state farm for geranium oil extraction. See also *Armavir Province References * *World Gazeteer: Armenia
– World-Ga ...

, which were newly founded settlements consisting of refugees from the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

Later life and death

In 1937, Gulbenkian purchased a property near

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

and called it ''Les Enclos''. It was a place of repose for him. Nobel prize-winning writer and friend Saint-John Perse 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 (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

, 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 Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

, 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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

(), with US$400,000 to be reserved to restore the

Etchmiadzin Cathedral Etchmiadzin Cathedral is the Mother church#Church as a building, mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, located in the city Dual naming, dually known as Etchmiadzin (Ejmiatsin) and Vagharshapat, Armenia. It is #Oldest cathedral, usuall ...

, Armenia's mother church, when relations with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 Gulbenkian's 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 art, Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the F ...

() to display his art collection. Funding was provided for an Oakley-class lifeboat for the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

. It was christened ''Calouste Gulbenkian'' by his daughter at Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat Station on 17 March 1962 where it served until 1969. It was withdrawn from New Quay Lifeboat Station in 1991 and sold for preservation.

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 ''The ...

wrote a short story about Gulbenkian in his 1971 book, ''

Letters from 74 rue Taitbout ''Letters from 74 Rue Taitbout or Don't Go But If You Must Say Hello To Everybody'' is a book of short stories in the form of letters by William Saroyan. The stories often recollect meetings, relationships, observations, ask questions and won ...

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 St Antony's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics, politic ...

'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. .

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Videos

In Memoriam Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (Part 1)Part 2Part 3Part 4

Martin Essayan on his great-grandfather: Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian

Calouste 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 Foundation

Armenian General Benevolent Union

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulbenkian, Calouste 1869 births 1955 deaths 19th-century businesspeople from the Ottoman Empire Alumni of King's College London Armenian Apostolic Christians Armenian billionaires Armenian businesspeople in the oil industry Armenian businesspeople Armenian expatriates in Portugal Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Art collectors from Paris Associates of King's College London British art collectors British businesspeople British Oriental Orthodox Christians 19th-century Oriental Orthodox Christians 20th-century Oriental Orthodox Christians British people of Armenian descent British philanthropists Businesspeople from Istanbul Businesspeople in the oil industry Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Collectors of Asian art Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to the United Kingdom 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 People from Üsküdar People of the Iraq Petroleum Company Presidents of the Armenian General Benevolent Union St. Joseph High School Istanbul alumni Survivors of the Hamidian massacres