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For decades the western European powers and in particular France had exploited their position as holders of Ottoman debt to impose their will on the so-called “Sick Man of Europe”.
All of these European powers had their eyes on parts of the Ottoman Empire, and many had already appropriated large chunks of territory for themselves. Gulbenkian’s role in founding the National Bank of Turkey, following the Young Turk Revolution (1908), was to establish a truly international source of financing for the Ottoman Empire’s modernisation, including the development of its oil reserves and other natural resources.
In 1912 the National Bank of Turkey set up the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) to exploit the exceptionally rich oil fields in Al-Jazeera (Iraq). Royal Dutch-Shell held a 25% stake in the company, the National Bank of Turkey 35% and Deutsche Bank a further 25%. The remaining 15% belonged to Calouste Gulbenkian.
In early 1914 the Turkish Petroleum Company was reorganised. Royal Dutch-Shell’s great rival, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now BP) had a rival claim to the Al-Jazeera oil concession, and, more importantly, strong support from the British Foreign Office. In order to accommodate Anglo-Persian Gulbenkian agreed to reduce his share from 15% to 5%.
World War I brought the final dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, and led to Deutsche Bank’s 25% of TPC being transferred to a French company specially created for the purpose, the Compagnie Française des Pétroles (CFP, now Total).
Calouste Gulbenkian had ensured that the great powers would act together in an ordered manner, and had managed to preserve his 5% shareholding.

His persistence, business talent, and flexibility to accommodate new interests and adapt to new situations earned him considerable respect among industry insiders. Titans of the oil industry all recognized Gulbenkian’s probity and straight-dealing. The rest of the world knew him simply as Mr. Five Percent, one of the world’s richest men.

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Calouste Gulbenkian was a business man, art collector and philanthropist of Armenian origin, born in the Ottoman Empire.
Bringing Eastern and Western cultures together, Gulbenkian was above all a “business architect”. Due to his vision, his contacts and persuasive skills, Gulbenkian played a decisive role in the first half of the twentieth century mediating international negotiations that led to the exploitation of the exceptionally rich oil fields in Al-Jazeera (Iraq). Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic and unique collection that was influenced by his travels and his personal taste.
Gulbenkian took British citizenship in 1902 and died in 1955, in Lisbon, where he spent his last years and established in his will an international foundation that would bear his name and act so as to benefit the whole of humanity.

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Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian - recordação do seu neto

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His collection now totals over 6,000 pieces from all over the world, dating from antiquity until the early twentieth century.

Calouste Gulbenkian revealed his passion for art at an early age. This reflected his origins in Cappadocia–a major crossroads of religions and art–and Constantinople–another crossroads of civilizations and the capital of the Romans, Greeks, and Ottoman Turks. Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic and unique collection that was influenced by his travels and his personal taste, and sometimes involved lengthy and complex negotiations with the leading experts and specialist dealers. His collection now totals over 6,000 pieces from all over the world, dating from antiquity until the early twentieth century (including examples from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, Babylonia, Armenia, Persia, Europe, and Japan). Gulbenkian derived considerable pleasure from his collection, which he referred to as his “children”.

Calouste Gulbenkian’s collection of paintings includes works by Bouts, Van de Weyden, Lochner, Cima de Conegliano, Carpaccio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Hals, Rembrandt, Guardi, Gainsborough, Romney, Lawrence, Fragonard, Corot, Renoir, Nattier, Boucher, Manet, Degas and Monet. A favourite sculpture was Houdon’s famous Diana, which had belonged to Catherine of Russia and which Gulbenkian purchased from the Hermitage Museum in 1930.

Fiercely protective of his “children”‘s welfare, Gulbenkian could also be extraordinarily generous in lending and donating works from his collection to public museums around the world. In 1936, his collection of Egyptian antiquities was entrusted to the care of the British Museum, while the finest paintings went on loan to the National Gallery. Later, in 1948 and 1950, the same works would be sent on to the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

As his collection expanded and as he grew older, Gulbenkian became ever more concerned about how to preserve his achievement, and also how to avoid paying taxes on his legacy. In 1937 he started discussions with one of his art advisors, Kenneth Clark, about a “Gulbenkian Institute” to be built next to the National Gallery in London. He was declared an “enemy” by the British Government during the Second World War because he had followed the French Government to Vichy as a member of the Persian diplomatic delegation. The British temporarily sequestered his share of the Iraq Petroleum Company (as TPC was now known). Although both steps were regulations of a kind imposed by all countries during wartime Gulbenkian chose to take them as personal slights. He began looking elsewhere for a permanent home for his art collection and the international foundation he planned to endow. He considered the National Gallery of Art in Washington as a potential home for his collection, working closely with its director, John Walker.

At the time of his death in 1955 Gulbenkian does not appear to have decided where he wanted his collection to be housed and simply left it his trusted advisor, Cyril Radcliffe to take such decisions as he saw fit. One thing was clear: Gulbenkian wanted his collection of antiquities, sculpture, painting and furniture displayed together under one roof, rather than scattered across the galleries of a larger museum.

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Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was born in Scutari (now Üsküdar), Istanbul on 29 March 1869, the son of Sarkis and Dirouhi Gulbenkian. The Gulbenkians were proud of their illustrious family's centuries-old connection to the region south of Lake Van, traditionally viewed as the cradle of Armenian civilisation.

By 1800 the Gulbenkians had settled in Talas near Caesarea (today’s Kayseri), where they generously funded the construction of Armenian schools and a new Armenian church. These are the earliest recorded examples of a long tradition of Armenian philanthropy which continued into the twentieth century.

Calouste’s father and uncle moved to what was then Constantinople around 1850, and soon added the city’s S. Pirgiç hospital to the family’s philanthropies. An 1881 trade directory lists “S. and S. Gulbenkian” as both an import/export house and a bank. Along with carpets, wool and other commodities the company traded in kerosene from the Caucasus. By 1892 S. and S. Gulbenkian formed one of a network of family-based trading partnerships based in London, Marseilles, Varna (Bulgaria) and in other cities across the Ottoman Empire.

Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian started his studies in Kadikoy (Calcedonia), at the Aramyan-Uncuyan school. At the age of 14 he was sent to study in Marseille, where he perfected his French, and then to London, where he attended King’s College School. He soon moved on to King’s College London’s Department of Applied Sciences, where he studied a range of subjects, excelling in Physics. He became an Associate of King’s College in 1887. Although he considered doing further research in Paris, he was dissuaded by his father.

In 1888 Calouste Gulbenkian travelled to Baku to learn more about the oil business and to complete his education. This journey led him to write a travelogue entitled “La Transcaucasie et la Péninsule d’Apchéron – Souvenirs de Voyage” as well as articles for La Revue des Deux Mondes and other French periodicals. These publications established his reputation as an oil expert, capturing the attention of the Ottoman Ministry of the Civil List, who asked Gulbenkian to draw up a report on the oil-rich lands which the Sultan had acquired in Al Jazeera (modern-day Iraq).

In 1892 Gulbenkian married Nevarte Essayan in London. The couple had two children: a son, Nubar (born 1896), and a daughter, Rita (born 1900). The Essayans originally hailed from Caesarea and had privileged access to the Ottoman court. But the good connections with the Ottoman court were not enough to protect Gulbenkian and his family from anti-Armenian pogroms. In 1896 the storming of the Imperial Ottoman Bank office in Constantinople by Armenian activists triggered a wave of coordinated attacks aimed at the city’s Armenian community. Fortunately for Gulbenkian, his wife’s family included a ferry line among their business interests and the family was able to escape by steamship to Alexandria.

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Last years in Lisbon: during World War II Calouste Gulbenkian initially stayed in France but decided in April 1942 to seek refuge in a neutral country. The choice lay between Switzerland and Portugal.

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Last years in Lisbon: during World War II Calouste Gulbenkian initially stayed in France but decided in April 1942 to seek refuge in a neutral country. The choice lay between Switzerland and Portugal.

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Gulbenkian settled on Portugal because of its geographical situation: if necessary he could escape by sea to the United States. He remained until his death; perhaps because of the stable society, the low taxes, and the absence of a prying media. In Lisbon he felt welcome – he wrote later “that he had never felt anywhere else” such hospitality as in Lisbon, a quiet city in a Europe devastated by war.

He lived at the Hotel Aviz, Lisbon, for thirteen years and died in Lisbon on 20 July 1955, aged 86. His will (18 June 1953) left generous legacies to his children and established lifetime pensions for other relatives and retainers. He created an international foundation that would bear his name, inherit the rest of his fortune, and be presided over by his trusted lawyer, Lord Radcliffe. To him he entrusted the mission to act so as to benefit “humanity”. He also wanted his Foundation to reflect what he considered his major achievements: his art collection and his role as a “business architect”, conceiving structures to bring together and unite different nations, groups and interests.

After his death, arduous negotiations with the French and Portuguese governments ensued, to establish the terms under which Gulbenkian’s art collection would be allowed to leave France, as well as the legal basis for the foundation. In 1960, the entire collection was brought to Portugal, where it was exhibited at the Pombal Palace in Oeiras from 1965 to 1969. Fourteen years after the death of this illustrious collector his wish was fulfilled, when the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum opened in Lisbon.

However differences of opinion concerning the weight of the international activities to be carried out by the Foundation, the composition of its Board of Trustees (the Government insisted on a majority of Portuguese members), and the fear of government interference led Lord Radcliffe to resign. Thus José Azeredo Perdigão became the first President of the Foundation.

Presently the Foundation – one of the largest foundations in Europe – is trying to act more internationally, partly to tackle the major issues facing society but also to honour the Founder’s wishes. The Foundation is active in collaborating with other Foundations on international issues.

The definitive biography of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian is being prepared by historian Dr Jonathan Conlin (University of Southampton) and will be published in time for the 150th anniversary of Calouste Gulbenkian’s birth in 2019.

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A Portuguese foundation for the whole of humanity

Established in 1956 as a Portuguese foundation for the whole of humanity, the Foundation’s original purpose focused on fostering knowledge and raising the quality of life of persons throughout the fields of the arts, charity, science and education. Bequeathed by the last will and testament of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian, the Foundation is of perpetual duration and undertakes its activities structured around its headquarters in Lisbon (Portugal) and its delegations in Paris (France) and London (the United Kingdom).

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Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. For all humanity

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The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Museum were inaugurated in 1969.

The permanent exhibition galleries are distributed in chronological and geographical order to create two independent circuits within the overall tour.

The first circuit highlights Oriental and Classical Art on display in the Egyptian, Greco-Roman, Mesopotamian, Eastern Islamic, Armenian and Far Eastern Art.

The second covers European Art with sections dedicated to the Art of the Book, Sculpture, Painting and the Decorative Arts particularly 18th century French art and the work of René Lalique.

In this circuit a wide-ranging number of pieces reflect various European artistic trends from the beginning of the 11th century to the mid-20th century.

The section begins with work in ivory and illuminated manuscript books, followed by a selection of 15th, 16th and 17th century sculptures and paintings.

Renaissance art produced in Flanders, France and Italy is on display in the next room. French 18th century decorative arts have a special place in the museum with outstanding gold and silver objects and furniture, as well as paintings and sculptures. These decorative arts are followed by galleries exhibiting a group of paintings by the Venetian Francesco Guardi, 18th and 19th century English paintings, and finally a superb collection of jewels and glass by René Lalique, displayed in its own room.

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The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum presents the collection amassed by Calouste Gulbenkian, one of the most important private collections of international art.

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One of the most important private collections of international art, this museum houses Calouste Gulbenkian’s collection.

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The IGC is a research institute devoted to biological and biomedical research and to graduate training. Excellence, originality, communication, cooperation and generosity, coupled with an outstanding infrastructure are essential ingredients that make IGC a special place to be.

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Welcome to the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência

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A new study led by University of Maryland (UMD, EUA) and Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) researchers suggests a new model of communication in plant cells: each cell contains a complex communication network based on proteins that closely resemble glutamate receptors, which exist in animal neurons.