Calouste Gulbenkian
Calouste Gulbenkian 
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| Birth name | Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian |
| Name in Armenian | Գալուստ Սարգիս Կիւլպէնկեան |
| Birthplace | Constantinople |
| Birth date | 1 March 1896 |
| Lived in | Istanbul, London, Baku, Cairo, Lisbon |
| Resides in | Lisbon |
| Death place | Lisbon |
| Death date | 1955/07/20 |
| Death year | 1955 |
| Education | King's College London |
| Profession | Businessman, Philanthropist |
| Languages | Armenian, English, Turkish |
| Ethnicities | Armenian |
| Dialects | Western Armenian |
| Ancestral villages | Üsküdar |
| Spouses | Nevarte Essayan |
| Children | Nubar Sarkis, Sivarte |
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955) was an Armenian businessman and philanthropist.
He was born in Istanbul and educated at King's College, London, where he studied engineering. Immediately on leaving, he went into the oil business, and was one of the first to open up the Middle East to the trade. He was involved in founding the Shell Group, and his habit of retaining five per cent of the shares of the oil companies he developed earned him the nickname, "Mr. Five Per Cent".
When Iraq was taken from the Ottoman Empire in World War I its oil was divided up between the western countries and controlled through the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC). Gulbenkian owned five percent of IPC.
Gulbenkian amassed a huge fortune and an art collection which he kept in a private museum at his Paris home. Following his death in Portugal, a museum and charitable foundation were established on the site of his former home in Lisbon. The Foundation is chiefly associated with educational and artistic projects.
Misc
William Saroyan
In his book, Letters from 74 rue Taitbout, William Saroyan writes a long letter about his experiences meeting with and talking to Calouste Gulbenkian during his stay in Lisbon, upon discovering that by chance they were staying at the same hotel[1].
See also
References
- ↑ Saroyan, William. (1969). Letters from 74 rue Taitbout