Gulbenkian, Calouste

Gulbenkian, Calouste (b Constantinople [now Istanbul], 23 Mar. 1869; d Lisbon, 20 July 1955). Turkish-born oil magnate and collector who became a British citizen in 1902 and adopted Persian nationality in 1926. He made an enormous fortune in the oil industry in the Middle East and used his wealth to form one of the finest private collections of the 20th century. It included European paintings and sculpture, Islamic and Indian art, coins and medals, illuminated manuscripts, furniture, and much else. He was one of the collectors who benefited when the Soviet government sold works from the Hermitage: ‘ Gulbenkian had an inside track with the Soviets because he had helped them importantly with sales of Baku oil, and he was given first choice’ (Joseph Alsop, The Rare Art Traditions: The History of Collecting and its Linked Phenomena, 1982). In 1942 Gulbenkian settled in Lisbon. He left part of his collection to Portugal's Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga and the rest was used to form the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, inaugurated in Lisbon in 1969; it is the foremost international collection of art in the country.