Thread by @historyarmenia

#OTD 23 Mar 1869, Calouste Gulbenkian, an #Armenia'n businessman & philanthropist, was born in Constantinople (#Istanbul). He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development & is the 1st person to exploit Iraqi oil #History

Gulbenkian travelled extensively and lived in a number of cities including Istanbul, London, Paris and Lisbon. Throughout his life, Gulbenkian was involved with many philanthropic activities including the establishment of schools, hospitals, and churches.

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.

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 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

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."

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, a private foundation based in Portugal, 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. In 1952 he refused being appointed as Knight Commander, therefore the possibility of being styled as Sir, to the Order of the British Empire

There are rooms and buildings at the University of Oxford named after Gulbenkian, including the Gulbenkian Reading Room in St Antony's College, Oxford's old library and the Gulbenkian Lecture Theater in the St Cross Building on Manor Road.