Early Years
The son of Calouste Gulbenkian, he was born on the Bosporus but taken out of the country at an early age. Taken by his father to England, he was educated at Harrow School, Trinity College, Cambridge and in Germany. As a consequence of his educational background Gulbenkian saw himself as British and strove to live up to the model of the English gentleman. As such, during World War II he undertook some amateur sabotage in Vichy France on behalf of the United Kingdom. Despite this he was also attached to the Iranian Embassy in London in an honorary role (as he held Iranian citizenship) whilst he regained his Turkish citizenship in 1965. This however had helped him during the war as his neutral passport allowed him to cross between France and Spain with little trouble and thus gain access to British intelligence in Gibraltar.
Read more about this topic: Nubar Gulbenkian
Famous quotes related to early years:
“Parents ... are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don’t fulfil the promise of their early years.”
—Anthony Powell (b. 1905)