Abram Gukasov in the history of oil fields in Baku

About the Gukasov family. Condition: about 15 million rubles ($180 million). Field of activity: oil, banks, shipbuilding.

Armenian oil refiners Pavel Osipovich (1858–?) and Abram Osipovich Gukasovs (Ghukasyans) (1872–1969) came from a merchant family, received an excellent education, and made a fortune in the oil fields in Baku.

Pavel has held senior positions in 13 Russian companies, and his brother (twice Ph.D., geologist, and philosopher) in seven. In addition, Abram Gukasov, who represented the Caspian Partnership in London since 1899, founded a shipbuilding company in England.

The third brother, Arshak, “resolved issues” with the workers – he participated in the armed suppression of mass strikes in the oil fields.

Collaborating with the Rothschilds and Nobels, the brothers at the same time sought to oust the “foreigners” from the Caspian Sea and, together with the Mantashevs, Lianozov’s, and Putilovs, in 1912 participated in the creation of an international monopoly – the Russian General Oil Company (RGNK) holding.

After the election of Pavel Gukasov to the State Council, the oil factory moved to St. Petersburg, joined the Central Committee of the Progressive Party, and in 1916 headed a large Russian commercial and industrial bank.

In 1917, the Gukasov brothers emigrated to France. The most prominent figure among them was Abram Gukasov, who, even before the revolution, ran family affairs abroad.

In 1924, he founded Les Petroles d’Outre-Mer, an oil spill shipbuilding society in Paris. He was in the construction business.

In France, the Gukasov brothers actively participated in the activities of the Trade, Financial and Industrial Committee (Torgprom), created to protect the interests of Russian emigrants – owners and entrepreneurs.

Abram Gukasov also published the émigré newspaper Vozrozhdenie, which financed the holding of the Russian Foreign Congress in Paris in 1926, which brought together representatives of Russian diasporas from 26 countries. He died in 1969 in Switzerland.

Additionally, according to the material on Forbes: 10 largest fortunes of tsarist Russia. What happened to the owners?

Material provided by: Mamikon Osipyan