Tag #123436 - Interview #97383 (Aron Anjel)

My mother Esther Levy Bivas was born in 1885 in Balat. From what my aunts told me she was always the top student in her class, and finished primary school, junior high and highschool as valedictorian. My mother, who was known to be the most beautiful girl in Balat was of Italian descent.
My mother first started to work with the famous industrialist and merchant of the time  Lazaro Franco, who was of Italian descent. In 1919, through the help of this same person, she was transferred from Salonica to Istanbul Bakirkoy [a neighborhood close to the Istanbul Ataturk airport. Previous name: Makrikoy] and was appointed as principal to Ittihad ve Terakki Lisesi (highschool) (Union et Progres) which provided education in French just like Galatasaray Sultanisi, and we moved in to a special flat that was designated for us in the school. 
Within less than two years, in 1921, when my father and mother were appointed gentleman and lady directors of the newly opened Jewish orphanage (Orphelinat) in Ortakoy [a neighborhood on the shores of the Bosphorus Rumeli], this time we moved to a flat that was designated for us in the orphanage and stayed there till 1928.