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In the summer we used to go to Buyukada [the biggest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul]. One day, as I was walking towards the most elite club of the island, the Anatolian Club [a social club where entrance is by membership], I saw a beautiful lady sitting in the garden of the Akasya Hotel [Accacia Hotel, on the main street of Buyukada, overlooking the sea]. I was 26-27 at the time and I liked the lady very much. Her name was Eva Ibrahimzade. Her mother was of Georgian origin and her father was from Iran. Well, it appears that they also had me in mind for their daughter. My brother Musa Bozo's son was studying at a college in Brighton, England. It was a Jewish school. Eva had a brother, Ceki Ibrahimzade. This Ceki told my brother, when he was in England to see his son, that he had a sister and wanted to marry her off. My brother was very insistent that I meet this lady. So I formally met Eva at a ball at Pera Palas, one of the oldest hotels in Beyoglu. I had bought a Buick in 1953, and the day after the ball, I took Eva for a drive in my car.
Eva was born in Istanbul in 1937. She knew Turkish. She didn't finish secondary school. I got engaged to Eva in 1957, and I married her in 1958. We got married at the Neve Shalom Synagogue [15]. Then that night we had a party at the Hilton Hotel [the best and only five-star hotel in Istanbul at the time].
In 1960, my first son, Ezra Rubi Bozo, and in 1965, my second son, Aslan Bozo, was born. My first wife liked to gamble a lot: we had a group of friends with whom we played cards. We also went dancing sometimes. However, I didn't get along with my wife very well. Our life started to change parallel to our economic situation. There were fights all the time at home. My business wasn't doing so well either. We got divorced in a traumatic way in 1968. It was a very difficult and problematic divorce. When troubles come, they come in thousands, as they say, and shortly after my divorce I had a traffic accident. I had to pay a lot of money to the other party. I was therefore penniless when I got my divorce in 1968. Meanwhile, I had been living in a rented apartment in Topagaci since I had gotten married. I had bought a house in Tesvikiye, Abdi Ipekci Boulevard in 1960, but I had left that house to my parents when I had gotten married. In 1968, after my divorce I moved out of the house in Topagaci and moved back to my house in Tesvikiye. My economic situation was really terrible at that time. That is when I started to understand what life was about. It is when one is left without money that one starts to look at life in another way. I was terribly depressed and terribly alone. However, I decided to work very hard for a comeback. I worked really hard from 1968 to 1972. I went everywhere in Anatolia in those four and a half years. I was selling industrial machines and I made a lot of money. However, I made certain mistakes again and I didn't invest my money in goods or real estate. So when the rate of inflation increased sky high, my fortune went down to zero but real estate always won.
Eva was born in Istanbul in 1937. She knew Turkish. She didn't finish secondary school. I got engaged to Eva in 1957, and I married her in 1958. We got married at the Neve Shalom Synagogue [15]. Then that night we had a party at the Hilton Hotel [the best and only five-star hotel in Istanbul at the time].
In 1960, my first son, Ezra Rubi Bozo, and in 1965, my second son, Aslan Bozo, was born. My first wife liked to gamble a lot: we had a group of friends with whom we played cards. We also went dancing sometimes. However, I didn't get along with my wife very well. Our life started to change parallel to our economic situation. There were fights all the time at home. My business wasn't doing so well either. We got divorced in a traumatic way in 1968. It was a very difficult and problematic divorce. When troubles come, they come in thousands, as they say, and shortly after my divorce I had a traffic accident. I had to pay a lot of money to the other party. I was therefore penniless when I got my divorce in 1968. Meanwhile, I had been living in a rented apartment in Topagaci since I had gotten married. I had bought a house in Tesvikiye, Abdi Ipekci Boulevard in 1960, but I had left that house to my parents when I had gotten married. In 1968, after my divorce I moved out of the house in Topagaci and moved back to my house in Tesvikiye. My economic situation was really terrible at that time. That is when I started to understand what life was about. It is when one is left without money that one starts to look at life in another way. I was terribly depressed and terribly alone. However, I decided to work very hard for a comeback. I worked really hard from 1968 to 1972. I went everywhere in Anatolia in those four and a half years. I was selling industrial machines and I made a lot of money. However, I made certain mistakes again and I didn't invest my money in goods or real estate. So when the rate of inflation increased sky high, my fortune went down to zero but real estate always won.
Period
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Harun Bozo