Tag #125754 - Interview #97938 (Moiz Isman)

My father’s last name was Menase. But with the Surname Law [see Reforms in the Turkish Republic] that was passed in 1932-1933 [actually in 1934], our surname was changed to Isman. The officer at the registration office told me that the surname Menase had been taken by somebody else. I had to find another surname. My boss at the firm which I was working at then, used to tell me “You are a very good businessman”.  I was inspired by these words, and had my surname registered as “Isman” [’Is’ means business in Turkish, it is attached to the English ‘man’].