Salvatore Valeri

In 1882, he moved from Italy to the Şişli district in Istanbul, where he opened a small workshop.

Not long after, the School of Fine Arts and Crafts [tr] opened and, on the recommendation of the British Ambassador, Lord Dufferin, he was able to obtain a position as a teacher of oil painting.

[1] His students included the sons of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and he was officially granted the title "Teacher of the Princes".

[1] Three years later, however, he and his family were forced to flee, due to the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

He returned to his hometown, opened a private art school, and operated it until his death in 1946.