Traveling and Trading in 1910 from the French consul in Salonika to a businessman in Lille in
northern France noted that an Ottoman Textile and Fez Company (So-
ciété anonyme Ottomane pour la fabrication des fez et tissus) had been
established with a capitalization of 20 , 000 Turkish pounds by five men,
including Ahmet Kapancı and Osman Telci, another Kapancı Dönme.
Yusuf Kapancı was also involved, as was Osman Dervish. “The company
inspires confidence,” the consul added.^53 A 1914 Greek study also mentions
the firm.^54
Another cable from the French consul at Salonika a few weeks later,
sent to the owner of a tanning and leather-softening business in south-
central France, underlined the role of Kapancı merchant families, saying:
“M. Youssouf Kapandji and his son(s) are established representatives in
Salonika. They also conduct business with banks. Their presumed means
range from 150 , 000 to 200 , 000 francs. They are considered honest and
active.”^55 On March 1 , the French consul cabled a businessman concern-
ing Faiz Kapancı, who was the son of Ahmet Kapancı, according to a
family tree provided by a descendant of Yusuf Kapancı’s. “In reply to your
letter from the fourteenth of last month, I am pleased to inform you that
M. Faïz Kapandji is established in Salonika as a sales representative,” the
consul wrote. “His presumed means are on the order of 70 , 000 francs. He
enjoys a good reputation there.”^56 Faiz Kapancı’s position as sales repre-
sentative and commission agent and as his good reputation are confirmed
both by the French-language 1908 report of the Salonika Chamber of
Commerce and a cable sent to the U.S. State Department in 1910.^57
Until the end of Ottoman rule, the Dönme continued to play a domi-
nant role in the city’s economy. There were about forty large commercial
houses, with assets between 10 , 000 to 80 , 000 Turkish pounds. In 1906 ,
the Kapancı Ahmet Kapancı (a banker with a capital of 60 , 000 pounds),
Mehmet Kapancı (merchant of industrial goods with a capital of 60 , 000
pounds), and Emin and Rasim Receb ( 20 , 000 pounds) were among the
most important entrepreneurs.^58 The Ottoman Textile and Fez Company
used the most sophisticated machines of the period, being equipped with
thirty spinning looms and six fez-weaving machines, and employed one
hundred workers. Its daily production reached six hundred meters of
woolen textiles and six hundred fezzes.^59 This Dönme-headed venture ex-
emplifies the Dönme’s wealth and role in the industrialization of the city.
A Greek-language guide to Greece published in 1911 also notes the im-
portant role of Kapancı merchants and manufacturers in Salonika, listing