Istanbul
handsome demeanor, social status, and elegant dress contradict the shabby
status into which the cemetery has fallen. It is difficult to determine why
so many Dönme born in 1880 – 82 in Salonika passed away in 1930 – 32.
Obituaries from the time do not give the cause of death. However, life
expectancy in Turkey did not reach the fifties for another generation, until
1965 – 69. In fact, between 1945 and 1949 , the earliest data we have, life
expectancy for men was 36 and women 39. Accordingly, the Dönme were
very long lived for their age, which counters stereotypes concerning their
degenerate health due to endogamy, and supports Major Sadık’s claims
in 1919 that they boasted of people who lived to be over one hundred
years old. When examining the graves at Bülbüldere Cemetery, one finds
a Karakaş woman who lived 106 years, from 1836 to 1942 ; it is not unusual
to find tombstones of Karakaş recording that they passed away in their
eighties and gravestones of Kapancı who died in their seventies. In fact,
despite the low life expectancy in their final resting place, Turkey, it is
more difficult to find tombs of Dönme who passed away under the age of
forty-five, already above the average local life expectancy.
The most impressive tombstones are those from the first generation
of Salonikan Kapancı Dönme to arrive en masse in Istanbul, who died
in the city within a decade. I was told after being taken in the 1920 s and
1930 s by Osman Murat, the photographs were sent to a porcelain fac-
tory in Italy for finishing. The tombstones from the 1920 s and 1930 s were
made by Armenian and Greek craftsmen, particularly those employed
by the firm whose signature reads “Pungis Bros. Galata Şişane Karakol.”
A. Turan ( 1893 – 1958 ), the Greek-speaking son of a Qur’an memorizer of
Kayseri, possibly a convert to Islam, was trained in the art of tomb de-
sign by the Pungis Brothers. He took over their business, just as many
Kayseri Muslims inherited the wealth, skills, and property of Armenians
and Greeks following World War I and the establishment of Turkey, and
become very wealthy from his marble business, which used marble from
Marmara Island. Appropriately, he made a very large tomb for himself
and his family with beautiful marble work at the center, overlooking the
graveyard and his earlier works.
The second aspect that makes the Kapancı section of the cemetery unique
is that most of the deceased are referred to as “Salonikan.” That this marker
does not distinguish Karakaş graves may lead one to speculate that the
Kapancı were quicker to adopt a seemingly neutral term to publicly refer to
the group, although such a term had negative social capital at the time.