A prominent Sephardic Jewish family, the House of Camondo (or Kamondo), established themselves in the Galata district of Istanbul after Austrians took over Venice in 1798. A few years later, they founded their own bank branching into finance. Abraham Salomon Camondo, brother of the bank’s founder, inherited the bank after his brother Isaac died in 1832. Until the Imperial Ottoman Bank was founded in 1863, he served the empire as its prime banker. He financially assisted Venice and aided in ts liberation from Austrian control. For these contributions, he was…
