The Türkiye Story of the Famous American Cigarette Merchant

Manisa Morrison and Şinasi Hospital; What is the story of Şinasi Morris Hospital, which currently serves in Manisa? Did you know how interesting the founding story of this children’s hospital is? See where the famous cigarette merchant went.

In 1855, a poor family of Saffarat Jews in Manisa had a baby boy. They named him Morris, after his birth name. Musa Eskenazi (1855 – September 10, 1928). When Morris caught the disease of chickweed at the age of nine, he came face to face with death. When he recovered as a result of the treatment of a Muslim doctor named Şinasi, his family gave him the name Şinasi. This was a duty of loyalty. This understanding of loyalty would also penetrate into Morris’ soul.

Then, when Morris turned fifteen, he got a job as a guard at a Jewish cemetery to help his poor family. He was fired because he was illiterate. The reason was that a Jewish family from outside came and wanted to see the graves of their relatives in the cemetery. However, they did not know where the grave was. Since Morris could not read, he could not show them where the grave was. This family reported the situation to the Jews of the region and had Morris fired. In 1870, when Şinasi was only 15 years old, he got a job with a tobacco merchant named Garofolo, who was also Jewish. Morris, who quickly caught the eye of his boss, was taken to Egypt by his boss because of his success. Due to his success there, he became friends with his boss. Morris decided to go to America in 1890. He went to the new world with the 25 thousand dollars he received from his boss. There, he exhibited a cigarette-gluing machine at the Chicago International Fair. This machine attracted a lot of attention. With the money he earned here, he both paid off his debt to Garofolo and had the opportunity to start a business. In 1903, the US government applied to Sultan Abdulhamid to be able to trade in the Mediterranean and to allow their ships to pass through. The Sultan accepted this offer in return for the US paying TAX to the Ottomans. He only asked for one more condition. And he said: -You will also buy tobacco from us. America accepted this and paid TAX to the Ottomans. By the way, America’s paying tribute to the Ottomans first started when Hasan Pasha of Algeria (who was born and died in the city where my real grandfather was born; Shumen, Bulgaria) seized 2 American ships in the Mediterranean and it was registered in 1795 when the George Washington government paid 642,000 gold coins and the right to trade was tied to 12,000 Ottoman gold coins per year.

This tobacco deal paved the way for Morris. He knew Aegean tobacco well and had connections. He used this advantage of connections well. Morris, who soon had broad horizons, brought his brother Solomon from Manisa and developed his business field. He established a cigarette factory called SCHİNASI BROTHERS COMPANY on Broadway 120 Street in New York. This building still stands. Morris, who used tobacco he brought from Turkey in this factory he founded, soon became famous for Turkish-style cigarettes. He managed to obtain high-quality products with the expert and qualified workers he brought from this region, especially from Manisa and Akhisar. In 1903, he met and married Laurette, the daughter of his colleague Jozef Ben Rubi in Thessaloniki. He had three daughters named Victoria, Juliette and Altina and a son named Leon. Morris was now very rich. He even had a mansion built for his Greek-Jewish wife, who was a citizen of that period. It is said that the mansion had 52 rooms. Another story from those days is as follows: Morris holds a press conference in Greece. A journalist writes a question on a piece of paper and gives it to Morris. Morris gives the paper to the person next to him and says, “I can’t read, you read it.” Then another journalist says, “You got so rich without knowing how to read or write, who knows what you would be if you were educated?” Morris gives the following answer:

– I would make a good grave guard!

In 1916, he sold all the rights of his company to the American Tabacco Company. And he retired from business life. In the meantime, in 1916, he sold all the rights of his company to the American Tabacco Company. And he retired from business life. In the meantime, the current world tobacco giant Philip Morris Company (Marlboro) has no connection with Manisa native Şinasi Morris, and the story of the company began in 1847 with a shop on London’s Bond Street by a person named Philip Morris selling tobacco and ready-made cigarettes. It was purchased by Gustav Eckmeyer in 1902 and went into operation. In 1919, it was established in Virginia under the name Philip Morris Company Limited Incorporation and Philip Morris’ crowned logo began to be used this year. In 1924, Philip Morris introduced Marlboro to the market. You know the rest. So, what is the story of Şinasi Morris Hospital, which still provides services in Manisa? Morris never forgot his hometown, Manisa, in 1928, where he was born and raised. So much so that he had the house built in Turkish style and furnished the interior in Turkish oriental style. He did not forget the illness he suffered in his childhood and the loyalty he received. He allocated a budget of one million dollars for this purpose. He built a hospital with 800 thousand dollars of this. This hospital is a children’s hospital. This hospital has a very large area and animals such as cows, sheep, goats and chickens are raised here and vegetables and fruits are grown so that the children can eat fresh food. Again, this hospital has a horse-drawn ambulance and a horse-drawn official vehicle for the chief physician. All these details were thought of by Morris himself. He bought government bonds with the remaining 200 thousand dollars; the income of these bonds, which is 33 thousand dollars, is sent to Morris Şinasi Children’s Hospital in two installments every year. Morris Şinasi also thought about the future of the hospital with a foundation he established; he also appointed Chemical Bank of New York as trustee. Chemical Bank merged with ‘The Chase Manhattan Bank’ on March 31, 1996 and the fund was taken over by The Chase Manhattan. Since the fund was successfully managed by the bank, its annual income has continued to be donated to Morris Şinasi Hospital regularly since 1933. Every three years, the board of trustees of the foundation he founded comes to Turkey, visits the hospital in Manisa and inspects the work done on site.

Smoking is harmful to health! It has been directly related to many diseases such as Heart Attack, Burger’s Disease, Lung Cancer, Migraine, Asthma, COPD, Psychological problems, Rhythm disorders. Below is a picture for smokers. Please look at the picture carefully, the lungs of a smoker and the lungs of a patient who was not exposed to smoking and lost his life as a result of a traffic accident are quite obvious. Please do not harm your body.