The Camondo family

say Moïse never recovered. After his tragic loss, the Count Moïse de Camondo bequeathed his property “Musée Nissim de Camondo” to the Arts Décoratifs, in memory of his son. The museum named after Nissim opened a year after Moïse died in 1935. Nissim’s sister Beatrice, trusted her family’s wealth, and did not leave Paris during World War II, but was caught by the Nazis, and she and husband and children was killed in the Auschwitz camp.

Their mother, Irène Cohen d’Anvers, became Catholic after divorcing her husband, Moïse de Camondo, and thus survived her from the genocide. Irène became the heir to the entire family as the only surviving member of the Camondo family after the war, and this deep-rooted family ended with her in 1963.

Camondo name comes from Casa De Mondo in Spanish, (The House of the World) as this meaning, they earned the respect and love of the people with their philanthropies as well as their successes in business life, left lasting traces in Istanbul, Ottoman lands and France with numerous architectural works, such as inns, apartments, shops in Galata and Pera, mansions in Bosporus, vineyards, olive groves, factories, schools, and most importantly the famous Camondo Stairs that was built in 1860 and photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson. The famous Camondo Stairs were built by Abraham Camondo for his grandchildren that were studying at Austrian High School at that time, to prevent them from getting tired because of the long way and to shorten the distance from their home to school. The staircases are located in Karaköy, at the junction of Voyvoda Street and Banker Street, and were completed between 1870 and 1880.