David Fresco

FROM THE JTA ARCHIVE: David Fresco, widely known and beloved Turkish writer and journalist, died this week in Nice, France. He was 84.

A descendant of Spanish exiles who were expelled 400 years ago and scattered throughout eastern Europe, Mr. Fresco was born in Istanbul, then Constantinople, in 1849.

Under the influence of Haskala, name given to the Jewish “Enlightenment” or growth of modern and western interests among the Jews in Eastern Europe, he became successively editor of a number of Judaeo-Spanish periodicals and a translator of famous Hebrew and French books. One of the high spots of his career was his success in arranging the famous interview between Theodor Herzl, founder of political Zionism, and Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey, in 1901.

The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.

Source: "https://www.jta.org/1933/12/03/archive/david-fresco-writer-dies-in-..."

Manufacturer of ink, editor of newspaper El Tiempo, in Constantinople, Turkey. Owned real estate

El Tiempo (Istanbul) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Tiempo was a Ladino language newspaper published in Constantinople/Istanbul in the years 1872–1930. El Tiempo was the first Ladino newspaper published in Istanbul. It was also the longest-running Ladino newspaper in the city.It was published as a daily newspaper, later being converted into a biweekly. From July 1882 to 1930 El Tiempo was published three times a week. Politically, the newspaper supported the positions of Turkish reformers.

At the time of the First World War, half of the adult Jews in the city were subscribers of El Tiempo.[1] However, from that point onwards the influence of the newspaper declined sharply.

During the initial phase of its history the newspaper was patronized by Hayim Carmona. His son Isaac Carmona served as its editor from its founding year. After his father's death in 1883, Isaac Carmona took over as patron of the newspaper whilst the post of editor passed on to Mercado Fresco and Sami Alkabez. After a few years, David Fresco became editor. He served as editor of the newspaper for almost fifty years.

El Tiempo was supported by the Alliance Israélite Universelle. As a result, the newspaper promoted the teaching of French language to its readers. Moreover, it sought to educate its readers in Turkish language. It ran a section in Turkish (written with Hebrew alphabet) every two-three days. The world-view of the paper in its early phase was largely Eurocentric, reporting events from the capitals of Europe (Paris, London, Vienna, Budapest and Berlin) whilst paying little attention to events inside the Ottoman Empire (including Constantinople/Istanbul itself). Fictional stories published in the newspaper were largely translations from French. The promotion of French language was however somewhat subdued in the 1890s, but the language used in articles was often a highly francofied Ladino.

Once Zionism emerged as a political force, El Tiempo responded by proclaiming its loyalty to the Ottoman Empire. Within the Ladino Jewish community in Constantinople/Istanbul (where Zionist ideas were beginning to strike roots) El Tiempo argued that Ottoman Jews ought to remain Ottoman nationals. There was a brief period (prior to 1910) during which discussions were ongoing between the World Zionist Organization and El Tiempo, but any re-evaluation of Zionism on behalf of El Tiempo was sealed as David Fresco aligned with prominent anti-Zionist Rabbi Chaim Nahum. Fresco argued in favour of assimilation of the Ottoman Jews into Turkish society and the promotion of the use of Turkish language.