Salvatore Valeri

Salvatore Valeri was an Italian painter who spent much of his career as an art teacher in Turkey.

Biography

He studied painting at the Accademia di [San Luca] in Rome. In 1882, he moved from Italy to the Şişli district in Istanbul, where he opened a small workshop. Not long after, the opened and, on the recommendation of the British Ambassador, Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st [Marquess of Dufferin and Ava|Lord Dufferin], he was able to obtain a position as a teacher of oil painting. He would remain there until 1915. The school later became part of the Mimar Sinan [Fine Arts University].
He exhibited at the Istanbul Salons of 1901, 1902 and 1903. His students included the sons of Sultan Abdul [Hamid II] and he was officially granted the title "Teacher of the Princes". He was especially well known for his portraits.
He married an Armenian woman; Maria Lekegian, the sister of one of his students, Gabriel Lekegian. They had a daughter named Italia. He was suspended from teaching during the Italo-Turkish War; returning upon its completion. Three years later, however, he and his family were forced to flee, due to the beginning of the Armenian genocide. He returned to his hometown, opened a private art school, and operated it until his death in 1946.