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Morris Schinasi ((トルコ語:Moris Şinasi); 1855 – September 10, 1928) was a wealthy American businessman in the tobacco industry and philanthropist of Ottoman origins. He was born 1855 in Manisa, Ottoman Empire to relatively poor Sephardic Jew parents. At the age of nine, he contracted diphtheria. He was treated by a Muslim physician named Şinasi (Shinasi or Schinasi in European languages) and regained his health. His parents named him henceforth Moris Şinasi as a gesture of gratitude. He had two brothers Solomon, Yaakov and a sister Sultana. He was forced to leave the school and jobbed in a Jewish cemetery as guard. At the age of fifteen, he left Turkey for Alexandria, Egypt, where he lived until he was nearly thirty. It was then that Garaffolo, a successful Greek tobacco merchant, who informally adopted Schinasi in Alexandria, determined that Schinasi should seek his fortune in America. In 1892, he immigrated to the USA.〔〔〔Schinasi, Altina. The Road I Have Travelled Santa Fe: Apodaca Hill Press 1995, p. 4〕 ==Career== In 1893, Morris Schinasi exhibited the cigarette made with his patented cigarette-rolling machine at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Schinasi then returned to New York City to found Schinasi Brothers with his brother, Solomon, who came also to the USA. Together, the Schinasis produced ready-made cigarettes under the brand name “Natural” at their factory on 120th Street and Broadway using imported Turkish tobacco rather than the Virginia-grown leaves. They became highly successful. In solidarity with their roots, the brothers invited about 200 Turkish Jews from their homeland to work in the factory.〔〔〔 By 1907, both were millionaires. In 1916, he and his brother sold the cigarette factory worth of $2 million and all of his commercial rights to the business to the American Tobacco Company for $3.5 million, and retired from active business life. Morris Schinasi died on September 10, 1928 at the age of 74.〔 A large portion of his wealth, well over $5 million, he designated to charity. A $1-million fund was entrusted to the Chemical Bank & Trust Co. of New York for founding a hospital in Manisa, the town of his birth.〔 His success was acknowledged by Abdul Hamid II, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who gave him the Medjidie Medal of fourth degree "for his excellent efforts in promoting this industry, which won for him His Majesty’s commendation."〔 The presentation took place in July 1908.〔 At a press conference held in Athens, Greece, he passed a note to a person sitting next to him asking him to read it because of his illiteracy. He was then asked "You became so wealthy as an analphabet. What you would become when you were literate?". He replied "A good cemetery guard." referring to his job as he was fifteen when he was fired because he could not take a family to their relative's grave.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Morris Schinasi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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