What a great day. I still don’t have an absolute answer but it is not from a want of trying. I eventually found an obscure museum and believe it or not it is right beside the Hilton Hotel. The enquiry I have, compounded by the fact I am not from here, and I can not speak the language seems to bring out the best in those helping me. I spent hours with three of the historical research assistants specifically looking at the Izmirian name and its connection with the city. One speaks only Turkish the other translates and when more get involved it is very lively. In the end we did not come up with a definitive answer.
There are many loose ends that I need to clarify with family members. In Turkey almost 99% of the Turkish population did not have a family name in 1930. In 1934 a law was passed to make Turkish people take a family name. The families took whatever name they wanted except for the name Atuturk. This name was for the founder only of modern day Turkey. When did the Izmirian family take up the name Izmirian? And Why Izmirian.
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